Clay is on top of a breaking story from the State Capitol. Seems Democrat Rep. Jerry Frangas has been parading around a box full of state employees' confidential personal information as a way to entice media coverage for a bill he is proposing. Republican House Minority Leader Joe Stengel has addressed the serious concerns about the custody and availability of these documents in a letter to House Speaker Andrew Romanoff (Clay has posted the full text). Stengel has asked for an investigation. Will Romanoff open an investigation? How serious are Democrats about personal privacy and, more importantly, about preventing possible identity theft? … [Read more...]

Are the new majority Democrats in Colorado's statehouse losing focus so soon? A bill proposed by Senator Jennifer Veiga (D - Denver) that requires employers not to discriminate against employees on the basis of "sexual orientation" or "gender variance" has passed the Senate Business, Labor, and Technology Committee on a 4-3 party-line vote. The repercussions of such legislation if passed into state law? Employers (except of religious organizations) may have to accept behavior they find morally repulsive or be unable to express deeply-held religious convictions. Such were the objections of Republican committee members Sen. John Evans and Sen. Tom Wiens. Or imagine this scenario: Mr. Smith owns a small family pharmacy. One of his … [Read more...]

Colorado State Republican Party Chairman Ted Halaby has announced he will not seek another term. In an open letter to the state central committee, Halaby decries the new system of campaign finance laws that have diminished the importance the clout and importance of the state party organization: ...it is clear that federal and state campaign-finance laws must be changed to bring the political process back within the traditional auspices of the national and state political parties and their candidates, with the accountability and timely disclosure this provides. I intend to do what I can to assist in this process. However, for now, unfortunately, the most influential battles in Colorado will be waged outside the political party process. … [Read more...]

Both the Republicans and the Democrats under Denver's golden dome have staked their ground on proposing solutions to the state budget crunch: Democrats and [Republican Governor Bill] Owens agree on many parts of the plan. Owens' budget proposal in December included a tax cut, dedicated transportation dollars and increasing the state spending limit by $500 million annually. The sides disagree on how much of future TABOR refunds the state should keep. [Democrat House Speaker Andrew] Romanoff's plan would re-start refunds once government spending reaches the level it hit in 2000, before Colorado's recession, which he calculates at roughly 6 percent of residents' personal incomes. Owens doesn't consider that a "meaningful cap" on … [Read more...]

It's probably not a great mystery to Colorado political insiders that University of Denver President Marc Holtzman is serious about a run for the state's governorship. The dead governors at Colorado Pols [ed - for the uninitiated, the anonymous proprietor(s) of the site post under the pseudonyms of three former Colorado governors who all by a quirk of history served during the year 1905, exactly one century ago] have Holtzman ranked among the early favorites for the state's chief executive office in 2006. Marc Holtzman Having attended a meeting of the House Minority Caucus today, at the kind behest of Michele Austin, I now have some clear early impressions of Holtzman and his candidacy. The DU President is undoubtedly smart and … [Read more...]