"Arm the Teachers" bill dies in committee

A bill that would have given school boards the authority to permit administrators and teachers to carry concealed weapons on the state's public school campuses was defeated in a Senate committee Monday.

SB 9 lost on a party-line, 3-2 vote.

Sen. John P. Morse, D-Colorado Springs, was quoted by the Colorado Springs Gazette as saying that the bill would not only be of no help in reducing violence, but contribute to the problem.

The sponsor of the measure, Republican Ted Harvey of Highlands Ranch, had said he believed the measure is needed so that those who work in schools can protect children and themselves.

The defeat of the measure does not mean that schoolkids, teachers, support employees, and administrators have no protection against a firearm-toting intruder intent on doing harm. Current law permits armed police officers to patrol public school buildings in Colorado.

The presence of an armed guard or other people with guns in a building attacked by a shooter is not a guarantee that no one would be hurt. Some advocates of eliminating laws that set up schools as gun-free areas argue that the presence of an armed security guard at Columbine High School during a mass shooting incident in April 1999 prevented the deaths of some individuals. However, thirteen people, including 12 children, died in that massacre despite his presence.

SB 9 was co-sponsored in the Senate by Scott Renfroe, R-Greeley, and in the House of Representatives by Rep. Lori Saine, R-Dacono.

68th General Assembly opens today

Colorado's state legislature will convene for its sixty-eighth biannual session today.

The gathering of 65 representatives and 35 senators comes one day after the inauguration of a new governor, new state treasurer, and new secretary of state.

Republicans took control of the House of Representatives by one seat in the November election. Democrats, as they have since Jan. 2005, continue to hold the majority in the Senate.

Both the House and the Senate will convene today at 10 am. After certifying the election results and confirming the eligibility of all members, chief justice Michael Bender will swear in all the legislators.

Outgoing House speaker Terrence Carroll, D-Denver, will preside over that part of the opening day. He will relinquish the gavel when his successor is formally elected by House members.

Bills may be introduced, but committee hearings on proposed legislation will not commence until tomorrow.

Traditionally, the first day of the legislative session focuses on ceremonial and organizational resolutions.

Democrat Brandon Shaffer, a former Navy officer and a lawyer, is president of the Senate. Shaffer, 39, represents Erie, Lafayette, Longmont, and Louisville in the chamber. He is halfway through his second and final term in the Senate, having been first elected in 2004.

The majority leader is John Morse of Colorado Springs. A Democrat in a district that leans toward the GOP, the former Fountain police chief was re-elected to his second term in a close race last autumn.

Morse also worked as an emergency medical technician and as a certified public accountant earlier in his career. He has lived in the Colorado Springs area for more than 30 years and holds both M.B.A. and Ph.D degrees.

The Republican leader in the Senate is Dana "Mike" Kopp of Littleton. Kopp, 32, is an Army veteran. A Ranger, he is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm, the first American-led war against Iraq's former Baathist regime.

Kopp is starting his second and last term in the Senate.

Frank McNulty of Highlands Ranch, a former aide to retired U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard and a lawyer who used to work for the state Department of Natural Resources, will become the new House speaker.

The Republican, 37, will lead a GOP majority of one seat. Today marks the start of his third of four possible two-year terms as a representative.

The House majority leader is Amy Stephens of Monument. Republican Stephens, 53, is a former employee of Focus on the Family and a former member of the governor's Commission on the Welfare of Children. She won her seat in 2006 and is starting her third term today.

Minority leader Sal Pace represents Pueblo. Pace, 34, got his start in politics working for former U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa. He was first elected in 2008.

Pace has a masters degree in American political theory and teaches government as an adjunct faculty member at Colorado State University-Pueblo.

Both chambers rely on a number of committees to consider legislation before it comes to a vote on the floor. The state constitution requires that all bills be given a committee hearing.

The General Assembly meets for 120 days each year.

Shaffer To Be Next Senate President

Senate Democrats elected Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, as the next Senate president this morning.

Shaffer, 38, is in his second and final term as a state senator. He was first elected in 2004.

He will replace Sen. Peter Groff, D-Denver, as president of the Senate effective May 7, 2009.

Groff has announced his resignation from the Senate in order to accept a position in the office of the U.S. Secretary of Education.

