President (To Win Colorado)
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(D) Kamala Harris
(R) Donald Trump
80%↑
20%
CO-01 (Denver)
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(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) V. Archuleta
98%
2%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
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(D) Joe Neguse*
(R) Marshall Dawson
95%
5%
CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
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(R) Jeff Hurd
(D) Adam Frisch
52%↑
48%
CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado)
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(R) Lauren Boebert
(D) Trisha Calvarese
90%
10%
CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
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(R) Jeff Crank
(D) River Gassen
80%
20%
CO-06 (Aurora)
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(D) Jason Crow*
(R) John Fabbricatore
90%
10%
CO-07 (Jefferson County)
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(D) B. Pettersen
(R) Sergei Matveyuk
90%
10%
CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
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(D) Yadira Caraveo
(R) Gabe Evans
52%↑
48%↓
State Senate Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
State House Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
April 23, 2009 03:48 PM UTC
31 Comments
Word is, Ritter told one or more of the sponsors that he would not support ANY of the changes in the bill.
So much for fiscal responsibility.
The bill wasn’t going to pass and the purpose was to poke the CCJJ into action, as you know. In that sense, mission accompolished.
On the other hand, I agree with you. It is disturbing that the Governor would say he wouldn’t support ANY sections of the bill.
Governing by committee – always lame…
the CCJJ will act in a meaningful way. The DAs are doing their damnedest to make sure that the process gets bogged down and “studied to death.” Insiders indicate that the DAs assigned to the commission are essentially functioning as obstructionists to make sure no consensus is ever reached.
Why would Bill Ritter actually support a bill that deals with an issue he campaigned on?
I guess things have to be blessed by Blue Ribbon Bill’s committee’s before he can make a decision.
Senate Bill 228, the repeal of the 6% allocation formula, will be heard upon adjournment in House Transportation today.
Here’s hoping our lawmakers vote YES to pass meaningful fiscal reform and start getting us out of this mess.
we can grow the government just a little more (well a lot more). Without AB, it will be so much easier to regulate & tax those things we hate and regulate & subsidize those we know the people of Colorado need.
(The only necessary script modification for the remake of The Graduate)
Studies show those lacking a HS degree have a high probability of joining the ranks of the convicted. With a 30-50% dropout rate the CEA has been moving along a large number of criminal justice specialists. Where is the accountability?
I know, if the CEA got more pay, they’d care more.
Second, its amazin’ what little fat was cut out of the budget in the last 6 months. Did Mr. Marostica find out how many state employees there really are or wouldn’t the administration share that with the him?
Instead of just criticizing, tell us what you would do. Oh, and remember, you’ve got to get the legislature to go along.
As Bismark commented back in 1867, “Politics is the art of the possible.”
With AB
-our elected officials all too often get to hide under cover of the 6% GF limit.
– After down years, the GF is really, really hard to restore later.
– in a year when inflation exceeds 6% (it’s coming), AB will choke the state
Without AB (or a watered down AB)
– our elected officials have to do their most important job and build a budget and stand behind it.
– After down years our elected officials have to decide whether to restore, restrain or restrict and stand behind that.
– Inflation is doesn’t have to choke the budget process.
SB228 is not a tax increase no matter how often the backbenchers and opposition leadership say it.
Even the authors of AB say it is out dated.
This is about planning for the future.
How is repealing A/B going to increase total government spending even $0.01?
I tried to get an interview with Jane Brautigam (Boulder City Manager) to see how the City is going to handle the economic downturn, budget cuts, etc. I asked for ½ hour in person.
They offered 15 minutes on the phone – while she was driving between meetings. I commented that I would never interview someone on a cell phone while driving it suddenly became on the phone from her office 🙂
I declined because a lot of communication is the non-verbal part and a quick drive-by on the phone is not going to lead to an interesting interview. So no point in wasting her time or mine.
I guess it weighs out differently for elected vs appointed. Not that the appointed positions are more important or require more work, but that getting the word out about yourself is critical for those running for election and not so for people appointed.
But I do find it humorous that she is more busy than a Governor or Senator.
