Author: John Tomasic
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Neville brings down hammer in floor speech defending state’s weed cash fund
In a night filled with passionate state Senate speeches delivered Wednesday over this year’s $26.8 billion Colorado budget, the most powerful perhaps were the ones given around an amendment that sought to take up to $4 million collected from marijuana sales – slated to pay for drug-related research and services, including addiction treatment – and…
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What a difference a year makes: Threat of rural hospital closings shape budget talks
The state senate passed a budget this week that will slash $500 million from hospitals across Colorado, a proposal that has set the halls of the Capitol buzzing and lawmakers considering a new version of a proposal that just a year ago was dismissed as an exhausted nonstarter. The budget passed on a 30-5 vote…
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Colorado veteran-care bills speed through Senate, championed by Pueblo’s Garcia
State Sen. Leroy Garcia is an understated lawmaker who is probably best known for working to win greater accountability from the electrical utilities that serve his native Pueblo and, more recently for his efforts to combat the opioid epidemic plaguing rural Colorado. But Garcia is also an Iraq War veteran Marine, and his dedication to…
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On Internet privacy, Coffman breaks with congressional Republicans
Colorado 6th District U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman broke with his Republican caucus colleagues this week to vote against a bill that would allow internet companies to sell user data, including user browsing histories. “I believe the privacy of my constituents, and other internet users, is an issue where the government needs to tread very carefully,”…
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Kefalas on open records bill: An ‘interesting journey’
Opening the hood of Colorado’s Open Records Act to change out even a few parts is a massive undertaking – too many of the components in this aging machine are moving. Aiming to make some long-overdue digital-era updates to CORA, state Sen. John Kefalas, D-Fort Collins, started that process months ago and has been wrestling…
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Salazar to pull Ralph Carr name off hot-button states’ rights bill
Relatives of 1940s Republican Colorado Governor Ralph Carr have asked that his name be removed from a legislative proposal that has generated political heat at the Capitol from even before it was introduced. State Rep. Joe Salazar, a Democrat from Thornton and the sponsor of the “Ralph Carr Freedom Defense Act,” said he was happy…
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Foote drilling setback bill draws crowd of gas-patch residents to Capitol
There are some 100 witnesses lined up to testify at the committee hearing for a bill that would require oil and gas drillers to site wells at least 1,000 feet from school property. Attendees hope the hearing finishes by midnight. No one at the Capitol could be surprised by the turnout at the hearing. The…
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Aghast Larry Crowder on proposed $500M cut to state hospitals: ‘The problems keep coming’
“Five-hundred and twenty-eight million dollars?” said Sen. Larry Crowder, a Republican from Alamosa. “Yeah, well, I imagine that’s where we’re heading.” Crowder was digesting the news that state legislative budget writers are planning to unveil their draft version next week and that it will very likely include a $528 million cut to state hospital operating…
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‘First real floor fight’ of session erupts over ‘sanctuary’ Ralph Carr bill
A bill that would protect state officials from participating in any unconstitutional federal programs aimed at monitoring or confining Coloradans sparked what the House Democratic caucus communications office called the “first real floor fight” of the legislative session. The Ralph Carr Freedom Defense Act, sponsored by Rep. Joe Salazar, a Thornton Democrat, was drafted in…
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Neville rides wave with ‘constitutional carry’ gun bill, fails to win over Dems
The floor vote in the state Senate on Tim Neville’s “constitutional carry” bill on Tuesday went as expected. His Senate Bill 116 passed with full Republican support, but Democrats took turns voicing opposition. The immediate future of the bill is all but carved in stone. It will pass in the Republican-controlled Senate and fail in…