Senate Republicans Just Get Weirder and Weirder

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by: Colorado Pols

Have you met Senator Facepalm?

The first Colorado legislative session in a decade with Republicans leading the State Senate has been a strange trip. From a forehead-slapping focus on immunizations to the unpredictable antics of Sen. Vicki “Lost” Marble, we’ve witnessed more odd behavior than a full summer sitting in the Coors Field Rockpile…and there’s still a month left to go.

Today, 6 Senate Republicans cast very odd votes on an otherwise innocuous piece of legislation. According to a press release from the Senate Democrats (full release after the jump), SB15-011 doesn’t appear to be all that controversial:

The bill (SB 15-011) would allow a pilot program providing complementary and alternative medicine for spinal injuries to continue until 2020.

Sen. [Nancy] Todd started the program back in 2009, but it is currently scheduled to sunset in September 2015. The intent of the pilot program included expanding the choice of therapies available to people with disabilities. The bill today ensures that “complementary or alternative medicine” is available for Coloradans with spinal injuries to receive chiropractic care, massage therapy, and acupuncture by licensed or certified providers. It would also expand access to the program from its current 67 people to 100 people. [Pols emphasis]

The bill ultimately passed the Senate 29-6 vote. The opposition: Sen. Tim Neville, Sen. Laura Woods, Sen. Randy Baumgardner, Sen. Chris Holbert, Sen. Vicki Marble, and Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg.

Why? Why would you vote against this bill? It’s not a huge expense, it’s a big help to a number of families in Colorado, and it clearly had the votes to pass out of the Senate.

This isn’t as big of a deal to somebody like Sen. Marble, who is fairly safe in her Senate district; but why would Sen. Laura ~~Waters~~ Woods vote NO here? Woods will almost certainly be the top pickup target for Democrats in 2016, and it’s unexplainable votes like this that make for compelling advertising.

Senate approves bill to help Coloradans with spinal injuries

DENVER — Today the Senate approved legislation to provide expanded access to wellness for Coloradans with spinal injuries.

The bill (SB 15-011) would allow a pilot program providing complementary and alternative medicine for spinal injuries to continue until 2020.

Sen. Todd started the program back in 2009, but it is currently scheduled to sunset in September 2015. The intent of the pilot program included expanding the choice of therapies available to people with disabilities. The bill today ensures that “complementary or alternative medicine” is available for Coloradans with spinal injuries to receive chiropractic care, massage therapy, and acupuncture by licensed or certified providers. It would also expand access to the program from its current 67 people to 100 people.

During the hearing today, Sen. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora, dedicated the program to Chanda Hinton, a beneficiary of complementary and alternative practices.

Hinton was shot at age 9, and the shooting severed her spinal cord and left her paralyzed from the chest down. She survived, but at age 21 she was experiencing severe pain and her weight dropped to 59 pounds, according to an account from the Denver Westword newspaper. Her sister suggested she try complementary and integrative therapies, and an ensuing regimen of acupuncture, massage therapy, and chiropractic treatment helped her manage the chronic pain.

The pain is now manageable, and she is able to avoid hospitalization and narcotics associated with pain. “Chanda’s story is simply amazing. Alternative medicine has enabled her to do amazing things,” said Sen. Todd. “My goal is to help other Coloradans in situations like hers to live their fullest lives. I was pleased to see the Senate pass the bill today, and I’m looking forward to having the program help even more Coloradans in the coming years.”

Hinton now runs the Chanda Plan Foundation which provides people with disabilities access to wellness.

“Today was a good day for the State of Colorado. We are now closer to ensuring individuals can continue accessing wellness through the spinal cord injury waiver. I hope to see the same results in the House of Representatives,” said Hinton.

