hospital provider fee
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Gridlocked SD8 race still nasty after all these years
While Colorado state Senate District 8 has seen some very nasty political attacks in recent years – sometimes even bitter, red-on-red Republican infighting in this mostly conservative rural region – nothing gets people more riled up in these parts than transportation funding shortfalls. Voters who have been stuck for six hours on Interstate 70 when a car with…
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Cadman: Session much more successful than advertised
It’s that time of year again – the legislative interim – when our media friends and editorial writers draw sweeping but invariably distorted conclusions about “what the session really meant.” These are the same people who spent months largely ignoring the bipartisan successes while hyping partisan flaps, proclaiming that rancorous “partisanship” blocked passage of all…
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Hullinghorst: Without fanfare, divided chambers achieved a great deal
Some have argued this was a do-nothing legislative session. While some of the bigger, flashier items did not get through both chambers, with less fanfare, we did in fact achieve a great deal. Our bipartisan workforce development package included a paradigm-shifting program to get industries more involved in classroom education, a program to incentivize school…
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Noonan: Mulligan legislation has poor success record at Capitol
Kelly Brough, president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, chastised Gov. John Hickenlooper and Capitol leadership at a recent luncheon for a poor record of accomplishment in the 2016 General Assembly. She wants legislators to take another crack at reclassifying the hospital provider fee and reforming construction defects law, two issues that got…
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Fields: Say ‘no’ to a special session for special interests
Not even 48 hours after the legislative session ended, the governor floated the idea of convening a special session to address the hotly debated hospital provider fee. This drum beat has continued in the press, with pressure from countless special interest groups who didn’t get their way during the normal 120-day session. And this all…
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Navarro: Majorities matter in the Legislature
This legislative session just concluded has illustrated the undeniable differences between Democrats and Republicans and the importance of majorities. Working day in and day out to represent the people of House District 47 has been another rewarding and humbling experience. It is an honor to serve the people of Pueblo, Otero and Fremont County. I…
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Frustrated state lawmakers look to voters to break Capitol gridlock
Colorado lawmakers this week expressed disappointment in what they saw as a stunted legislative session where divided chambers blocked major proposals and they looked outside the building toward the ballot box as the best way to move their agendas forward in the future. Speaker of the House Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, D-Gunbarrel, who is term-limited and…
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Hillman: Embracing Obamacare caused Colorado budget crunch
The newest dubious justification for weakening Colorado’s limits on government spending is “our aging population.” The spending lobby seeks to frighten senior citizens by telling them that the Taxpayer Bill of Rights in our state constitution “hampers the ability to fund key programs.” Parents are told that public schools are in a squeeze because state…
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Legislative leaders sound skeptical on provider fee switch, trans bond funding
The budget is signed, but that doesn’t mean fighting over revenue has ended in the Legislature. During a budget singing in Gov. John Hickenlooper’s office Tuesday, Senate Pres. Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, and Speaker of the House Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, D-Gunbarrel, indicated that the potential of a hospital provider fee reclassification and a transportation bond…