senate
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Noonan: Bipartisanship may set a new high bar with rural sustainability bill
Gov. John Hickenlooper takes first place, with his signature, as currently the most bipartisan politician in Colorado. He has signed 137 bills in the 2017 General Assembly. Of those, 111 are bipartisan, 15 are Dem-only sponsored and 11 are GOP-only sponsored. He has clearly set a basis that he prefers both chambers to work collaboratively.…
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Spicer mum on Bennet-Gardner proposal to arrest ‘naughty’ senators if government shuts down
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer this week declined to weigh in on proposals to punish members of Congress if they can’t avert a potential government shutdown at the end of April, saying he doesn’t want to get into which lawmakers are “going to be naughty and nice.” In his daily press briefing on Thursday, Spicer brushed aside a question…
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Colorado reduces marijuana growing limits on residential properties
In a rare show of bipartisanship, both the Colorado House and the Colorado Senate unanimously approved a bill that reduces the residential medical marijuana growing limit from 99 plants per household to 12 plants per household. If patients and caregivers register with the state, they would be allowed to grow up to 24 plants due…
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Bennet, Gardner propose threatening fellow senators with arrest to resolve government shutdown
In order to prevent or curtail a government shutdown, U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner are proposing strict Senate rules that could lead to the arrest of fellow lawmakers who aren’t hard at work trying to resolve an impasse. A bipartisan resolution introduced by the two Colorado senators Tuesday would require that their colleagues…
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Bennet won’t try to block Gorsuch vote
Senator Michael Bennet says he will not join Democratic efforts to block a full-Senate vote on the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. The Colorado Democrat has been under pressure to support Gorsuch in part because the nominee is also from Colorado. Bennet doesn’t say whether he will ultimately vote in favor…
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Bill to allow medical marijuana to treat PTSD gains broad, bipartisan support
A bill that enables doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to PTSD patients has gained momentum in the Legislature this year, passing the Senate with broad support on a 34-1 vote and now pressing forward with similar agreement in the House. Sponsored by state Sen. Irene Aguilar, D-Denver, and state Rep. Jonathan Singer, D-Boulder, SB 17…
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Holbert: Republicans fight for a taxpayer-first state budget
President Trump’s first foray into the thickets of Washington-style budgeting naturally is generating a lot of media attention, but back here in Colorado, in the General Assembly, we’re also about to enter our most critical week in terms of hammering-out our spending priorities. And because our state budget probably has an even greater impact on…
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Hill: The Future is not near, it’s here
Mornings are rough. Stop-and go-traffic on I-25 can feel more like a nauseating carnival ride than a highway. It’s no easier in the city. A car just ahead with out-of-state plates slams on its brakes and that cup of morning coffee flies through the air, staining your shirt. The car ahead is now attempting to…
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Noonan: Charter vs. School District money fights result from public education underfunding
Public school funding advocates are reduced to fighting over scraps lately, with two bills attempting to “equalize” school finance from different directions. The big picture is that the state Legislature, since the Great Recession, hasn’t come up with any solution to public school underfunding. Governor candidate and former State Sen. Michael Johnston ran his “Future…
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Did a misinformation campaign kill this year’s liquor licensing cleanup compromise?
A legislative effort to clean up last year’s hard-fought and widely bipartisan liquor licensing reform compromise died a surprise and dramatic death in the state Senate Monday. According to proponents, Senate Bill 143‘s demise by a narrow 18-17 vote was almost entirely due to misleading information, flat-out lies and a convolution of the process by a…