legislative news
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Joint Budget Committee debuting state budget Friday
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The 2015-16 state budget, under a divided General Assembly and equally divided Joint Budget Committee, is scheduled to debut on Friday With a divided legislature, it was certain that no one would get everything they wanted. “This was a difficult balancing act, but we did it with bipartisan support,” according to Rep. Dave Young, D-Greeley.…
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Photo of the Day
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Rico Turner, 6, of Denver was among more than 250 people at a rally outside Colorado’s State Capitol today to show support for raising the minimum wage in the state. House Bill 1300 and HCR 1001 are slated to be heard in the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee Monday afternoon. Photo by…
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Photo of the Day
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Rico Turner, 6, of Denver was among more than 250 people at a rally outside Colorado’s State Capitol today to show support for raising the minimum wage in the state. House Bill 1300 and HCR 1001 are slated to be heard in the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee Monday afternoon. Photo by Marianne…
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GOP CLEANS HOUSE
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Colorado Republicans on Saturday elected former gubernatorial candidate Steve House as state party chair, ousting two-term chair Ryan Call by a comfortable margin at the party’s biennial reorganization meeting in Castle Rock. Republicans were restless at the meeting, also replacing the party’s vice chair and secretary. Derrick Wilburn, the founder of American Conservatives of Color,…
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Lawmakers cut deal cut on illegal immigrant drivers license funding
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The Joint Budget Committee on Wednesday reached a compromise on a 2014-15 spending bill that would allow the state Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to clear off a backlog of requests for driver’s licenses from people in the country illegally.The supplemental bill has been on the legislative docket for more than six weeks, an unusually…
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Construction defects clears first hurdle
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After some delay, Senate committees this week finally debated two bills that seek to make the state’s construction defects law more industry-friendly. The Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, on a 3-2 party-line vote, approved Senate Bill 15-091 on Monday. The Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee, on a 6-2 vote, passed SB 177…
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Two Grand Junction city council races in full swing
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GRAND JUNCTION – There are two contested races in this year’s Grand Junction City Council election, which concludes April 7; ballots were mailed on March 16. Running for a four-year term are Dennis J. Simpson, a certified public accountant who describes himself as “a fiscal conservative and lifetime Republican,” and Chris Kennedy, a telecommunications executive…
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P-Tech high school bill aims to address industry need for middle-skilled jobs
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Two Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday presented a bill in the House Education Committee that would lay the groundwork for an enhanced high school degree program serving as a pipeline from the classroom to mid-level jobs. HB15-1270, sponsored by House Majority Leader Crisanta Duran, D-Denver, and Rep. Mike Foote, D-Lafayette, creates the framework for partnerships between…
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Murder and rethinking juvenile sentencing: An interview with Rep. Dan Kagan
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State Representative Daniel Kagan, D-Cherry Hills Village, has introduced a bill to set a new range of sentences for juveniles convicted of first degree murder. Under current Colorado law, juveniles convicted of first degree murder face a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. In an interview with Catherine…
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CHATTER: Gardner-Klingenschmitt kerfuffle brewing? But where’s Waller?
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The jockeying and posturing is in full force for the chance to run for the Colorado Springs Senate seat, SD 12, being left open by term-limited Senate President Bill Cadman. It seems freshman state Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt threw down a not-so-subtle gauntlet against another potential hopeful for the heavily Republican district at a meeting of…