May 21, 2015 10:39 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Thursday (May 21)

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• by: Colorado Pols

Apparently today is Red Nose Day; the first person who can find two friends who know what this means wins a prize. 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…

► Congress is unlikely to figure out a plan to continue funding construction at the VA Hospital project in Aurora, so it looks like work will shut down on the site as soon as next week. Congressman Mike Coffman (R-Aurora) — the Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee — took time out from blaming other people to have breakfast this morning with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to discuss a potential Coffman campaign for U.S. Senate in 2016. Hey, priorities, right?

► If funding for the Aurora VA Hospital project is halted, that doesn’t mean the government is still saving money. As Mark Matthews reports for the Denver Post:

According to one congressional estimate, it would cost $20 million to shutter the site and $2 million a month to keep it safe from the elements — additional expenses that would increase the price tag of a project that has been called the biggest construction failure in VA history.

That’s not all. There are concerns among Colorado legislators that another work stoppage would drive away subcontractors, who already had to live through one shutdown in December. That could further increase the price…

…”I have presented a plan,” [VA Secretary Robert] McDonald wrote. “Congress has not proposed a counter-plan. I am open to reviewing any proposal that would better serve the veterans of Colorado and the American taxpayers.

“If congressional leaders choose not to support VA’s proposals or choose not to offer feasible solutions of their own, then they will be punishing Colorado veterans today for past VA errors.”

Maybe Coffman was proposing his plan to Mitch McConnell at breakfast this morning.

 Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► The Senate approved fast-track authority for a trade deal — known as the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) — backed by President Obama but opposed by many Senate Democrats. Both Colorado Senators voted YES on the cloture motion.

► Senator Michael Bennet (D-Denver) is introducing legislation to offer increased tax breaks to small businesses that purchase expensive equipment.

► Congressman Jared Polis (D-Boulderish) is preparing legislation that seeks to protect tens of thousands of acres of land near the Continental Divide. From the Denver Post:

More than 39,000 acres in the Colorado mountains around resorts would be protected as wilderness under legislation that U.S. Rep. Jared Polis is poised to introduce in Congress.

An additional 18,000 acres would gain lesser protection — allowing mountain bikes, for example, at an 11,500-acre Tenmile area north of Quandary Peak — under his Continental Divide Wilderness and Recreation Act.

Polis, a Boulder Democrat, has been working for years to protect the land, mostly around edges of existing wilderness areas near Dillon, Vail and Breckenridge.

“The threats are political. Every administration can reclassify lands however they want. We want to make sure these are permanently preserved against future development,” Polis said in an interview.

► Colorado will soon become the first state in the country to implement new fire prediction technologies that seek to anticipate the direction and intensity of wildfires.

 ► Governor Hickenlooper made two new appointments to his senior staff team.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► This week’s editorial cartoon in the Colorado Statesman features State Treasurer Walker Stapleton cooking some waffles (click here if you don’t understand the joke).

► Comedian David Letterman hosted his final “Late Show” last night.

► State Rep. Angela Williams announced her intentions to run for State Senate in SD-33 (Democratic Sen. Mike Johnston is term-limited).

ICYMI

► It’s official: Taking the express lanes on Hwy 36 is going to cost you a hefty sum.

► Sean Bradley, one of two candidates in the runoff election for Denver City Council in District 11, refused to say in an interview with the Denver Post if he planned to quit his current job if elected. Yes, Denver City Council is a full-time job.

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