As the chair of Colorado’s Joint Budget Committee, a billion dollars is a lot. Maybe folks in Congress can joke that a billion here and a billion there adds up to real money, but in Colorado we run a tight ship. This year we’ll balance our state’s general fund at right around $16.5 billion. Without changing any of our budget investment strategies from last year, then adding in the $350 million for public safety required by voters, we’re at just over a billion in the red.