BLUE STATE BLUES: Colorado legislature has hiked costs, partisan staff pay by nearly 23% in 3 years.

The Colorado General Assembly has upped its budget by nearly 23%, or $4 million, in the past three sessions, part of an effort to put the skids on poaching of partisan legislative staff.

At the same time, the House had to make a lower offer to the new chief clerk, Robin Jones, because what his predecessor was paid (and what he was initially offered) exceeded state-imposed salary limits, according to several sources.

It’s an odd conundrum.

Pay for state employees — and that includes the non-partisan staff — has to follow a set pay range. The same rule does not apply to partisan staff, meaning they can be paid whatever lawmakers think they’re worth.

And to Speaker of the House KC Becker of Boulder and House Minority Leader Patrick Neville of Castle Rock, those partisan staff are worth a lot more than they used to be.

Read the whole thing.