DENVER—Last-minute tangling on next year's budget cost Colorado
Democrats Republican support Friday, when a Democratic budget
writer questioned whether $3 million for scholarships could
benefit students in the country illegally.  The Colorado House
passed the budget without the money for merit-based
scholarships, angering Republicans who said the issue was being
politicized.  "I set about to do something good, something we
could all get behind. I don't understand for the life of me how
this has become a political issue," said Colorado Springs
Republican Rep. Mark Waller, the GOP's leader in the House.  The
scholarship money, a proposed amendment to the budget, had
bipartisan support but fell apart over the question of whether
every student could be eligible regardless of immigration
status.  "I don't think it's an issue of politics," said Denver
Democratic Rep. Crisanta Duran, one of six budget writers on the
bipartisan Joint Budget Committee. "It's an issue of the future
of these undocumented students, and i