larry crowder

Lamar constituents hear about TABOR and hemp at Crowder, Lewis town hall

Aug 21, 2017

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JOEY BUNCH

Sen. Larry Crowder and Kimmi Lewis were all aboard on hemp last session and had no qualms about selling out the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, because the price was right. The Lamar Ledger this weekend provided a thorough accounting of a town hall meeting with the two southern Colorado Republicans last Thursday night at Lamar…
Principles of Liberty Colorado organization releases legislative scorecard, honors ‘rock stars’

Jul 24, 2017

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Ernest Luning

State Rep. Justin Everett, a Littleton Republican, ranked highest among Colorado lawmakers in the annual Principles of Liberty scorecard, the conservative organization announced Saturday at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver. Known as “Justin Neverett” and “Dr. No” for his propensity for voting “no” on legislation, Everett was one of nine legislators, all Republicans, to…
High heat stirred legislators to bipartisan action in 2017 session

Jul 3, 2017

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Paula Noonan

Tri-partisanship is on life support in Washington, D.C. The nation’s health-care system now has three irreconcilable options: Obamacare, RyanCare and MitchCare. It’s barely possible to see a path to WeAgreeOnThisOneCare. In our own square state, bipartisanship perked up at the end of the 2017 session, even though the bill that most carries the bipartisan brand…
Progressives groups release combined scorecards rating Colorado legislators

Jun 26, 2017

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Ernest Luning

A group of liberal advocacy organizations for the first time released combined legislative scorecards this week, conglomerating assessments of the 100 Colorado lawmakers’ votes last session on key legislation the organizations said they plan to present to voters next year. A Republican who received among the lowest overall scores, however, dismissed the endeavor as a…
The $26.8 billion question: How to sell the 2017 budget

Apr 4, 2017

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John Tomasic

Now that the Colorado state budget proposal has appeared and lawmakers are wrangling over the numbers, the political narratives that will be used to sell the budget to voters and to defend against constituent anger in elections to come are taking shape. This year it seems unquestionable that it will be a tougher budget for…
Aghast Larry Crowder on proposed $500M cut to state hospitals: ‘The problems keep coming’

Mar 23, 2017

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John Tomasic

“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…
Crowder on tweaking TABOR: Rural Coloradans would rather have a hospital than a $45 tax refund

Mar 22, 2017

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John Tomasic

It was a tax bill bound to make a splash, even though it was all but doomed from the start not to pass into law. It was a Republican proposal meant to tweak the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or TABOR, a constitutional amendment that caps taxing and spending in the state and sacrosanct public policy…
TABOR reform bill by maverick Republicans meets demise in GOP committee

Mar 20, 2017

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Peter Marcus

Senate Republicans on Monday killed a TABOR reform effort by one of their own to allow the state to retain excess revenue when economic times are good. On a party-line vote, the TABOR reform measure died in a Republican-controlled “kill committee,” where legislation deemed unfavorable by the majority party is sent to die. What was…
#Coleg week 10: Concerning the Sand Creek Massacre, a sanctuary state, pot for PTSD, corporal punishment, campus free speech

Mar 13, 2017

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John Tomasic

This week we take up where the thud-like introduction of the transportation-funding House Bill 1242 left off. Conservatives remain unimpressed. Sponsors House Speaker Crisanta Duran and Senate President Kevin Gratham will work to make their trial balloon seem less like the Hindenburg, to borrow a phrase from Littleton Republican Sen. Tim Neville. Supporters of the…
TABOR reform measure passes first test with bipartisan support

Feb 28, 2017

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Peter Marcus

An effort to reform the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, passed its first test on Monday with Republican support, though the legislation faces an uphill battle. Some TABOR observers call it progress that two Republicans are sponsoring the effort to change how the state calculates its spending cap. The bill received bipartisan support from…