The Colorado House took a very wrong turn the evening of May 8, as the 2012 General Assembly wound down its work.  From 3:00 pm to 11:30 pm, political hardball turned into something distasteful.  The bitterness was felt everywhere in the State Capitol today, the last scheduled day of the session. 

SB12-002, the civil union bill, is fraught with irony.  No civility occurred in how the bill was handled in the House. House Republicans did more than filibuster and run out the clock on the premise that any two people can join in a civil union to raise children, take care of each other in sickness and health, and share their lives with some legal certainty as a foundation.

House Republicans wouldn't debate SB-002
Unlike the debate between Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, and Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, over SM-003 the previous week, which focused on principled examination of freedom of religion, speech, assembly, and privacy, a majority of House Republicans wouldn't debate SB-002 at all.

In House Appropriations, the endless yakity yak on bills that had no chance of making it through the Chamber seemed a bit clever.  "Oh," lobbyists in the room murmured, "they're filibustering so they won't have to debate civil unions."  Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, questioned the tactic while the audience in red, One Colorado tee shirts, the GLBT people, and men in cleric collars, the anti GLBT group, looked on. 

Even so, most people in the room believed that Rep. Cheri Gerou, R-Evergreen, would eventually be able to cast the deciding vote to move the bill, which she did. 

Bill moves from Appropriations Committee to Chamber
People from all sides of the civil union bill crowded into the House gallery.  House Speaker Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, began to move through the long list of second reading bills.  Every bill was debated to the nth, but mostly by Republicans.  SB12-068, the prohibition on trans fats for school kids bill, even received some desk pounding as Rep. David Balmer, R-Centennial, argued passionately for the freedom to provide chocolate to school children. 

Levy calls "Rise and Report"
Finally Claire Levy had enough again.  She exercised the parliamentary rule to "Rise and Report," a non-debatable question that requires the chair to identify what has been accomplished and what will happen next. 

McNulty called a recess.  For about two hours, with minutes clicking down, he retreated to his office.  He talked to Gov. John Hickenlooper and with leadership from both parties.  They could not reach a resolution, and apparently McNulty couldn't or wouldn't let the debate on civil unions, about half way down the bill list, go forward.  At the same time, Rep. Mark Waller, R-COSpgs, dueled with House Minority Leader and SB12-002 bill sponsor Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, about who had done more to derail the bill. 

Gallery learns Civil Union bill won't come up for a vote
When McNulty finally came out of his office, it was clear the jig was up.  No debate would happen on SB12-002 that night.  When the gallery began to understand what happened, a chorus arose from one side of the Chamber to the other:  "Shame on you!  Shame on you!  Shame on you!"  Lobbyists who have worked at the Capitol for years had never heard anything like it.  When one person yelled an expletive, the gallery was emptied and Republican House members were left to their self-made disaster.

Thirty-two bills and one resolution were still on the list for action.  Important issues included: disciplinary reform for school districts, millions of dollars in water projects, revised punishment for various felonies, standard measures for driving under the influence of marijuana, "benefit" corporations, dental services for pregnant women, and appropriations for higher education - all work unfinished.

Today the parties from both chambers caucused to sort through the mess.  The elevators filled with unhappy citizens, lobbyists, and legislators.  No one could quite believe how the House had gotten so cross-ways. 

Basically, the statehouse does represent the men and women from Colorado, with legislators coming from many professions, many ages, both sexes, and diverse religious, ethnic, and racial groups.  Some legislators are wealthy, but most live on average incomes and lead regular lives. 

But on civil unions, the tone in the House turned bad from the get-go.  Anti-civil union Republicans voiced their unhappiness over some colleagues voting in favor of the bill.  McNulty said he couldn't clear out his voice mail.  He got pressure from every direction.  Stacks of cards came in to House members carrying the anti-gay message of the Catholic Church.  Thousands of pro-email landed in legislator boxes.

Incivility from public carries into House
On both sides, the debate coming in from the public crossed lines of civility.  But McNulty himself said the week before that legislators needed to maintain their self discipline and respect for each other and their institution.  That didn't happen Tuesday night. 

Gov. Hickenlooper is giving the legislature a do-over.  McNulty will have another chance to let a measured, thoughtful, careful debate occur.  If he does, will the anti-civil union people "punish" him, or others, in November?  Or will both sides accept that sometimes, in a republic, the principle of giving a bill a fair and open debate is at least as important as the vote itself.

This post was published on May 9, 2012. Permalink ». Comments are disabled at this time.

A thirty-three bill train wreck ended the penultimate day in the State House of Representatives when Speaker Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, decided to run out the clock on SB12-002, the civil union bill.

Sponsored by two gay legislators, State Senator Pat Steadman, D-Denver, and House Minority Leader Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, SB-002 held the best hopes for the GLBT movement in Colorado for almost equal rights to heterosexual married couples.  

The bill pitted the Catholic Church, Focus on the Family, and evangelical religious denominations against civil libertarians, civil rights activists, and the GLBT movement.  Gay and lesbian couples, along with their children and other family members, lost.

