Tag: Josh Penry
Budget reform bill to pass out of Senate; supporters rally
After more than a week of delays and backstage negotiation, today may be the day controversial Colorado budget reform bill SB 228 passes out of the Senate and makes its way to the House. If the last few weeks are any guide, the bill will likely spark legislative fireworks on both sides of the aisle.
Depending on the Senate schedule, the bill's sponsor, Sen. John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, and a growing list of supporters are planning a noon rally at the Capitol either to send the bill off to the House with a bang or to bolster support for its passing in the Senate. Outspoken Republican Rep. Don Marostica, R-Loveland, who sits on the Joint Budget Committee, is SB 228's House sponsor and plans to attend the rally with Morse today.
Dems cheer, GOP blasts Supreme Court ruling on property-tax freeze
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled 6-1 Monday that a controversial property-tax law doesn't violate the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, known as TABOR, the state constitutional amendment that limits taxes and spending. A 2007 state law froze mill-levy rates in school districts that had already voted to "de-Bruce," or waive limits on property tax collection. Last year, the measure raised $117 million and is expected to garner $1.7 billion over 11 years.
Budget reform bill moves from center-stage to smoke-filled rooms
What happened to Colorado budget reform bill 228? After reframing the debate on the state budget, energizing lawmakers for and against, spawning a GOP Senate filibuster and thrashing the voice of sponsor Sen. John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, SB 228 slipped offstage -- reportedly to star in back-room bargaining sessions.
Colorado Senate minority filibusters ‘pavement over people’
The Colorado Senate GOP filibuster that went into the wee hours of Monday morning makes for high political drama and probably some juicy negative ad fodder for the next campaign cycle. But there were 14 elephants who forgot their own roles in the transportation funding crisis.
Referendum D, anyone?
A gag-rule chronicle or notes from the Senate-floor filibuster
At roughly 10:30 p.m., in the waning minutes of the all-day Republican filibuster against Colorado budget reform bill SB 228, Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, threw an elbow.
The Democratic majority wouldn't budge or break. After 10 hours, partisans on either side of the floor had clearly read into the record all the campaign trail fodder that could be transcribed. They were tired and getting sloppy.
Budget reform bill weathers GOP filibuster, clears another hurdle
Senate Bill 228, Democratic Senator John Morse's controversial budget reform legislation, received key preliminary approval late last night after a 10-hour Republican filibuster that, for all its passion, never seriously threatened passage of the bill.
Senate members on both sides of the aisle agreed SB 228 was among the most important laws they would consider and would have ramifications on Colorado governance for years to come, amounting to a "sea change," as state Sen. Keith King, R-Colorado Springs, described it, in the way tax revenues would be spent.
Olbermann names Schultheis ‘Worst Person in the World’ for HIV+ moms,...
State Sen. Dave Schultheis earned a distinction he probably won't be using in his next electoral bid — "Worst Person in the World" — from the liberal MSNBC news analysis program Countdown with Keith Olbermann.
Schultheis has received universal scorn for his remarks yesterday that HIV testing for pregnant woman 'rewards promiscuity' and that babies born HIV positive are punishment for immoral behavior during a Colorado Senate floor debate on a communicable disease control bill.
UPDATED: State senator: HIV babies are punishment for promiscuous moms
State Sen. Dave Schultheis restated his opposition to a bill over requiring HIV tests for pregnant women by claiming that infected babies would cause families to "see the negative consequences of that promiscuity."
UPDATE: The Rocky re-arranged its original story posted at 1:05 p.m. and buried Sen. Schultheis' controversial quote in a linked side bar.
Wadhams speaks: ‘Our fundamental principles are pretty darn solid’
State GOP chairman Dick Wadhams sits down and opens up on a wide range of political topics in an illuminating interview with The Colorado Statesman editor Jody Hope Strogoff and reporter Jason Kosena, who was The Colorado Independent's chief political reporter through the 2008 election.
Unlike his ubiquitous -- sometimes vulgar -- sound bites issued during the heat of the campaign, Wadhams sounds positively relaxed and introspective as he discusses the future of the Republican Party in Colorado, prospects for retaking the legislature and statewide seats, and even whether Marilyn Musgrave should have called to concede to Betsy Markey after losing her 4th District seat in Congress (short answer: yes).
GOP Senate caucus rejects FASTER; bill moves on to House
Lawmakers, after initially singing Kumbaya on a transportation funding bill that would raise vehicle registration fees to pay for road and bridge repairs, went their bipartisan ways late Wednesday when the possibility of tolling on existing roads was reintroduced.
That prompted a Democrat-led state Senate vote of approval by a 19-16 party-line margin late Wednesday, and a mass exodus by Republicans.