Tag: Brandon Shaffer

Term-limited state Sen. Jim Isgar won appointment as the U.S. Department of Agriculture state director of rural development, Mile High Politics first reported Tuesday morning. The Hesperus Democrat, whose Senate District 6 covers eight counties in the southwest corner of Colorado, plans to step down in about three weeks, he told Jeremy Pelzer, creating the need for a vacancy committee to fill the final year of his term.

Outgoing Colorado Senate President Peter Groff paid eight legislative employees $30,000 in bonuses before leaving office to take a job with the Obama administration, according to records obtained by The Associated Press. His successor in the leadership post, Longmont Democrat Brandon Shaffer paid a $5,000 bonus to a single employee at the end of the legislative session, which saw lawmakers hacking hundreds of millions of dollars amid a state budget crisis that has led to plans for unpaid furloughs for other state employees.

The shadowy process through which the Colorado State University board came to nominate Joe Blake, its own vice chairman, for chancellor was a topic of concern even within the chancellor search committee itself and it was the motivation for the only no vote cast Tuesday against Blake's candidacy.

The Colorado State University Board of Governors named CSU Board Vice President Joe Blake its sole finalist for chancellor on Tuesday just hours after Senate Majority Leader Brandon Shaffer killed a bill he co-sponsored that demanded greater transparency in the state's public university leadership appointments.

The Colorado State University chancellor search committee is meeting this afternoon to review a second round of roughly 12 candidate applications for the university's new top spot. The committee reviewed a first set of about the same number of applications last month, according to CSU spokesperson Michele McKinney. So far, none of the names of the candidates for the position have been revealed.

The Colorado House today voted to advance legislation introduced suddenly this week by House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann and Senate Majority Leader Brandon Shaffer that calls for greater transparency in filling leadership positions at the state's public universities. The bill faces a key second vote on Monday, so, as Rep. Weissmann warned, "The universities will be working hard this weekend to defeat it."

Responding to news of the veiled chancellor search being conducted by Colorado State University, House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann and Senate Majority Leader Brandon Shaffer introduced legislation yesterday demanding greater transparency in the way the state's public universities select leaders.

House Speaker Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, introduced legislation on Tuesday designed to address abuses that plagued the ballot initiative process in Colorado last election season. Co-sponsored in the House by Lois Court, D-Denver, and in the Senate by Majority Leader Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, the bill aims narrowly to address the petitioning process, where signatures in support of initiatives are gathered, and particularly "concerns raised regarding the use of paid petition circulators," according to a House Democratic Party press release.

And you thought the election was over? Colorado lawmakers are meeting today to pick new leaders charged with keeping the Capitol running smoothly, and, with Democrat Bernie Buescher unexpectedly out of the picture, a couple of surprises are in store for the donkeys. Over on the Republican side, a reported coup may be in the works.

It's time for another bowl of "Kernels of Truth."  Here's what's popping this week: Betsy Markey Nears CD-4 Decision Benefield Stays Put Handicapping the '08 House Potential Republican...