(D) Joe Biden*
(R) Donald Trump
80%
20%
(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) V. Archuleta
98%
2%
(D) Joe Neguse*
(R) Marshall Dawson
95%
5%
(D) Adam Frisch
(R) Jeff Hurd
50%
50%
(R) Lauren Boebert
(D) Trisha Calvarese
90%
10%
(R) Jeff Crank
(D) River Gassen
80%
20%
(D) Jason Crow*
(R) John Fabbricatore
90%
10%
(D) B. Pettersen
(R) Sergei Matveyuk
90%
10%
(D) Yadira Caraveo
(R) Gabe Evans
70%
30%
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
Lots of interesting poll results from Public Policy Polling today, the second half of their recent survey work in Colorado. PPP is generally considered a Democratic-leaning firm, but their performance in recent elections has been quite good. A study by Fordham University rated PPP the most accurate pollster nationally of the 2012 elections. From today's memo […]
Local communities in Colorado have begun to take action to protect schools, businesses, and neighborhoods from the harmful effects of a controversial oil and gas extraction method called “fracking.” Unfortunately, Gov. John Hickenlooper has announced his intention to sue any local government in the state that bans fracking. That’s wrong. If local communities want to protect their […]
In light of Gov. John Hickenlooper's vow to sue any city or other local government that elects to ban the controversial practice of "fracking" within their boundaries, in the name of preserving fair and equal accessibility to subsurface mineral rights across the state, we turn to last week's threat by the very same Gov. Hickenlooper […]
I found this article on Salon today and thought yes that is Hinkenlooper for sure. Great, the nation is catching on to Hinkenlooper's worship of money and those that provide it to him. Hinkenlooper is popular today but it doesn't mean he will be for much longer. The nation is changing quite rapidly and Elizabeth Warren […]
Recent events have obligated us to take a more editorial tone than usual. It's time to speak up. The Durango Herald's Joe Hanel reports today, following up on this week's story from Washington of Gov. John Hickenlooper's testimony before a U.S. Senate committee in favor of local regulation of hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" for oil […]
From CNN:
Lawmakers in New York are poised to approve a new set of gun laws intended to fortify the state’s assault weapons ban, limit the number of bullets in magazines and strengthen rules that keep the mentally ill from obtaining firearms.
If passed, it would be the nation’s first gun control bill since last month’s massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, where a gunman killed 27 people, including 20 young children in an elementary school.
New York’s GOP-controlled Senate overwhelmingly approved the measure in a 43-18 vote late Monday night, one week after Gov. Andrew Cuomo spelled out tough new gun control proposals in his annual State of the State address.
It will be interesting to see if the efforts of New York’s legislature will add any urgency or momentum to efforts to corral gun violence in Colorado — particularly given the rising expectations for Colorado and Gov. John Hickenlooper. It certainly makes it harder for Colorado legislators to get bogged down when another (albeit Bluer) state takes a big step forward.
In an otherwise excellent New York Times story yesterday on the changing politics of guns in the state of Colorado, we find, naturally, the foremost gun nut rights advocate in the Colorado General Assembly, Sen. Greg Brophy. While Brophy commenting on a story about guns in Colorado is a pretty routine occurrence, we were taken aback by the…for lack of a better word, and excuse us, but the bullshit that Sen. Brophy either believes or repeats uncritically.
State Senator Greg Brophy, a Republican, said the attention from outside groups would make Colorado “ground zero for gun control in the United States.”
Republican supporters of gun rights have bristled at the push for tighter gun laws. One of the first bills introduced in the legislature would allow teachers with concealed-weapons permits to carry guns inside their classrooms (with a school district’s permission). Mr. Brophy was one who recoiled at the universal background checks, saying the only way to enforce such a system would be to require all gun owners to register their firearms. [Pols emphasis]
“That is the most onerous regulation ever conceived of in this country outside the outright confiscation of firearms,” he said. “Even if I want to loan a shotgun to my nephew to take out pheasant hunting, I can’t do that. I don’t think they realize here in Colorado just how dangerous that proposal is to liberty.”