The chamber's majority caucus also chose Sen. John P. Morse, D-Colorado Springs, as the new majority leader.

Morse will replace Shaffer in that role effective May 7, 2009.

The remaining members of the Senate majority's leadership team will remain the same.

General Fund Growth Limit Passes Senate After Debate Extends to Wee Hours

A bill that would repeal the limit on the annual growth of the state's general fund gained preliminary approval in the Senate early this morning after Republicans tried for more than 10 hours to delay its passage.

SB 228, which would repeal the so-called Arveschoug-Bird law of 1991, was approved on after Democratic leaders of the chamber invoked a Senate rule allowing termination of debate.

Current law limits the state's general fund to a six percent annual growth rate. Revenues in excess of that growth rate must be allocated to transportation and capital improvement projects.

However, when the state's revenue drops, the funding it allows for the general fund in that year becomes the new baseline for the next year's allowable growth. Thus the state experiences a "ratchet-down" effect in the general fund when economic conditions worsen.

Republicans dislike the bill because they believe it deprives the state of a designated "pot" for transportation funding and that the Arveschoug-Bird spending limit was constitutionalized when voters enacted the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) in 1992.

But Democrats, relying on a recent opinion by retired state supreme court justice Jean Dubofsky, say Arveschoug-Bird merely forces an allocation of existing revenues and does not limit total state spending.

Republican opponents of SB 228 offered dozens of amendments during the debate, most of which were aimed at preserving funding for transportation projects in their districts.

Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, was the GOP's point-man for arguments about the constitutional controversy, while veteran Colorado Springs Republican Keith King urged majority Democrats to send the measure to the voters as a referendum.

None of the Republican amendments were accepted by the chamber's ruling Democrats.

The bill must gain final approval in the Senate before moving on to the House. It is sponsored in the Senate by Democrat John P. Morse of Colorado Springs.

The existing state general fund annual growth limit is named for its legislative sponsors, former Rep. Steve Arveschoug, R-Pueblo, and former Sen. Mike Bird, R-Colorado Springs.

General Fund Growth Limit Author Bird Critical of Law's Impact

Former Sen. Mike Bird, R-Colorado Springs, is known as one of the two lead sponsors of the state's annual general fund growth limit. According to a report in today's Denver Post, Bird is not happy with the impact the law has had on Colorado.

According to the article by the Post's Tim Hoover,

"As the bill went along, Arveschoug wanted the specific spending limit," Bird said. "I never wanted a specific limit because I knew that it would not have the flexibiity of tying it to personal income."

Bird, who served in the House and Senate between 1986 and 1994, said the downward ratchet on general fund spending was "an unfortunate byproduct" of the measure.

"It doesn't make any sense to have it (the general fund) go down and then start at the lower level," he said.

He also said the bill was passed at "a time when we weren't worried about an actual decline in the economy."

The article also says that former Rep. Steve Arveschoug, R-Pueblo, thinks that the law has worked as its sponsors intended.

"The perspective I had then and probably still have today," he said, "is that we were trying to look at what the citizens of Colorado could afford so that growth could not exceed taxpayers' ability to pay."

A bill sponsored by Sen. John P. Morse, D-Colorado Springs, would repeal the Arveschoug-Bird general fund growth limit.

General Assembly Declares "Police Week" and Peace Officer Memorial Day

Both chambers of the General Assembly passed Wednesday a resolution establishing Police Week in Colorado during the week of May 11-17 and establishing "Peace Officer Memorial Day" for 2008 on May 15.

SJR 17, sponsored by Sen. John P. Morse, D-Colorado Springs, and Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, asks Coloradoans to remember the work of the state's law enforcement officers and lists the 215 peace officers killed in the line of duty since statehood.

"They say that courage is being afraid and doing your job anyway," King said. "That's what those people did."

The federal government also recognizes Police Week and Peace Officer Memorial Day.

Flags of the United States and Colorado should be flown at half-staff on Peace Officer Memorial Day.

Ritter, Lawmakers Introduce Consolidated State IT Department Bill

Flanked by a group of bipartisan legislators, Gov. Bill Ritter announced Friday the introduction of a bill that would consolidate all information technology operations of the state government in one office.

