Tag: Spencer Swalm

DENVER — Colorado's 2012 Legislature may not have achieved greatness. It may not have risen above partisan divide to solve complex problems and unify a state. It may not have addressed the state's economic malaise or found a way to reliably fund education for the long term.

Former Colorado Springs Senator Dave Schultheis is no longer holding forth on bills on the Senate floor in Denver, but he has continued to exert influence this year as the powerful force behind the conservative Republican Study Committee of Colorado. Now that influence may be waning. This week, a third of the RSCC flock quit the committee, rejecting the would-be radical-right revival.

Tempers ran high on the floor of the Colorado House today as members discussed reducing the number of PERA board members selected by employees and replacing them with governor appointees.

The Colorado House passed a resolution 52-12 today that will give the voters the option of limiting their own ability to change the Colorado Constitution in the next election. SCR 001 now goes back to the Senate, as amended by the House, for final passage.

Colorado state Sen. Evie Hudak, D-Westminster, said that she opposes a Republican bill that would provide a tax credit to individuals paying for children to leave public schools and enter into a private education. She said Colorado cannot afford to support its own schools, let alone those of private businesses.

A nearly annual bill that could encourage dissatisfied parents to withdraw their children from public schools is being sponsored by Republican Sen. Kevin Lundberg, Berthoud, and Rep. Spencer Swalm, R-Centennial, this year. Swalm said the bill is an effort to spur competition and potentially save the state money. However, Colorado educators and school boards are adamantly opposed to the tax credit that would have public taxes subsidizing private education. They say the program is a de-facto voucher program that would see public money being used for religious and non-state accredited schooling.

In pushing a bill aimed at easing tax burdens on low-income families, state Rep. Daniel Kagan, D-Englewood, Friday said voting no on the bill...

State Rep. Spencer Swalm seems intent to inflame these days, tossing out provocative bon mots on the House floor, in committee hearings and on...

Rep. Spencer Swalm, R-Centennial, led the charge Thursday defending the rights of men to continue to pay less as a group on the individual...