Tag: John Morse

What happened to Colorado budget reform bill 228? After reframing the debate on the state budget, energizing lawmakers for and against, spawning a GOP Senate filibuster and thrashing the voice of sponsor Sen. John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, SB 228 slipped offstage -- reportedly to star in back-room bargaining sessions.

A state Senate panel late Wednesday evening approved a bill to require law enforcement officials to collect DNA samples from anyone arrested for a felony in Colorado, over strong objections from one lawmaker who said “Katie’s Law” — named after a New Mexico college student whose brutal rape and murder was solved using DNA evidence — does “permanent damage” to constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

Colorado has one of the most complex fiscal systems in the entire country. We are not, in our current form, adequately suited to deal with ever-changing economic realities. The Colorado General Assembly is currently debating a bill, Senate Bill 228, that would repeal an outdated budget formula and untie the state’s hands to get us out of the recession more quickly.

At roughly 10:30 p.m., in the waning minutes of the all-day Republican filibuster against Colorado budget reform bill SB 228, Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, threw an elbow. The Democratic majority wouldn't budge or break. After 10 hours, partisans on either side of the floor had clearly read into the record all the campaign trail fodder that could be transcribed. They were tired and getting sloppy.

Senate Bill 228, Democratic Senator John Morse's controversial budget reform legislation, received key preliminary approval late last night after a 10-hour Republican filibuster that, for all its passion, never seriously threatened passage of the bill. Senate members on both sides of the aisle agreed SB 228 was among the most important laws they would consider and would have ramifications on Colorado governance for years to come, amounting to a "sea change," as state Sen. Keith King, R-Colorado Springs, described it, in the way tax revenues would be spent.

Republican senators in Colorado are going all out today to stop a bill that would end automatic tax revenue allocations for roads and capital construction. Threatening long debate in the capitol tonight and a "barrage of amendments" to cripple the bill, the senators have now turned to Democratic Governor Bill Ritter to join them in defeating legislation they say would "gut" both highways and the constitution.

Heated exchange preceded today's debate on Colorado Senate Bill 228, which seeks to repeal the the so-called "6 percent solution," the long-established and controversial cap on General Fund growth. The new bill would give lawmakers increased flexibility to decide how to allocate Colorado's shrinking state budget. Animated members of the Republican minority trolled the speaker's podium this morning, taking turns calling out House Majority Leader Brandon Shaffer (D-Longmont) on his decision to move debate on the bill to later in the day and for threatening to invoke procedural gag rule 9-C, which would limit discussion to five hours.

Colorado's politics junkies were likely not surprised by Republican leading light Bobby Jindal's flame-out on national TV, as he rushed through his ill-conceived response to Obama's non-State of the Union.

On Wednesday, the Colorado Senate Finance Committee approved Senate Bill 228 — legislation that seeks to provide greater flexibility to lawmakers in deciding where to spend the state's shrinking revenues. Sponsored by Democratic Sen. John Morse, the bill would eliminate the so-called Arveschoug-Bird provision, which restricts the state's General Fund to 6 percent growth per year and allocates any surplus specifically to transportation and construction projects. Morse's bill and the problem it seeks to address are tongue-twisting and arcane, yet the small corner room of the Capitol where the hearing took place was filled with laptop jockeys, community leaders, a webcast crew and a buzz that hung in the air when it became clear that SB228 was going to clear its first public hurdle.

Even in these catastrophic economic times, it's difficult to imagine the kind of fresh politics it would take to successfully loosen the corseted Colorado budget. Yet that's what we were treated to Thursday in Denver.