Also down in the smash up:  31 other bills and SCR-001, an initiative related to the civil union bill.  If it passed in the November election, it would take out the anti-gay rights section in the Colorado constitution.

Legislators, lobbyists, and concerned citizens will have their hands full picking through the shards.  Here are some of the recently deceased bills:

HB-1309: Employers won't have to use E-verify to verify the citizenship of employees.

SB-046:  Students will continue to face no-tolerance school discipline policies

SB-086:  No study of the cost impact on business of regulatory compliance

SB-108:  Pregnant women on Medicaid lose out on dental services

SB-117:  No standard test amount for DUM, or driving under the influence of marijuana

SB-165:  No money allocation for Water Conservation Board Construction projects, including $13 million to bring up water levels at Chatfield Reservoir, $12 million to finish the Animas-La Plata project, and $30 million for the Rio Grand cooperative project

SB-182: No special "benefit" status established for new or existing corporations willing to organize around doing good works

Hundreds of thousands of lobbying dollars burned in the smash up fire.  Over 30 lobbyists were involved in SB-002, civil unions.  At least 36 lobbied SB-046, school disciplinary policies.  Over 40 tried to help SB-108, the dental services bill, and another 40+ worked on HB-1309, the e-verify bill.  Additional hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe millions of dollars, went up in smoke in the cost to research, write, analyze, testify on, and hear the bills.  

It was also a very bad night for dogs.  Rep. Wes McKinley, D-Walsh, and Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, witnessed their bill, HB-1354, ensuring dog breeders use solid flooring in dog kennels, bite the dust.

On the other hand, the state will save $20,288 because it will not conduct cost impact studies on regulatory compliance.

Ferrandino declared he'll be back with the same bill next year.  He's sure to win his Denver House seat in November.  Steadman sent a fund raising email to SB-002 supporters within five minutes of its demise.  Republicans are sure to do the same thing. And so it goes.  PEN,CCW

This post was published on May 9, 2012. Permalink ». Comments are disabled at this time.

Will House Leaders try to hold bill on third with two outs and Ferrandino up?

House Speaker Frank McNulty and Representative Jon Becker, House Appropriations chair, chastised bill sponsors of SB12-002, the Civil Unions Bill, for holding up the bill in the Senate until two weeks ago.

McNulty rightly stated that Democrats played out the clock on favorite Republican bills when they were in the majority.  But let the record be clear - bills can get through both chambers in two weeks, as follows.

Speaker McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, accepted 12 bills since April 24 for hearings, within the two week time frame he cited as a problem for the civil unions bill.  One bill, HB12-1354, sponsored by Representatives Wes Mckinley, D-Walsh, and Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, has the stirring title, "Dog Breeder Provide Solid Flooring for Dogs."

The civil unions bill has to get through Becker's Appropriations Committee.  Becker said to The Denver Post about SB-002,  "it might depend on whether the committees meeting this afternoon send bills to the House Appropriations Committee."

Six bills have already been assigned to Appropriations since Friday for hearings today:  HB12-1356 and 1309 and SB12-165,086,104,002.  If Becker doesn't call a meeting, then apparently these bills go down with the civil unions ship.

Becker introduced two bills into the pipeline, HB12-1351 and 1353, in the last two weeks.  At this point, HB-1351 has been postponed indefinitely in the Senate and HB-1353 is on its way to the Senate's consent calendar and will certainly pass before the session ends.

Both parties are playing hardball with elections coming up.  But if two weeks aren't enough to get bills through, then neither party should accept "late bills" because they're wasting tax payer money.  In the case of civil unions, Republicans are in a tight spot, but using the "not enough time" argument is not much of an argument. PEN, CCW

This post was published on May 8, 2012. Permalink ». Comments are disabled at this time.

Representative Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, has an assertive voice that conveys conviction with every word.  But it's sometimes difficult to discern the conviction behind the conviction.

Take the issue of which level of government should regulate industry.  Sonnenberg testified last week in front of a US Congressional committee assessing hydrofracture drilling for oil and gas.  The Committee is examining the need for federal regulation of the practice.  This is not a "one size fits all" kind of industry, said Sonnenberg.  The feds should butt out and let the states regulate.  But when Colorado's counties and municipalities took up the local control flag, Sonnenberg responded with a 'not on my watch.'  

HB12-1356 ends severance tax for local governments ending fracking
The Representative from Northeast Colorado is sponsoring HB12-1356, which will eliminate severance tax collections for any city or county that puts a moratorium on fracking.  Citizens up and down the front range are complaining about air pollution, water pollution, toxic waste pollution, noise pollution, and the high risk of drilling in or near SuperFund sites such as Rocky Mountain Arsenal or the Lowry Bomb site.  Some cities and counties are trying to be responsive to these concerns with moratoriums.

Tough luck and shut up, says Sonnenberg.  Mineral rights are property rights and no local government can refuse drilling rights once mineral rights are purchased or leased .  If local governments want their severance tax money, they must let the drilling begin.  Even Representative Marsha Looper, R-El Paso County, in a tough primary race against House Majority Leader Amy Stephens, R-COSpgs, can't stomach Sonnenberg's overreach. She objected to the bill's disallowance of local severance tax collection even from existing wells.

