jerry sonnenberg
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Grantham on the Colorado legislature: It’s become a "theater of the absurd"
DENVER – Senate Republicans Monday morning took just about everyone to task over inappropriate remarks in the House and Senate, beginning in their own chamber. The House wasn’t exempt from their criticisms, either, after a Democratic member of that chamber last Friday threatened to call for the expulsion of another member over a disagreement in…
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Capitol M: Week ending March 16
A look at the lighter side, usually, of what goes on at the state Capitol. YMMV. They really don’t look that much alike…March 6 marked the 20th anniversary of the theatrical release of the cult classic “The Big Lebowski.” Its star is Jeff Bridges. Not that Jeff Bridges (pictured at right). This Jeff Bridges (pictured…
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Broadband bill for rural Colorado amended, but maintains momentum
A bill that could bring faster broadband internet service to rural Colorado bounced out a Colorado House committee Thursday and appears destined for the governor’s desk, eventually. Senate Bill 2, sponsored by Sens. Don Coram, R-Montrose, and Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, with the two top-ranking House Democrats, passed the House Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee 10-1…
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Capitol M: Week ending March 9
A weekly look at the lighter side, or something, of what goes on at the state Capitol. He did what?…Gov. John Hickenlooper didn’t participate in a caucus on Tuesday night. The governor explained he was double-booked and failed to remember that Caucus Night was on the horizon. But he also said that since voters…
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Colorado ag producers will strut their stuff at the Capitol
There aren’t as many farmers and ranchers serving in Colorado’s citizen legislature as there once were. Which is probably why the state’s ag producers and rural communities are making all the more of an effort to stay on lawmakers’ radar. They’ll get their chance, and make their stand, March 22 during Agriculture Day at the…
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Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper tells ag community future is in outdoor recreation
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, in remarks at this week’s 27th annual Governor’s Forum on Agriculture, pointed to the outdoor recreation industry as one area that can help rural communities rebound economically. In January, the Colorado Convention Center hosted the first of five years of shows from the Outdoor Industry Association, which for years had been…
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Fix to marijuana taxes for special districts headed to Colorado governor
Special districts like the eight-county metro Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) and a hospital district on the Western Slope can breathe easier this week after the Colorado state Senate wrapped up the last details on a bill that will allow them to once again collect retail marijuana taxes. The bill survived a last-minute challenge in the…
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Major rural broadband bill clears the Colorado Senate, heads to House
A bill that could put up to a hundred million dollars into financing rural broadband cleared the Colorado Senate Thursday morning with changes its sponsors say will speed up the process. Senate Bill 2 would take dollars from a fund that currently pays for landlines and shifts that over five years to pay for internet…
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Lawmakers debate over statute of limitations bill on reporting child abuse
An bill to put on notice school administrators, teachers and others who are required by law but fail to report sexual abuse is on hold while lawmakers iron out just how long the statute of limitations for those cases should be. State Sen. Rhonda Fields, an Aurora Democrat, is the sponsor of Senate Bill 58,…