Senate President Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, wasn’t persuaded by Gov. John Hickenlooper’s call for a bipartisan agreement on a key budget issue today.
During Hickenlooper's State of the State address to lawmakers, the governor pushed to reclassify a fee hospitals pay to free up room in the budget. He says the move would allow the state to avoid looming cuts to education and transportation.
But Cadman insists the law is not on Hickenlooper’s side. And he continues to point to a non-binding legislative legal memo that indicates the move is unconstitutional. Cadman also has philosophical concerns over the state spending too much money on entitlement programs like Medicaid.
“There were a hundred things that were obstacles before that opinion. That opinion added a hundred more.”
Cadman did say he liked other parts of the governor’s speech and said Hickenlooper is a positive messenger for Colorado.
