Tag: David Balmer

A bill to pull state funding from local communities if they choose not to participate in the federal Secure Communities program--called an immigration dragnet by some State Representatives and local community leaders--passed the House on second reading today.

Strengthening minority representation in Congress was the call that came from many who testified at a congressional redistricting hearing held Monday night.

A bill compelling local governments in Colorado to comply with the controversial federal Secure Communities program passed its first hurdle today on a 7-4 committee vote, with Rep. John Soper, D-Thornton, being the lone Democrat voting in favor of the bill.

State Sen. Gail Schwartz, a Snowmass Democrat whose narrow win in November saw what some deemed the “most tasteless” mailers of the campaign, now finds herself in the middle of the ugliest incident of the young legislative session. State Rep. David Balmer, R-Centennial, was banned Friday from the Senate chamber for accosting Schwartz there on Wednesday.

Colorado State House Republicans targeting illegal immigration have another bill to rally around. Rep. David Balmer, R-Centennial, Tuesday introduced a bill (pdf) that would cut state funding from cities refusing to participate with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement program called "Secure Communities." Balmer's bill also targets individual Coloradans who harbor or transport illegal immigrants.

Bill Ritter gave his state of the state address this morning. The Republican response came from Assistant Minority Leaders Sen. Greg Brophy and Rep....

DENVER-- A Colorado youth symphony played the national anthem to open the Colorado Senate this morning, the gavel bang marking the start of a legislative session that will be characterized by extraordinary wrangling over the recession-constrained budget in a heated election year.

A legislative panel on Wednesday recommended that a former lobbyist for the Colorado Chiropractic Association (CCA) be formally scolded for trying to sway a freshman Republican to vote for Rep. David Balmer (R-Centennial) in a leadership election in December. An ethics watchdog group praised the committee’s recommendation but renewed calls for a criminal investigation into vote-buying allegations and asked legislators to mandate ethics training for professional lobbyists.

Suddenly it makes sense that state Rep. David Balmer didn't have any e-mails to turn over to the House Ethics Committee last month. Now, if they'd only asked for edicts and proclamations. ... In an accent best described as mid-Monty Python, the Centennial Republican on Monday gave members of the Colorado House the respect House Speaker Terrance Carroll recently demanded, and then some.

The Colorado House Ethics Committee voted unanimously Wednesday morning to dismiss a complaint against state Rep. David Balmer, a Centennial Republican, who faced charges he improperly tried to influence a leadership election to succeed House Minority Leader Mike May last month. May filed the complaint against Balmer -- and suspended plans to resign from the Legislature to tend to his business -- after a newly elected Aurora Republican reported a lobbyist for the Colorado Chiropractic Association, who backed Balmer for minority leader, contacted her about the leadership race with a check in hand.