The bill passed the Senate today on a 29-6 third reading vote. All six opposition votes to this bill came from Republican Senators: Sen. Tim Neville, R-Littleton; Sen. Laura Woods, R-Arvada; Sen. Randy Baumgardner, R-Hot Sulphur Springs; Sen. Chris Holbert, R-Parker; Sen. Vicki Marble, R-Fort Collins; and Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling.

The bill will now move over to the House of Representatives.

11 thoughts on “Senate Republicans Just Get Weirder and Weirder”

Phoenix Rising says:

April 16, 2015 at 5:03 pm

So people who don’t want to vaccinate their children (against scientific advice) deserve government protection, but people who can get better relief from their medical conditions through alternative therapies can suck it according to Sens. Neville, Marble, Woods, Baumgardner, Holbert, and Sonnenberg?

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Diogenesdemar says:

April 16, 2015 at 5:43 pm

Oh, it makes perfectly explicable sense . . .

. . . Gunz R good!

Team Dudley (aka the Nevillettes) will never vote to support anyone who might be evidence of any harm attributable to their obsession!

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Progressicat says:

April 16, 2015 at 6:29 pm

This bill is just another step in the implementation of Agenda 21. Thank you brave senators for voting against it. Can’t say more…I think I hear a helicopter overhead. Illuminati confirmed!

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Craig says:

April 17, 2015 at 10:04 am

Kind of reminds you of Penn Phiffner.

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1. FrankUnderwood says:
  
  April 17, 2015 at 12:49 pm
  
  whatever became of him?
  
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ajb says:

April 17, 2015 at 10:35 am

I’ll bet they voted no because Hinton blames her paralysis on a gunshot wound. Seriously.

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1. mamajama55 says:
  
  April 17, 2015 at 11:49 am
  
  ajb, I’m afraid that you’re right. The one thing that the firearms industry lobbyists (i.e., NRA, RMGO, NAGR) have been able to hold at bay is legislation allowing civil or class action suits based on gun injuries and death .
  
  Hinton’s paralysis, if the firearms manufacturer were held liable for it, would set a serious precedent for damages, no matter which therapies her family chose.
  
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Conserv. Head Banger says:

April 17, 2015 at 12:37 pm

The May/June issue of Skeptical Inquirer magazine (the magazine for science and reason); just received; is devoted almost totally to medical mis-information. Among the mis-information is so-called “complementary medicine.”

Might be worth your while to check this out at the newsstand before passing judgement on those voting against this bill. And yes, it is a strange feeling for me to be defending, at least a little, some members of the Statehouse’s “clown posse.”

Some people may benefit from non-recognized treatment such as chiropractic and massage. But it’s often a placebo effect; i.e., the power of the mind. Acupuncture, on the other hand, has some medically documented benefits. C.H.B.

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1. Progressicat says:
  
  April 18, 2015 at 3:33 pm
  
  Actually, it’s the opposite. Although the theory of subluxation is thoroughly discredited, spinal manipulation (and massage) have been shown to reduce pain over the short term. Acupuncture, however, has never been shown to have an effect greater than placebo.
  
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  1. Conserv. Head Banger says:
    
    April 19, 2015 at 10:20 am
    
    What is being manipulated is not the spine itself; rather the muscles around the spine. In the long run, best solution for most back and knee problems is to keep one’s weight down and get exercise.
    
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2. Phoenix Rising says:
  
  April 18, 2015 at 7:32 pm
  
  I have been prescribed massage by a traditional western doctor because it directly addresses muscle tenseness that in my case resulted in a stiff neck with pain. It’s a recognized physical therapy practice.
  
  Skeptical Inquirer IMHO is largely authored by the ultra-conservatives of science – a combination of the anti-Weekly World News and promo pieces upholding science as a pure force for the future. It runs pieces saying that GMOs are perfectly fine, and I find myself wondering how firmly they’ve stood up for the safety of Roundup (and, by inference, Roundup-ready GMO use), or of fracking fluids, or of neonicotinoids. Science is only good as its inputs and the bias-free nature/methods of those performing it.
  
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