A prominent GOP lawmaker has gone rogue and will attempt to do away with a decades-old spending limit without any support from his party, the top House Republican said Wednesday.

Rep. Don Marostica shot back, however, that legislative leaders are being influenced by "has-beens" and "losers" within the party and that he is going ahead with his efforts.

Marostica, R-Loveland, will introduce a measure today to remove the 6 percent general-fund spending limit, known as Arveschoug-Bird, that has been in place since 1991. He will sponsor it with Sen. John Morse, D-Colorado Springs.

The law was passed to restrain government growth in boom years, but critics say that when the budget shrinks during recessions, Arveschoug-Bird ensures departments like higher education and human services can never recover. Some legal opinions say it can be repealed by statute, but others say it can only be changed by a vote of the people.

Marostica said he would push for repeal of the limit at an event two weeks ago. At the time, Minority Leader Mike May said it would be tied to another bill that would dedicate a specific percentage of the budget to transportation. But that road-funding bill appears doomed, and May, R-Parker, had hoped Marostica would pull his support for the spending-limit repeal as well.

According to May, he also was under the belief that Marostica's bill would let voters decide whether to repeal the 6 percent limit.

According to Marostica, May came under pressure from conservatives, including Independence Institute President Jon Caldara and former state treasurer Mark Hillman, to oppose the bill and called Marostica in for two meetings Tuesday. He denied that May threatened to yank him from his position on the powerful Joint Budget Committee if he didn't drop the bill, but he said he was told that GOP Senate leaders were furious about the measure.

"There's great concern whenever you're in a leadership position (like Marostica) and this happens," May said. "To head off without the rest of your troops is not a wise action."

Marostica acknowledged that he might not get support from another legislative Republican but said he's going to move ahead with the bill. He questioned why May was taking advice from people like Caldara and Hillman.

"They're has-beens. They're losers," Marostica said.

Sen. Al White, R-Hayden, considered signing onto the bill but ultimately decided against it. However, he said those who oppose it so strongly are not seeing a potential fiscal catastrophe.

With the current infusion of government money into the economy, White predicts the country will see hyper-inflation, with rates rising 15 to 18 percent, in the next three to five years. Because the state constitution requires education spending to rise annually by the rate of inflation plus enrollment growth, the 6 percent general-fund growth limit essentially would mandate at that point that all other state services get cut, he said.

Without the 6 percent growth limit, however, transportation has no designated funding source and could get ignored by the legislature, May said. He will continue to talk to Marostica, he said.

"I hope he comes back on the ranch," May said.