Sixty Years Ago This Week: For the previous year, the Republican majority in the state legislature had been touting the many benefits of conservative fiscal policies, but reporters uncovered a spending spree on the production and publication of several legislative studies that had many in the public policy community questioning their necessity.

It turned out that in the preceding budget year, the General Assembly had spent over a quarter of a million dollars on the studies, which included $100,000 for a study of local government, another just over $100,000 for a study on air pollution and $25,000 on a study for a proposed Denver college. Other smaller studies included expanded medical care for the aged, review of potential needs for a women’s prison and a separate prison for the criminally insane.

Forty Years Ago: In a surprise move, Rep. David Bath, D-Arvada, announced at a press conference that, after weeks of indecision, he was switching his party affiliation to become a Republican.

Bath was joined by Colorado Republican Party Chairman Bo Callaway, House Speaker Carl “Bev” Bledsoe, R-Hugo, and a host of other GOP county officials.

“David didn’t ask for any special favors from the Republican Party,” said Callaway, “and nor was he given any.”

The freshman representative had narrowly defeated incumbent Judy Ford, R-Arvada, in House District 27 and his voting record tallied with the Republican line for much of the session. Regardless, House Minority Leader David Skaggs, D-Boulder, said he was willing to accommodate Bath and other conservative Democrats.

When asked by Colorado Statesman reporters why he had not changed his party affiliation before the 1982 election, Bath said he didn’t realize until after he took his seat in the House, that there was “no room for conservative Democrats.”

In a prepared statement, Skaggs stated that it was his belief that Bath had asked for and received assurances of his political future from the Republican Party. Skaggs charged that Bath’s defection was a “breach of loyalty to the people who worked for him and elected him.”

“Bath won the seat by the dint of a lot of hard work by the Democrats,” Skaggs wrote. Gov. Dick Lamm and first lady Dottie Lamm walked precincts on Bath’s behalf. Lamm also donated $2,800 from his own campaign.

“Bath’s switch was one of those things that evokes a lot of emotions – anger, frustration, hurt and sadness,” Skaggs wrote.

Skaggs also vehemently denied that House Democrats had pressured Bath to change his votes, but agreed that Democratic officials in Jefferson County had been upset at their sole representative’s very conservative stances.

In lieu of Rep. Bon Leon Kirscht’s, D-Pueblo, earlier defection from the party, Skaggs was asked whether this had become a trend.

“Kirscht’s defection came after the leadership elections in the fall of 1980, when Kirscht was denied a leadership position,” Skaggs said. “Comparisons are not useful. Bob was rebuked by the party, David was accommodated.”

Twenty Years Ago: Following the horrifying January abduction and murder of a 20-year-old University of Northern Colorado student, Lacy Miller, Republican Gov. Bill Owens signed House Bill 03-1304 into law.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Bob McCluskey, R-Fort Collins, and Sen. Steve Johnson, R-Fort Collins, imposed stricter penalties on anyone convicted of impersonating a police officer in the state. Judges would be able to impose and 18-month jail sentence and a fine of up to $5,000.

“He caused Lacy Miller … a young woman with her entire life ahead of her, to pull over her car as if for a traffic stop,” said Owens at the signing ceremony. “He preyed on her trust, and then he brutally murdered her.”

Miller’s mother, Wendy Cohen, not content to sit idly by, circulated petitions urging stricter penalties and rallied supporters to take away “tools from would-be law enforcement impersonators and keep our loved ones safe.

Rachael Wright is the author of the Captain Savva Mystery series, with degrees in Political Science and History from Colorado Mesa University, and is a contributing writer to Colorado Politics and The Gazette.