kc becker
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Oil and gas accident reporting bill clears committee over industry objections
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A bill to focus and enhance reporting of oil and gas industry spills and accidents cleared the House Transportation and Energy Committee Wednesday over the objections of the oil and gas industry. The bill, House Bill 1157, passed with the committee’s eight Democrats voting for it and the five Republicans opposing it. The legislation is a…
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Insights: Sexual harassment victims and accusers deserve a better process
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“There is a cultural shift happening,” Colorado House Speaker Crisanta Duran of Denver tweeted the day Rep. Steve Lebsock was expelled from the legislature, the second state lawmaker nationally to be swept away by the #MeToo tide. Lebsock quickly left the building. Thanks, Steve, said no one. It was an agonizing seven hours of testimony…
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Broadband bill for rural Colorado amended, but maintains momentum
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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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Denver District Attorney Beth McCann to Senate President Kevin Grantham: no.
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Denver District Attorney Beth McCann Thursday gave a strong “no” to Republican Senate President Kevin Grantham’s request for her to investigate sexual harassment claims in the General Assembly. In a letter obtained by Colorado Politics, McCann wrote that the state Constitution “gives the General Assembly authority to establish rules governing the conduct of its members,”…
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Bill to fill PERA’s $32 billion shortfall rolls out to a tentative start
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The sponsors called the compromise to fix PERA a starting point, not a finish line, as a bill to do so was introduced Wednesday. Senate Republicans and House Democrats agree, however, that lawmakers must make sure the money the state pension brings in is enough to support its retirees. Current workers, retirees and taxpayers all…
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Reps. Barbara McLachlan and Marc Catlin get internet, water storage bills out of the House
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Neither is a cure-all for what ails the Western Slope in terms of broadband internet and water, but two bills passed by the Colorado House Tuesday could be an incremental pick-me-up. The bipartisan House Bill 1099 could possibly start a turf war between bidders who might expand broadband internet into underserved areas of the state…
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House Republicans attempt to block expulsion vote; joint caucus grills investigator
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Colorado House Republicans tried to stall an expulsion vote on Democratic Rep. Steve Lebsock Thursday, including a call for a prosecutor to get involved. The chamber was a flurry of activity heading into the final hours of the investigation into 11 allegations of sexual misconduct, as Lebsock tussled with his own members and Republicans sought…
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Senate President Kevin Grantham calls for DA investigation in sexual harassment
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Colorado Senate President Kevin Grantham is calling on the Denver District Attorney’s Office to launch a criminal investigation into any sexual harassment charges that rise to the level of sexual assault. Grantham was flanked by Republican women in the West Foyer of the Capitol, as legislative Republicans and Democrats were meeting elsewhere in the Capitol…
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State Rep. Faith Winter speaks out on effort to expel Lebsock
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Colorado state Rep. Faith Winter of Westminster, whose allegations against fellow Democrat Rep. Steve Lebsock helped launch a series of investigations at the state Capitol, Tuesday afternoon called on her fellow lawmakers to expel the Thornton Democrat. The resolution to expel Lebsock was introduced late Tuesday afternoon. Among other things, it stated that “additional credible…
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Sexual harassment allegations against Rep. Steve Lebsock found credible; House Democrats move to expel him
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Colorado House Democrats began the process to expel Rep. Steve Lebsock Tuesday after House Majority Leader KC Becker of Boulder announced that allegations of sexual harassment filed against him have been found credible by a third-party investigator. The report’s conclusions were announced before the full House Tuesday morning by Becker, who was put in charge…
