The budget ax is hovering at the state Legislature, which must make $600 million in cuts–perhaps more–by June 30.

There’s talk of stripping money from all-day kindergarten and charter-school buildings. Forced unpaid vacation time for state employees might happen. Colleges are simply bracing for the bad news. That’s all according to the Rocky Mountain News, which quotes Senate President Peter Groff as saying cuts will be “drastic and dramatic.”

The Colorado Springs Gazette wonders what cuts will come (“What about the Department of Public Safety?”) as legislators and Governor Bill Ritter nail down specific proposals.

“In fact, it’s likely that Ritter will be forced to cut programs that he himself, and many educators, enthusiastically support,” according to News2.

Meanwhile, the city of Denver, which is trying to save $20 million in its 2009 budget, has unveiled 100 proposals in response to the problem, according to the Rocky Mountain News, which writes that the city could step up enforcement of dog-leash laws, for instance, to generate more revenue.