April 20, 2015 01:07 PM UTC

Get More Smarter on Monday (April 20)

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• by: Colorado Pols

Heyy, mannn, happy 4/20! It’s time to Get More Smarter with Colorado Pols. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example).

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► The Veterans Administration still needs about $830 million to complete the Aurora hospital project. It will cost about $340 million more just to get the thing up and running.

► “Fiscal thicket. Fiscal thicket. Fiscal thicket.” Say that as fast as you can. The Colorado legislature has signed off on the $25-ish billion budget, and it now heads to the desk of Gov. John Hickenlooper for final approval.

► Meanwhile, Gov. Hickenlooper is pushing a proposal for dealing with budget/TABOR problems that need to be changed in order to continue to maintain our infrastructure (you know, roads and stuff). Most major business groups support Hickenlooper’s proposal, but the Koch-funded “Americans for Prosperity Potholes” is jumping around and shrieking like monkeys while trying to claim that this is some sort of tax increase (it’s not). Republican Sen. Randy Baumgardner may poop in the punchbowl today.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

SHOULD YOU FIND YOURSELF STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Legislation dealing with “fetal homicide” and “Personhood” will be taken up for discussion in the State Senate on Wednesday. Senate Republicans are being programmed to say the word “justice” over and over and over again.

► The right-wing Independence Institute continues its war of words with Dudley Brown and his Rocky Mountain Gun Owners group. On Friday, Dave Kopel of the Independence Institute accused Brown of lying to Congress and of inciting conflict for the sole purpose of fundraising.

► House Speaker Dickie Lee Hullinghorst may present a different bill dealing with “construction defects” because SB-177, which is due to be discussed in the House, is kind of a mess.

► The Boulder campus of the University of Colorado will remain open today for the first time in three years on 4/20. 

► Republican Rep. Mike Coffman did donate $20,000 in campaign contributions to charity that were from disgraced Republican Rep. Aaron “Downton Abbey” Schock. Coffman’s campaign waited, however, until three days after Schock had resigned to make their charitable gift.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► The State House gave approval to a program that would provide contraceptive devices to teenage girls…if the program somehow ended up with funding. Republican legislators continue to insist that teenagers wouldn’t have so much sex if we would just stop talking about it

► Jefferson County School Board member Julie Williams should probably be disconnected from the Internet. Late last week Williams posted a link to a story on Facebook about the national “Day of Silence” on Friday…a story generated by a recognized “hate group.” Williams defended herself, sort of, by saying that she didn’t actually read the story before she forwarded it along — but not before just about every media outlet in Metro Denver picked up on the controversy.

► Um, sorry Rep. Ken Buck, but you are not legally allowed to be carrying around that AR-15 in Congress. Yes, even if it is painted like an American flag.

► Kneel before Zodley! Kneel!

ICYMI

► Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams is working on repairing scores of damaged relationships around the state after four years of Scott Gessler.

► Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain is like the Senate version of Gandalf from the “Lord of the Rings” series. No, not because he’s leading a noble quest of any kind — McCain just says “thou shall not pass!” to every Presidential nominee that comes his way.

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