President (To Win Colorado) See Full Big Line

(D) Kamala Harris

(R) Donald Trump

80%

20%

CO-01 (Denver) See Full Big Line

(D) Diana DeGette*

(R) V. Archuleta

98%

CO-02 (Boulder-ish) See Full Big Line

(D) Joe Neguse*

(R) Marshall Dawson

95%

CO-03 (West & Southern CO) See Full Big Line

(D) Adam Frisch

(R) Jeff Hurd

50%

CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado) See Full Big Line

(R) Lauren Boebert

(D) Trisha Calvarese

90%

10%

CO-05 (Colorado Springs) See Full Big Line

(R) Jeff Crank

(D) River Gassen

80%

20%

CO-06 (Aurora) See Full Big Line

(D) Jason Crow*

(R) John Fabbricatore

90%

10%

CO-07 (Jefferson County) See Full Big Line

(D) B. Pettersen

(R) Sergei Matveyuk

90%

10%

CO-08 (Northern Colo.) See Full Big Line

(D) Yadira Caraveo

(R) Gabe Evans

70%↑

30%

State Senate Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

80%

20%

State House Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

95%

January 12, 2016 10:56 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Tuesday (Jan. 12)

1 Comments
by: Colorado Pols

GetMoreSmarter-Snow President Barack Obama delivers his final “State of the Union” address tonight. 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…

► Cary Kennedy will step down as one of Denver Mayor Michael Hancock’s top officials. Kennedy will resign as Denver’s chief financial officer and deputy mayor on Feb. 11 in order to start her own consultant business…and perhaps to prepare a campaign for Governor in 2018.

► Public employee unions continue to hold their breath after the Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday that could lead to a crippling ruling later this year. From the New York Times:

In a closely watched case brought by 10 California teachers, the court’s conservative majority seemed ready to say that forcing public workers to support unions they have declined to join violates the First Amendment.

A ruling in the teachers’ favor would affect millions of government workers and culminate a political and legal campaign by a group of prominent conservative foundations aimed at weakening public-sector unions. Those unions stand to lose fees from both workers who object to the positions the unions take and those who simply choose not to join while benefiting from the unions’ efforts on their behalf.

Under California law, public employees who choose not to join unions must pay a “fair share service fee,” also known as an “agency fee,” typically equivalent to members’ dues. The fees, the law says, are meant to pay for collective bargaining activities, including “the cost of lobbying activities.” More than 20 states have similar laws.

If the Supreme Court ultimately continues down this path, the justices are essentially saying that you should still be able to receive the benefits of union negotiations without having to actually contribute to the union yourself. Freedom for freeloaders!

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Senate President Bill Cadman would have you believe that the Denver Post is a “liberal” newspaper that just wants to divide Republicans. Colorado Republicans are doing a pretty damn good job of dividing themselves, thank you very much.

► Peter Marcus of the Durango Herald previews the looming budget battle in Colorado as the state legislature prepares to reconvene. Today, Governor John Hickenlooper will respond to critics, led by Sen. Cadman, about his proposal for restructuring the so-called “hospital provider fee”:

The governor’s office would like to take the proposal a step further by restructuring the hospital provider fee to exempt it from the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR. By restructuring it as an enterprise fund, or government-owned business, the cash would not count as revenue subject to TABOR refunds, thereby allowing lawmakers to spend it. The fund is estimated to be as high as $690 million this fiscal year…

…Hickenlooper is expected to address the issue Tuesday at an event with reporters. His office has so far stood by its proposal, calling the nonbinding legal memo from OLLS “fatally flawed and incomplete.”

The governor’s office said it worked with the attorney general’s office last year in crafting the proposal, which was introduced in the Legislature, but failed to muster enough support in the Republican-controlled Senate.

This year, much of the state budget hinges on negotiations around the fee.

► The legislature will again try to tackle the issue of “construction defects,” a divisive subject that failed to get much traction in 2015. Developers continue to push for changes that would reduce their liability for construction defects, but their primary argument — that current laws are preventing the construction of new condominium and apartment complexes — hasn’t stood up to inspection in the wake of legal changes by some Colorado municipalities. As John Aguilar reports for the Denver Post:

Meanwhile, there is some question as to how effective the various municipal measures will be in luring condo builders back to Colorado. Lakewood passed the first such measure in October 2014 and has yet to receive an application for a condo project.

Mayor Adam Paul said there have been many inquiries from builders, but getting that initial commitment has been difficult.

“There’s some hesitation to be first,” he said.

In other words, making it harder for homeowners to sue over construction defects hasn’t actually prompted developers to start building more units. This will be the fourth straight legislative session in which some form of “construction defects” legislation will be discussed.

► As Colorado Pols first reported, Republican Jon Keyser will resign his seat in the state legislature in order to campaign full-time for a U.S. Senate seat. Keyser has been a rumored Senate candidate for a few months now, but didn’t make things official until Monday. As many as 10 Republicans could end up running for the GOP nomination in June.

► Colorado is bringing back the “earned income tax credit” after 15 years.

► The Colorado Department of Education has postponed a change regarding which college-entrance exam Colorado students will be required to take. The State Board wants to move away from the ACT test in favor of the SAT, which drew complaints from teachers, parents, and administrators who feared the change was being instituted too quickly for Colorado students who have been preparing more for the ACT test. Colorado will not completely transition to the SAT until Spring 2017.

► The 2015 school board recall campaign in Jefferson County was a success, but the parent and community-created organization Support Jeffco Kids isn’t going anywhere. The organization is hosting a “Love Jeffco Event” on February 19 to thank supporters and volunteers of the 2015 recall campaign. Former Jeffco Superintendent Cindy Stevenson will be the keynote speaker at the event.

► The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Florida’s capital punishment process is unconstitutional.

ICYMI

► As President Obama prepares to deliver his final “State of the Union” address, Politico takes a look back at Obama’s previous SOTU speeches.

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One thought on “Get More Smarter on Tuesday (Jan. 12)”

Phoenix Rising says:

January 12, 2016 at 11:12 am

In what world does it make sense to prevent a condo owner from suing over construction defects within his unit? It's like saying you can't sue the builder of your house unless the entire HOA votes to sue.

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Get More Smarter on Tuesday (Jan. 12)

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