March 17, 2015 10:59 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on St. Patrick's Day

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• by: Colorado Pols

Green beer? Drink away. Green milk? Not so much. It’s time to Get More Smarter with Colorado Pols. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example).

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► Colorado legislators are taking up the issue of police brutality today with a handful of bills, including increasing the number of body cameras.

► The so-called “Parent’s Bill of Rights” (also known as the “No Rights for Children”) should finally meet its inevitable end today in the State House.

► Meet state Sen. Chris Holbert (R-Rich People Only).

 
Get even more smarter after the jump…

SHOULD YOU FIND YOURSELF STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Senate Republicans passed legislation to overturn a magazine limit ban in Colorado. The House is expected to ignore them.

► The Department of Homeland Security has stopped issuing temporary H2-B worker visas. Colorado employers are going to have a tough time filling all of those jobs that temporary workers weren’t taking from everyone else.

► Some 600,000 Coloradans earn less than $12 per hour, which is why the legislature is considering a bill to raise the minimum wage.

► Aurora continues to study whether or not to become the city and county of Aurora.

► Senators John McCain (R-Arizona) and Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) will speak about terrorism at an event organized by The CELL and the Denver Post. We’re guessing organizers didn’t bother sending McCain or Graham an email invitation.

► Construction defects legislation just barely made it through a state Senate committee yesterday. House Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst has called the legislation “a non-starter” should it advance to the State House.

► Congressional Republicans have absolutely no idea what they are doing, writes Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► Legislation to allow for the collection of rainwater in barrels is moving along to the floor of the State House.

► Oregon is the first state to adopt automatic voter registration. Somewhere, Scott Gessler is crying in his green beer.

► Republican Rep. Gordon “Dr. Chaps” Klingenschmitt talks about the ouster of State GOP Chair Ryan Call last weekend. “Dr. Chaps” says that Call’s “time has passed.” Ouch.

► Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz was officially sworn-in to office.

► Two Republican Senators from Kentucky could decide the direction of the U.S. Senate. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has to figure out how to deal with fellow Senator and Presidential hopeful Rand Paul, as Politico reports:

Paul is poised to make an unprecedented move in Kentucky: running for the Senate and the White House at the same time, despite a clear ban in state law preventing him from appearing on the ballot twice. If Paul’s presidential bid catches fire, it could put his seat — and Republicans’ Senate majority — at risk.

ICYMI

► Some 94% of Denver residents now have health insurance, up from 83% prior to the 2014 implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

► Colorado will update its snowpack numbers today, providing a good indication of potential flooding or drought problems for the rest of the year.

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