Whether or not you support the idea, as endorsed by Gov. John Hickenlooper in his State of the State address last week, of requiring a background check for most firearms transfers including private transactions, there is no question that Sen. Brophy is irresponsibly exaggerating the issue. For one thing, the bill for universal background checks hasn’t even dropped yet. Brophy’s use of a hypothetical “nephew” in his example cleverly misdirects from the fact that these laws in other states do contain exemptions for immediate family members. If Sen. Brophy wants nephews included in that exemption, he can propose that as a lawmaker, can’t he?
More puzzling is Brophy’s sweeping claim that “the only way to enforce” universal background checks would be to “require all gun owners to register their firearms.” We really don’t know what he means by this. It’s possible that Brophy is fearful of a provision to require the reporting of lost or stolen firearms, but that’s certainly not the same thing as requiring all guns to be registered–and again, he hasn’t even seen the bill yet to know what’s in it. Moreover, considering the copiously-documented chain of custody required by law for such things as cold medicine today, or (need we even say it) medical marijuana, we just don’t see how the voting public is going to consider an obligation to report a stolen firearm some kind of onerous burden.
In the end, opposition to requiring a background check for every firearm sale boils down to preserving loopholes–loopholes by which an individual who even Sen. Brophy must admit should not have a gun might be able to obtain one. More so than proposals to ban various types of guns or gun parts, opposition to background checks makes no political sense to us.
But it occurs to us that we say this quite often about Sen. Brophy.
Among the many pieces of legislation introduced in the Colorado General Assembly this week, highlighted by economic development and middle-class tax relief measures in the Democratic controlled House and Senate respectively, are a few real, shall we say, hum-dingers. Here’s a brief tour, with more sure to follow–post good ones you find in this space.
Guns: In addition to the “More Guns In Schools Act” we discussed yesterday from conservative Senate firebrands Scott Renfroe and Ted Harvey, GOP freshman Rep. Justin Everett is carrying this year’s version of the perennial “Make My Day Better” bill, with Sen. Kevin Grantham as the Senate sponsor. If you pay attention to its yearly introduction, debate, and death, you already know it’s opposed by more or less everybody in a public safety role.
God: Headed directly for the House State Affairs Committee, a.k.a. the “kill committee,” is Rep. Kevin Priola’s House Bill 13-1066, “Concerning the preservation of a person’s exercise of religion.” A state flavor of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, the bill (interestingly for the normally tort-hating Rep. Priola) allows for monetary damages to plaintiffs if a “substantial burden” to a person’s exercise of religion is proven. This legislation is considered by opponents as providing an affirmative defense for various kinds of discrimination.
Bedrooms: In addition to Rep. Janak “Dr. Nick” Joshi’s warmed-over “fetal homicide” bill, House Bill 13-1032, newly-elected Rep. Steven Humphrey introduced House Bill 13-1033–a no-apologies ban on abortions, with no exceptions of any kind for victims of rape or incest.
The bill prohibits abortion and makes any violation a class 3 felony. The following are exceptions to the prohibition:
A licensed physician performs a medical procedure designed or intended to prevent the death of a pregnant mother, if the physician makes reasonable medical efforts under the circumstances to preserve both the life of the mother and the life of her unborn child in a manner consistent with conventional medical practice;
A licensed physician provides medical treatment to the mother that results in the accidental or unintentional injury or death to the unborn child.
Teachers and public employees: Republican morale-building measures for public employees include Rep. Kevin Priola’s House Bill 13-1040 to slash public employee retirement benefits, and freshman Sen. Vicki Marble’s Senate Bill 13-017 to bust teacher’s unions. Meanwhile, the honor of carrying this year’s right-to-work (known to opponents as “work for less”) bill falls to freshman Sen. Owen Hill, who brings us Senate Bill 13-024. Sen. Hill could have made more edits to the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) sample “Right to Work” bill–which Sen. Hill’s legislation is rather obviously cribbed from. But we guess he was busy.