The bill, which does not have a number as of this writing, will be sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, and John P. Morse, D-Colorado Springs, and in the House by Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, and Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood. It has 74 co-sponsors already, according to a press release issued by Ritter's media relations office.

"Information technology is the backbone of how we deliver services to the people of Colorado," Ritter said. "But we have too many examples of under-performing and even failing computer systems. We have twice the number of computer servers we need. We have 38 data centers, when other states do just fine with two. We have a decentralized IT purchasing structure, when we should be maximizing our buying power instead of diffusing it."

The state has had a number of embarrassing information technology problems in recent years. During the administration of former Gov. Bill Owens (R), the state spent more than $300 million on a system that was supposed to handle a wide variety of government services. Workers managed to get the complicated software to do some of what it was supposed to do, but there were complaints from state employees that no one in senior levels of the executive branch would listen to their concerns about the computer problems.

Buescher said he was glad a solution to the state's oft-repeated and systemic computer problems is in the works but indicated he thinks it took too long.

"As a businessman, I never would have tolerated the discombobulated IT systems we endured for over a decade in this state," Buescher said. "I'm glad we're finally correcting it."

Introduction of the bill follows Ritter's issuance of an executive order in May that appointed a state IT officer and asked him to come up with recommendations for improving state government technology services.

Wiretap Extension Bill Gets Final House OK

The House gave final approval Wednesday to a bill that would allow state judges to grant indefinite extensions to wiretap authorizations.

HB 1130, sponsored by Rep. Stella Garza-Hicks, R-Colorado Springs, passed on a 43-20 vote.

The bill provides that state courts could grant law enforcement agencies unlimited extensions of orders allowing police to wiretap people or entities suspected of committing crimes.

Current law says that police can get an order allowing wiretapping for 30 days and have it extended once for an additional 30 days.

All of the "no" votes on the bill were cast by Democrats. However, nearly as many Democrats (18) voted for the bill as voted against it. Among those voting "yes" were:

Rep. Debbie Benefield, D-Arvada
Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction
Assistant Majority Leader Rep. Terrance Carroll, D-Denver
Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver
Rep. Cheri Jahn, D-Golden
Assistant Majority Caucus Chair Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder
Majority Leader Rep. Alice Madden, D-Boulder
Rep. Rosemary Marshall, D-Denver
Rep. Liane "Buffie" McFadyen, D-Pueblo West
Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Colorado Springs
Rep. Cherilyn Peniston, D-Westminster
Rep. Dianne Primavera, D-Broomfield
Rep. Joe Rice, D-Littleton
Rep. Christine Scanlan, D-Dillon
Rep. John Soper, D-Thornton
Rep. Debbie Stafford, D-Aurora
Rep. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora
Speaker Rep. Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver.

The bill is sponsored in the Senate by Democrats Abel Tapia of Pueblo and John P. Morse of Colorado Springs.

Military Relief Fund Bill Passes House

A bill that would extend the life of the state's Military Family Relief Fund has passed the House and is on the way to the Senate. The fund will expire this year if the bill is not enacted into law.

HB 1035, which is sponsored by Rep. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, Rep. Spencer Swalm, R-Centennial, and Sen. John P. Morse, D-Colorado Springs, was given final clearance by the House this morning. Carroll was the driving force behind the initial creation of the fund.

The fund, which is administered by the Department of Military & Veterans Affairs, provides money to families of service members, including national guard members on active duty, deployed as a result of the attacks on the United States that took place Sept. 11, 2001.

The fund can be used to make up lost salary and increased expenses caused by the armed forces member's mobilization.

You can learn more about the Military Family Relief Fund here.

Military Family Relief Fund Extension Passes House Committee

HB 1035, which would extend the life of the state's military family relief fund, was endorsed by a House committee this morning.

The bill, which would extend the life of a fund used to help families that suffer financial hardship when an armed forces member is deployed overseas, was approved by the House Finance Committee, 8-3.

Republican Reps. Doug Bruce and Kent Lambert of Colorado Springs and Kevin Lundberg of Berthoud voted "no."

The bill is sponsored by Reps. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, and Spencer Swalm, R-Centennial and Sen. John P. Morse, D-Colorado Springs.