Gov. Jared Polis’ pitch to sharply rein in Medicaid spending and privatize the state workers’ compensation insurer ran into skepticism from the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee on Wednesday, setting up a showdown as they attempt to bridge another $1 billion spending gap.

Polis, in his balanced budget proposal that was due Nov. 1, looked to restrain runaway Medicaid spending and again leaned on privatizing Pinnacol Assurance to generate money to reach that balance. The legislature will have the final say on the budget document, however, and several members of the powerful six-member, bipartisan committee questioned how the governor landed on the solution.

Sen. Jeff Bridges, a Greenwood Village Democrat who’s now vice chair of the committee, called Polis’ Medicaid cuts “particularly la

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