April 10, 2015 12:38 PM UTC

Get More Smarter on Friday (April 10)

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• by: Colorado Pols

So it’s not technically a “Good Friday.” We’ll take it anyway. 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…

► Democrat Hillary Clinton will officially launch her campaign on Sunday, April 12, with an online video! Polling numbers are all over the place, which makes sense given that it is April 2015.

► Colorado business groups are backing a proposed ballot reform measure that would make it harder to reform the ballot — which is not a bad idea. As the Denver Business Journal explains:

Senate Concurrent Resolution 2 — introduced late Wednesday by Sens. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, and Pat Steadman, D-Denver — would require a majority of voters in a statewide general election to approve any proposed constitutional amendment before it is then resubmitted on a statewide ballot the next year.

It also would require that state officials conduct public hearings about any proposed amendments in each of the state’s seven congressional districts before the second round of voting on the question.

► The State House gave final approval to “The Long Bill,” despite a litany of silly objections from House Republicans. The discussion now heads back to the Senate to work out differences over the $26 billion budget proposal.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

SHOULD YOU FIND YOURSELF STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Colorado needs to do a lot of repairs on roads and highways…but we need Congress to help pay for it. Officials from the Pueblo area are asking local residents to help get things moving.

► Former State House member and current Jefferson County Commissioner Libby Szabo got Jeffco to buy her a new car because she is too short to reach the pedals 0f other vehicles. Szabo is about as tall as 32 reams of paper.

► Focus on the Family founder James “SpongeDob” Dobson is convinced that gay marriage will lead to a civil war in the United States. If SpongeDob is correct, he may want to consider moving to a different state; we’re guessing Colorado would be more likely to fight with “Union” forces than “Confederates.”

► Tyler Sandberg, Chief of Staff for Republican Rep. Mike Coffman, says his office won’t respond to “fake news sites” that ask for comments about, well, anything. Instead of responding to the Colorado Independent about Coffman’s acceptance of $20k in campaign contributions from disgraced Rep. Aaron Schock, Sandberg stayed silent until the Denver Post picked up on the story. Well played, genius.

► The Senate Education Committee has given initial approval to a plan to reduce the number of required tests for Colorado students. 

► “Construction defects” legislation made it out of the State Senate; SB-91 is now on its way to the House, where Democrats are likely to reject the proposal to limit the ability of homeowners to sue builders for shoddy work.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► Colorado Senate Republicans want to kneecap the U.S. Environmental Agency’s “Clean Power Plan.”  Yes, it would make more sense for Congress to deal with this issue, but they’re legislating with crayons in Washington D.C.

► Hide your cameras — TABOR daddy Doug Bruce is in Denver today for a court appearance to discuss possible violations of his probation stemming from a tax-evasion conviction. Meanwhile, Colorado Springs City Councilwoman Helen Collins — who was nearly recalled from office because of her connections to Bruce — is struggling in her part-time job as a slumlord.

► Republican Presidential hopeful Rand Paul doesn’t seem to respond well to being interviewed by female journalists. That should bode well for his hopes of winning the GOP nomination.

ICYMI

► Congressman Mike Coffman signed a letter to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights this week so that he can pretend to be supportive of LGBT rights when he campaigns  for re-election in 2016.

► It’s Opening Day (at home) for the 3-0 Colorado Rockies. Now there’s s a sentence you probably haven’t read before.

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