Panel to discuss complaint about Colorado governor

Colorado’s ethics panel will deliberate in public later this month about a complaint that the governor improperly accepted funds from a partisan group that has supported him in elections.

At a hearing Monday, The Denver Post reported that attorneys for Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, argued that he did not violate state law by allowing the Democratic Governors Association to pay his costs for an Aspen conference last summer. The conservative Compass Colorado group says the governor violated the law’s gift ban provision.

The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission says it will deliberate on the matter in public at its April 14 meeting.

Last year, the panel fined Secretary of State Scott Gessler, a Republican, $1,514 for using funds from his office’s discretionary account for travel to GOP events in Florida.