Author: John Tomasic
-
Colorado House wrestles with an evangelical moment
—
by
State House Minority Whip Lori Saine said she had been working on the memorial resolution offered for Bill Armstrong during a joint session of the Legislature on and off for a year. Same with the eulogy she delivered – and she was clearly charged with deep feeling as she read it out to a chamber…
-
#Coleg Week 14: Dueling sanctuary bills, rolling coal, sexting, anti-fracktivism
—
by
The state budget debates have moved off the floors of the chambers and so mostly out of the headlines. The action heads back to the committee rooms. The pace will pick up; there are four weeks till sine die closing day. Committee schedules, as always, subject to change. Monday The Senate Judiciary Committee will hear…
-
House debate on budget continues, colored with flashes of rancor
—
by
After ten hours of back and forth Thursday night, it became clear at near 11 p.m. that members were not going to conclude first-round debate on amendments to the proposed $26.8 billion state budget before midnight, the tentative deadline, so they halted debate and began again at 9:00 a.m. Friday. The debate so far is…
-
Williams seeks to amend Colorado budget to exclude fetal ‘baby body parts’ university research
—
by
It was a short footnote to the state Department of Higher Education appropriations nestled deep in the sprawling 600-plus page $26.8 billion state budget proposal – but it made a splash, just as sponsor Rep. Dave Williams, a freshman Colorado Springs Republican, surely knew it would. “Amendment 40” would have stripped funds from Colorado public…
-
Colorado House Dems green light ‘Orange Is the New Black’ prison tampon budget amendment
—
by
Women incarcerated in Colorado don’t have adequate access to feminine hygiene products, and that’s an unnecessary affront to dignity, said Democratic state Reps. Leslie Herod and Faith Winter on Thursday. They proposed an amendment to the state’s $26.8 billion budget that would move $40,000 within the Department of Correction to solve the problem. The House…
-
In budget debate, Everett comes out swinging for transportation
—
by
House Rep. Justin Everett, a Littleton Republican and one of the caucus’s reliably hardliners, launched debate on budget bills proposing amendments that seek to make the point that there’s plenty of money in the $26.8 billion budget to support overdue transportation upgrades and expansion. House Republicans strongly oppose a plan backed by legislative leaders this…
-
Contours of House budget debate emerge in caucus meeting
—
by
Colorado House members on Wednesday drew up 93 amendments to this year’s state “long bill” budget proposal. Members are reviewing them together in caucus meetings before floor debate begins on the $26.8 billion Thursday afternoon. The number of amendments seems high but the general topics they seek to address, at least so far, come as…
-
How much is in that marijuana cash fund, anyway? Read the memo.
—
by
In the House budget debate set to begin Thursday, a cash fund brimming with an enticing $117.7 million in marijuana sales tax money is sure to attract attention, as it did in Senate debate last week. The fund has figured in talk at the Capitol ever since recreational weed sales began filling it steadily years…
-
In surprise turn, Senate ‘kill committee’ green lights gay-rights harassment bill
—
by
A state Senate committee packed with a conservative Republican-majority voted unanimously on Wednesday to advance a bill that would stiffen penalties for those who harass Coloradans for being gay or disabled. Gay rights supporters reacted with a jolt after the vote. They had braced for yet another defeat in the infamously hardline State Affairs “kill”…
-
Senate anti-abortion ‘ultrasound bill’ generates heat in committee, advances for now
—
by
State Senate Republicans introduced a sweeping bill on Monday adapted from similar efforts across the country that would establish new rules around abortion services in Colorado with an eye to lowering the number of abortions performed in the state. The bill sped into committee Wednesday, leaving opponents playing catch up. NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado called a…