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Campaign Updates>
Rocky Mountain News: Penry a Winner
May 9, 2006
By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News
May 9, 2006
Thumbs up or thumbs down on the 2006 session? As always, it
depends on whom you ask.
Small-bar owners say a measure banning smoking in the
workplace starting July 1 will put them out of business.
But health care advocates and some restaurant owners
cheered when the governor signed the bill, which passed
with bipartisan support. Here's a look at the session's
winners and losers, based on interviews with lobbyists,
legislators and other politicos:
Winners
• GOP Gov. Bill Owens: He may be a lame duck, but he gets
the last word. Watch for his veto pen in coming days.
• Democratic leadership: Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald,
of Coal Creek Canyon, and Speaker Andrew Romanoff, of
Denver, were viewed as funny and reasonable, even if
Republicans can't wait for the day when the pair are back
in the minority.
• Rep. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction: A mere freshman and in
the minority party at that, Penry was a key player in some
of the biggest issues of the session, including rainy-day
fund negotiations. On the other hand, that's because
Romanoff allowed Republicans a voice. (See above.)
• Referendum C: The 2005 tax measure that voters approved
allowed lawmakers to restore deep budget cuts made in a
recession.
• Colorado: The state retained its Spanish name - it means
red - despite an effort to require English only when
printing most government publications.
• Rep. Jim Kerr, R-Littleton: One of the more obscure
lawmakers, Kerr doubled his name ID when Jeffco Democrats
picked educator Andy Kerr, of Lakewood, to succeed Rep.
Betty Boyd after she went to the Senate.
• Drivers: Watch out for - THUD! Coloradans can expect
fewer potholes with $350 million to $400 million more of
highway construction funds over two years.
• PERA and Dan Hopkins: The governor's unflappable and
first-rate spokesman, who retires in January, won't have to
worry about his pension. Owens and lawmakers reached a deal
on fixing the retirement fund's solvency problem.
• Eastern plains residents: Fears of having their property
seized to build a private toll road ended with legislation
that made it much tougher for developers.
• College students: They got more state funding and lower
tuition increases.
• Gay couples: Voters will decide in November whether to
grant them the same rights and responsibilities as married
couples.
• Rep. Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison: She gained respect from
both sides of the aisle for her work on her oil and gas
compensation bill, although she ended up killing it.
• The Catholic Church: It scored victories on two bills it
hated. The guv vetoed an emergency contraception bill, and
lawmakers killed a measure making it easier for victims of
childhood sexual abuse to win civil judgments for past
abuse.
• Rep. Mark Larson, of Cortez: The hardworking Republican
has never been afraid to take on his own party. His
departure from the House this year is a reminder of what's
wrong with term limits.
• House freshman class: Whether it was Rep. Bernie
Buescher, D-Grand Junction, or Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma,
the infusion of new lawmakers with good ideas and energy
served as a reminder of everything that's right with term
limits.
• Former Sen. Norma Anderson, R-Lakewood: She unexpectedly
retired in January at the start of what would have been her
20th and final session, thus avoiding a session filled with
the partisan bickering she despised. Plus, lawmakers
brought her back Monday for a tribute in the House and
Senate.
• Schoolchildren: More money was provided to preschoolers,
kindergarteners and special-ed kids.
• Douglas County: The GOP bastion saw two of its own
elevated to leadership positions in mid session. Rep. Mike
May, of Parker, became the minority leader, and Rep. Ted
Harvey, of Highlands Ranch, was elected assistant minority
leader.
• Sen. Dan Grossman, D-Denver: He ends his 10-year
legislative career on a personal high note, finally getting
a law that bans most workplace smoking.
Losers
• Businesses that spent a fortune installing
smoke-mitigating devices: Their equipment is useless after
July 1, unless bar owners succeed in winning a court
injunction to stop the smoking ban from going into effect.
• Colorado residents: Bickering and partisan politics
reached new heights this year, with control of the
legislature and the governor's office up for grabs in
November.
• Rep. Joe Stengel, R-Littleton: On Day 1, he picked a
fight with Democrats, and it went downhill after that. He
eventually resigned the minority leader's slot in a payroll
billing scandal.
• Former Sen. Deanna Hanna, D-Lakewood: She resigned after
putting in writing what politicians tend to do verbally:
She demanded a campaign contribution, or else.
• Senate Democrats: Hanna's resignation midway into her
term means her seat is up for grabs, giving Republicans a
chance to gain the majority in November. Dems now hold a
one-seat edge.
• Chatty Cathys: Some 5 percent of the lawmakers take up 95
percent of the time debating bills and rarely get listened
to anyway. You know who you are. Stop.
• Prison population: Bed space already is lacking, and
lawmakers continued to make more crimes felonies.
• Graduate students: University of Colorado President Hank
Brown laments that grad students got little from Ref C
funding.
• Attorney General John Suthers or his successor: The
governor couldn't persuade the legislature to give pay
raises to state elected officials, so Suthers, who left a
$141,000 job as Colorado's U.S. attorney, will be stuck
making $80,000 for the next four years if he wins
re-election in November.
• Rest of the constitutional officers: Same for the
incoming governor, whose pay will stay at $90,000 (New
Mexico's governor makes $120,000 annually) and for the new
secretary of state, treasurer and lieutenant governor.
Their pay will remain at $68,500.
Mixed bag
• Illegal immigrants: They showed their growing strength in
rallies, but the issue of illegal immigration continues to
polarize the country. A number of bills that were
introduced targeted undocumented workers, their smugglers
or their employers.
• Sen. Tom Wiens, R-Castle Rock: He saw some of his
immigration and water bills pass but was embarrassed by
reports that a nonprofit group he founded to help needy
military families failed to file federal tax documents and
spent a questionable amount of money on expenses.
• Labor: Union members were happy with the retirement plan
compromise but lost a huge drug bill they backed.
• Research & Democracy: The mystery Democratic group paid
for constituent mailings last year for 10 targeted
Democrats to help raise those lawmakers' profiles. But the
move backfired this year when Republicans targeted the
Dems, accusing them of tapping a secret political slush
fund.
• House Majority Leader Alice Madden: She advised the
Democrats who got the Research & Democracy mails to report
the cost, although they weren't required to do so, then
spent the rest of the session getting pummeled by the state
GOP over it.
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