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Newly appointed Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, right, greets voters at an open house Jan. 25 at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Bennet is part of a group of centrist senators working on a compromise stimulus bill. (Photo/Ernest Luning)

Colorado’s two freshman senators, both Democrats, are part of a bipartisan group that spent Thursday forging a proposal to trim up to $100 billion in spending from the economic stimulus bill in hopes of winning support from moderate Republicans and Democrats who have complained the package devotes too much money to programs that won’t create jobs fast enough.

“The American people are expecting this to be a recovery bill, not a Christmas list,” said Sen.