rssPosts by John Tomasic
John Tomasic has worked as a writer and editor at various news, literary and academic publications, including at the Huffington Post, Business 2.0 magazine and Francis Ford Coppola’s Zoetrope All-Story. He was managing editor at OffTheBus, the Huffington Post’s 2008 presidential-election citizen-journalism project, and editor at Pop+Politics, a journalism training program and website hosted by USC's Annenberg School. He was an analyst for the UN commission established to investigate war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. He has a master's degree in history and has taught at universities in America and Europe.
Session notes: Colorado moved ahead or stayed even on education, gay rights, abortion
Colorado legislative debate this year on education, gay rights and women’s health policies reflected larger well-worn national political back-and-forths, where showy speeches on immigration “illegals,” “traditional marriage” and religious freedom often sidetrack efforts to serve the public good.
Wisconsin’s Walker echoes Colorado’s Gessler on voter fraud
In the last two years, Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler has made voter fraud prevention a top priority. His efforts have included working to stop county clerks from sending absentee ballots to inactive voters, lobbying for a controversial voter ID law and leading an unprecedented effort to determine whether non-citizens are voting in the state.
Controversial Colorado Open Records bill draws calls for veto
The bill was never really debated in the Senate where it was introduced, then it was tacked on to a House bill amid the blizzard of activity that marked the last days of the Colorado legislative session. Government watchdog and elections groups on the right and left are now asking Gov. John Hickenlooper to veto it, arguing the bill would deny citizens the right to inspect voter ballots and “gut” the state’s Open Records Act.
Colorado civil unions shot dead in GOP-controlled special session committee
DENVER– The gay-rights civil unions bill at the center of a special legislative session called by Gov. John Hickenlooper died as expected on a party line vote Monday in the Republican-controlled House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee.
Speaker McNulty sends civil unions bill to House kill committee
DENVER– Republican House Speaker Frank McNulty in the first hours of a special session of the legislature called to consider a gay-rights civil unions bill has effectively assured that bill’s death, assigning it to the hardline Republican-controlled State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee.
Pressure mounts on Republican opponents of Colorado civil unions bill
As the special session of the Colorado legislature launches today centered around gay-rights civil unions legislation, national media outlets are circulating a memo written by a high-profile Republican pollster advising GOP candidates and operatives to embrace equal rights for LGBT Americans. The arguments made in the memo reflect arguments in favor of civil unions made over the past five months by conservatives in Colorado.
In Colorado, McNulty goes nuclear to kill civil unions
DENVER– Outmaneuvered over the last six days in a legislative chess game centered on a gay-rights civil unions bill here, the Colorado Speaker of the House on Tuesday, the second-to-last day of the session, effectively turned over the board. Frank McNulty, a Republican from Highlands Ranch, walked out of the House at roughly 9 p.m. and stayed away for more than two hours, letting a recess run all the while and killing the civil unions bill and nearly 40 other bills in the process.
Colorado civil unions supporters demand full House vote
DENVER– “Let them vote! Let them vote!” chanted the crowd gathered on the west steps of the capitol here this morning, urging Republican House leaders to bring a controversial civil unions bill to the floor for consideration.
Nikkel: Legislature right place to weigh civil unions
Conservative Rep. B.J. Nikkel, R-Loveland, voted to advance a state civil unions bill that would recognize same-sex partnerships last week in large part because she had come to believe the legislature, not the ballot box, was the best place to weigh civil rights questions.
Nikkel casts key vote to advance Colorado civil unions bill
DENVER– The House Judiciary Committee voted Thursday evening to advance a state civil unions bill that would grant legal recognition to same-sex couples. The bill died in the same Republican-controlled committee last year but on Thursday won the deciding vote of Loveland Republican Rep. B.J. Nikkel.
