Partisan spending rift divides Colorado lawmakers, governor

Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper likes to transcend partisan divides and says he has a plan for boosting state spending without raising taxes.

But those partisan divides are hemming him in with less than a week to go before lawmakers start reviewing his plan.

The topic of debate is the usual suspect: Money.

Hickenlooper wants lawmakers to reclassify some $750 million next year coming from a fee on hospitals. But Republicans in the Legislature say no way. Republicans call the plan a “shell game” to skirt constitutional spending restrictions.

The impasse means the governor has an uphill battle as lawmakers return.