7 thoughts on “Slaughter of the innocents–GOP Priorities in the May 8 Massacre”

1. Is to restrict the basic rights of some people based on who they love.

   Log in to Reply

2. @9NEWS w/@RyanLFrazier, lamenting late-nite burial of #civilunions in #coleg. #copols #justicedelayed #justicedenied
   

   If even Ryan “Border-Staring Expert” Frazier acknowledges that this was a travesty, does McNulty have ANY base of support to speak of?

   I’d love to be a fly on the wall in his office, his home, his car, from now until civil unions finally pass, however this comes about. Does he understand he’s on the wrong side of history? Is he aware of how much trouble he’s making for his own party? What on God’s green earth is he thinking?  

   Log in to Reply

3. Word is that the Senate is looking to pass some of the legislation that died from the “May 8 Massacre” by adding it as amendments to bills coming up for their final floor vote in the Senate today, and then send them to the House for concurrence before tonight’s end of the session.  This likely will include the “must-pass” water projects bill and would make it less likely that we’ll see a special session.  Stay tuned …

   Log in to Reply

4. Senate is going to amend certain bills that died last night onto existing bills still in the process.  Below is a tentative list of what is proposed.  The amendments will be non-controversial because the passed bills had bipartisan support and strong coalitions backing them.

   Of concern is the highest priority, SB 165, the water projects bill. This bill normally passes every year because of the importance. SB 165 dedicates $38 million to infrastructure projects throughout Colorado. Amending this onto an existing bill will be challenging because of title requirements.

   In order to amend a dead bill onto a live one, the amendment( in today’s case = the dead bill) must fit under the title. During the final three days of the legislative session, the rules may be suspended and the Senate President and the House Speaker have the ability to do things they otherwise could not.

   SB 165, unfortunately, does not fit cleanly into existing bills – others, such as the education bills and the criminal justice bills fit nicely. One concern raised by Sen Steadman, and I agree 100%, is that by forcing an amendment onto a bill under the suspension of rules, when that bill’s title may not allow that amendment otherwise, risks setting a dangerous precedent for future leaders in the legislature.

   Looking through the bills that died on the House calendar last night, there are very few that absolutely need to pass this year. Many of the bills should not be resurrected. It is unfortunate that policy enjoying bipartisan support and broad stakeholder support must wait until next year. A wiser course of action would be to hold a special session for SB 165 alone to ensure Colorado’s infrastructure needs are met. Use SB 2 as a political hammer over the interim and leave the remaining bills (that cannot be amended safely under existing titles) for next year.

   This way the infrastructure is funded, the Democratic controlled Senate looks like they are the reasonable governing body, the Republicans (although secretly happy that McNulty took one for the team) continue to look like narrow minded partisans who can’t find their way in the modern world, and  the Democrats get a political message for the election year – not only are Republicans too straight for their own good, their leadership is willing to play chicken with $38 million dedicated to jobs and infrastructure (about the only true jobs bill (not) passed this year).

   Here’s the list, with a few of my comments added:

   Heath
   
   Bill that died: SB 164, Private Post-secondary Education
   
   Amend the bill into:  HB 1155

   Tochtrop and Newell
   
   Bill that died: SB 165, Water Projects Bill
   
   Amend the bill into:  HB 1278
   
   Comment: very risky – 1278 deals with the South Platte river study that barely survived the House and some Senate members don’t think too highly of. The funding for the study has nothing to do with the CWCB (coming from the Gov’s emergency fund, I believe). Run this bill in a special session and name the session “McNulty’s Special ‘I Shot Myself In The Feet So Many Times, I Don’t Have Any Toes Left’ Session”

   Boyd
   
   Bill that died: SB 173, Mental Health Professional Disclosure
   
   Amend the bill into:  HB 1311

   Newell and Hudak
   
   Bill that died: SB 46, School Discipline
   
   Amend the bill into:  HB 1240 or HB 1345

   Hudak and King
   
   Bill that died:  SB 47, Accuplacer for K-12
   
   Amend the bill into:  HB 1345

   Johnston and Hudak
   
   Bill that died:  SB 172, K-12 Assessment Consortium Participation
   
   Amend the bill into:  HB 1240 or HB 1345

   Carroll
   
   Broad title bill:  HB 1310-Omnibus criminal justice code could accommodate the following bills that were killed
   
   • SB28 Aggravated Juvenile Offenders
   
   • SB 104 Drug Treatment Consolidation
   
   • SB 163 Drug Offender Sentencing
   
   • SB 117 DUI Offenses
   
   Comment: keep SB 117 the hell away from anything dealing with HB 1310. Way too controversial for the final day of session and threatens to kill the entire bill, which would be very sad.

   Newell
   
   Bill that died:  SB 169, Noxious Weed Management
   
   Amend the bill into:  HB 1349
   
   Comment: Hardly a priority, let it alone for the next session

   Nicholson
   
   Bill that died:  SB 108, Oral Health Bill
   
   Amend the bill into:  HB 1281

   Shaffer
   
   Bill that died:  SB 129, Rural Broadband Mapping
   
   Amend the bill into: ???
   
   Comment: While an important issue for rural Colorado, could draw unnecessary fire since this bill was tied to the telecom bill that died.

   Heath
   
   Bill that died:  SB 155, Transparency of Elections
   
   Amend the bill into:  HB 1036 (now pending in House)
   
   Comment: SB 155 a good bill that enjoys very broad support from all parties involved in the process, except for one freaky lady from Aspen – you know who you are.

   Log in to Reply

   1. Thanks for the thorough update, Car 31!  I get the concern on stretching the rules to allow 165 under a title where it really doesn’t fit.  One way or the other, it’ll get done – in a special session if need be.

      Log in to Reply

   2. Doing Resolutions.  Ahem.

      Log in to Reply

5. These are ed bills that may be saved.

   http://www.ednewscolorado.org/…

   Log in to Reply