Chauncy brings something to the Nuggets that makes them super dangerous in the post season. That being a complete understanding of the half-court game necessary to win in the playoffs! Here we come second round!!!
Hop on the band wagon and come along for the ride!!!
My wife and I went to the game last night, and it was by far the most fun I’ve ever had at a basketball game. The playoff atmosphere was electric, and when J.R. hit that 30-foot jumper, followed by another trey a few possessions later, the crowd went absolutely insane.
It’s nice that at least one Colorado team is having success.
Best Nugs game I’ve ever seen in person. The crowd was insane for most of 3 hours.
Even after three legislative sessions, Bill Ritter can’t beg, borrow or steal leadership. His own party in the legislature have no respect for him, and after three years he still doesn’t know how to manage them. If he couldn’t support ANY of the sentencing reform bill THAT HIS OWN PARTY INTRODUCED…he should have let them know that BEFORE they introduced it. There have been dozens of meetings, the drafter has been working on it and it was submitted to the Dept of Corrections and Judicial Dept for fiscal notes…so he knew what was in it if he’d bothered to try. Instead he lets his caucus introduce it and then pulls the rug out from under them. That isn’t leadership.
I guess that would probably be part of the reason that his polling numbers are so weak. He’s trailing McInnis 48-41 and just edges out Penry at 42-40. With a substantial name ID advantage and incumbency he should be twenty points higher than he is. Will this encourage Romanoff to step up to the plate?
http://rockymountainright.com/…
but he’s dead on with regards to the sentencing reform bill.
The Governor’s blue ribbon commission has been spinning its wheels for a while now. Rather than knock the wind out of the bill in the legislature, he could have communicated to Morse, Carroll, Levy and the others who supported it, that he was going to get on the members of the commission to get off their asses.
Instead he makes everyone look weak in an attempt to make himself look less weak. Not only did he break a campaign promise, but he made his base even angrier with him than it already was.
There is a major communication problem between the first floor and the rest of the capitol.
That’s why I left my observation to that one point. I agree with everything you said and with everything RBION said too.
I had an inkling, but I posted anyway because I wanted to expand on my response.
If I were Ritter I’d be nervous that a State Senator from the west slope was within striking distance of unseating me next year.
Ritter need not fear Penry, who’s a quotable bundle of ambition and little else.
The governor should, however, keep a close eye on McInnis, in the unlikely event the wingnuts let Scooter have the nomination.
As far as Ritter supposedly being able to tell Democratic legislators what to do, legislators don’t listen to governors. Just ask any of our former governors.
“a State Senator from the west slope was within striking distance of unseating me”
Sez who? You have some facts? Good time to share them.
It should not however be dealt with in the context of substantial state budget problems (even though that’s very tempting), but rather in the context of corrections, treatment, rehabilitation, de-centralizing, and continued improvements in approaches that can reduce recidivsm at least with some convicted felons. Even without the staggering budget problems, we cannot continue to build, staff and maintain state prisons at the rate we’ve seen in recent years, and private prisons often bring more problems than they solve.
It would be great to have a Governor’s leadership on this issue. But the legislature should proceed regardless, slowly if necessary, and plan for an eventual veto override if that’s required.
If there’s no emergency then there is not enough political power to overturn the entrenched interests of the prison industry.
who turn successful prosecutions and longer sentences into political capital. I’m just speculating. Clearly there is a history of people (usually on one end of the political spectrum) using fear tactics with the general public to keep longer mandatory sentences on the books. What really needs to happen is a more refined look at the current use of incarceration (state and federal) for nonviolent offenders.
DAs to a tee. None of them want sentencing reform. They’re building their empires on the current gig. And with the idiotic term limits, DAs are casting their eyes, understandably, toward their next gigs. Something like criminal defense, appellate work or the holy grail of judge-for-life.
he killed it. Plain and simple. Once he said there was no way he’d sign it, it was dead.
Not providing leadership is one thing, but when a pol goes out of their way to break a campaign promise, that’s just dumb.
What little face he saved with whoever he was trying to save with by publicly coming out against it, will be vastly outweighed by pissing off the Democratic base.
from TPM