These are just a few bills that caught our eye as they were introduced–no doubt there are more. Again, we have little doubt that every bill you see above will die in an Assembly now fully controlled by Democrats. In terms of individual legislators, particularly those representing safe red districts, these kinds of bills probably don’t hurt the reputations of their sponsors.
As for the brand of the party they all belong to…that’s really the problem here, isn’t it?
UPDATE: Part 1 of Gov. John Hickenlooper’s speech today courtesy CBS4:
Watch part 2 after the jump.
—–
UPDATE: AP’s Ivan Moreno reports:
Hickenlooper called for more background checks in cases where they don’t currently exist, like when someone buys a gun from a seller on Craigslist.
“Let’s examine our laws and make the changes needed to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people,” he said. Some Democrats have indicated they will introduce a ban on assault weapons, but Hickenlooper did not mention that proposal in his speech. He said “it’s not enough to prevent dangerous people from getting weapons.”
“We have to do a better job of identifying and helping people who are a threat to themselves and others. That is why we are requesting your support for a comprehensive overhaul of our state’s mental health system,” he said. Last month, he called for an expansion of services for the mentally ill.
Hickenlooper also renewed a call for the passage of civil unions for same-sex couples – legislation that House Republicans blocked last session when they controlled the chamber. With Democrats controlling both chambers now, Hickenlooper said it’s time to pass the legislation.
“This year, let’s do it. Let’s pass civil unions!” he said.
As FOX 31’s Will Holden reports, Hickenlooper gaffed one good at the end:
Reaching what he would later laughingly refer to as the “crescendo” of his address, Hickenlooper found his tongue in a knot as he tried to describe the Coloradans who have “punched holes in the darkness” over the past year.
“Working together, we can punch holes in some pretty big … We … Oh Jesus,” Hickenlooper said.
—–
Gov. John Hickenlooper stands and delivers. We’ll update with coverage.
The following is based largely on personal conversations with reliable sources who attended both subcommittees; regrettably, my work schedule did not allow me to attend.
Colorado’s Amendment 64 task force, convened by Governor Hickenlooper, has begun the long, hard work of implementing Amendment 64 in a way that protects both voters’ intent and the other, varied interests of Colorado. Two subgroups met on the first Thursday of 2013 to discuss health and safety; regulation; labeling; and related issues.
The members of the task force are:
Rep. Dan Pabon, appointed by the incoming Speaker of the House;
Sen. Cheri Jahn, appointed by the incoming President of the Senate;
Rep.-elect Dan Nordberg, appointed by the incoming House Minority Leader;
Sen.-elect Vicki Marble, appointed by the incoming Senate Minority Leader;
David Blake, representing the Colorado Attorney General;
Kevin Bommer, representing the Colorado Municipal League;
Eric Bergman, representing Colorado Counties Inc.;
Chris Urbina, the Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment;
James Davis, the Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Public Safety;
John Salazar, the Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture;
Ron Kammerzell, the Senior Director responsible for the Colorado Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division;
Christian Sederberg, representing the campaign to pass Amendment 64;
Meg Sanders, representing the medical marijuana dispensary and cultivation industry;
Craig Small, representing marijuana consumers;
Sam Kamin, a person with expertise in legal issues related to the legalization of marijuana;
Dr. Christian Thurstone, a person with expertise in the treatment of marijuana addiction;
Charles Garcia, representing the Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice;
Larry Abrahamson, representing the Colorado District Attorney’s Council;
Brian Connors, representing the Colorado State Public Defender;
Daniel Zook, an at-large member from outside of the Denver area;
Tamra Ward, representing the interests of employers; and
Mike Cerbo, representing the interests of employees.
In the subgroup dedicated to labeling and regulation, fiscal considerations were of paramount importance. Committee members indicated that the existing staffing and budget for medical marijuana regulation, investigation, and enforcement may be inadequate to cope with recreational legalization in the event that commercial sales of marijuana can be permitted, as required by Amendment 64. The committee discussed the regulation of alcohol as compared to medical marijuana regulation, and considered which regulatory framework would be closest to ideal regulation of recreational marijuana use.
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