The bill will help Logan County and Sterling, Sonnenberg's homeland, because they will receive a portion of the severance tax dollars relinquished by the no-drilling counties and cities.  Lobbyist reports show no oil and gas companies supporting the bill.  Apparently, this is Sonnenberg's baby.

Drug testing for welfare recipients top Sonnenberg bill
In an earlier show of conviction, Sonnenberg, along with State Senator Greg Brophy, R-Wray, sponsored HB12-1046 requiring individual welfare recipients to pay and pee for a drug test before they can receive any state cash benefits.  The original bill focused only on those seeking welfare benefits.  It was amended by House Minority Leader Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, to include all statewide elected officials, as they too receive cash from the state.  

Ferrandino added that anyone receiving "corporate welfare" should also be subject to testing.  Sonnenberg objected, saying he didn't know what Ferrandino was referring to.  The Denver Post opined that Ferrandino meant companies with employees receiving state contracts.  But the allusion may have inadvertently touched a tender spot for Sonnenberg.

Sonnenberg gets $591,968 from farm subsidies
According to the Environmental Working Group, a website that tracks federal farm subsidies, both Sonnenberg and Brophy have received substantial chunks of dough from the federal government from 1995-2010.  Sonnenberg's total federal farm subsidy over fifteen years is $591,968 and Brophy's is $103,647.38, not chump change by any measure.  

Sonnenberg received conservation, disaster, and commodities subsidies.  His top year was 2005 when he took in $70,880.  He snagged $45,484 in 2010.  Brophy received most of his subsidies for wheat and corn.  His top year was 2001 when he took in $18,714.  He only received $4681 in 2010.  State Senator Scott Renfroe, R-Greeley, has picked up $8826 since 2002 and Representative Wes McKinley, R-Walsh, received $2,295 since 2009.

So far, the federal government has not instituted drug testing for the farm subsidy program. It is possible for Sonnenberg to offer a House resolution requesting drug testing in the farm subsidy program during the 2013 General Session.  He is sure to win his seat in November as he's running unopposed.  PEN, CCW

This post was published on May 7, 2012. Permalink ». Comments are disabled at this time.

The "don't touch my rights" argument appeared in the state Senate today in the debate over where one person's religion encroaches on another person's right to health care services. Many senators apparently wished the memorial didn't get as far as the Senate floor, but, as Senator Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, said, "it is what it is." The memorial went down in a 15-20 party line vote.

SM12-003, the Respect For Rights Of Conscience Act Of 2011 sponsored by Senator Tim Neville, R-SoJeffco, would send a message to the US Congress that the Colorado legislature wants health care providers to be able to opt out of offering services that violate religious or moral beliefs.

For all Senate Republicans, men and women, religious rights begin with the 1st amendment and the free exercise of religion.  For all Democrats, women and men, a violation of rights begins when a woman's health care is denied because of someone else's expression of religion.

As usual in these debates, some Senators were emotional and personal. But Senator Ellen Roberts apparently told the men in her caucus to stay seated and shut up.  She warned her colleagues, "Unless you think we are a prop, we have put superglue on their (GOP male senators) seats."  She apparently wanted to tone down the biblical citations in play in Thursday's SB12-002 arguments over civil unions. 

Roberts made a strong case against the idea of SBM-003 as a "war on women."  She's a pro-choice Republican whose mother and grandmother went through that war in the last century.  She made the constitutional argument that the freedom of religion is a fundamental, unassailable right.  It's the reason her Quaker forebears came to the United States in the first place.  Turning tables on Democrats, she cited her vote in support of SB-002 as demonstration of her commitment to individual rights, and in her view, SM-003 holds the same status.

Senator Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, agreed with Roberts that religious freedom is unassailable, as long as it remains within the personal realm.  As soon as one person's religion crosses a line into another person's realm, religious freedom turns into religion establishment, violating the constitutional premise that the state may not impose any religion on any person.  Carroll also cited the many privacy concerns as people seeking reproductive health care would have to ask doctors, nurses, pharmacists, hospitals, and any other health care provider whether they will be able to receive all health care services.

Senator Angela Giron, D-Pueblo, "called out" the Catholic church for pushing the issue.  "Our bodies are being used as political pawns," said Giron.  "That all male hierarchy in the church is being leveraged against us... It's a cheap trick to prevent women from having basic health care."

Senator Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, offered an interesting take.  Her mother told her, as a Catholic, that God wouldn't give her any more children than she could handle.  After four children in roughly four years, she had a discussion with her non-Catholic husband about "what the lord had in mind for us."  They didn't have any more children, but Spence cited the need for the Obama administration to keep to its promise to find a way for health care providers to exercise their religious freedoms in the health care system.

After the vote, Senator Roberts provided acetone to her male Republican colleagues so they could peel away from their chairs for committee business.  PEN, CCW

This post was published on April 27, 2012. Permalink ». Comments are disabled at this time.