Abuse of power: Dems at the state capitol
Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should…
I get it. Democrats are in charge in Colorado and therefore they can pass or defeat pretty much whatever legislation they want. They do not need Republicans at all. But just because they can doesn’t mean they should.
Tonight the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs defeated SB 51 along a party line vote. This bill, sponsored by Senator Scott Renfroe and Representative Jerry Sonnenberg, would have eliminated the Governor’s authority to suspend or limit the sale, distribution and/or transportation of firearms during a time of state disaster emergency.
This bill was designed to prevent the gun confiscation that occured in New Orleans right after Katrina. So at a time when Coloradans will be most vulnerable, government can limit our ability to protect ourselves. You can thank Democrat Senators Rollie Heath, Bob Bacon and Betty Boyd.
Not to be left out, House Democrats killed Representative Glenn Vaad’s excellent bill on priority based budgeting. HB 1126 would have created a biennial priority-based budgeting process. One way to kill a bill is to weigh it down with an unrealistic fiscal note. That’s exactly what happened with Vaad’s bill. According to legislative council, it would cost taxpayers roughly $350,000 over the next two years for the state to prioritize its budget. The real question is how much does not prioritizing the budget cost Colorado taxpayers every year?
During the Long Term Fiscal Stability Commission meetings I learned that Colorado state statuted requires a zero-based budgeting process. I was told by Democrat Representative Mark Ferrandino, a member of the Joint Budget Committee, that the process has been abandoned because it is “too hard.”
Of course, Ferrandino’s bill, HB 1119, which would require performance-based budgeting and strategic planning, has a fiscal note of a mere $25,000. It passed out of committee just before Vaad’s was defeated.
Also killed, HB 1087 Republican Representative Spencer Swalm’s bill to change employer state income tax withholding from mandatory to voluntary. It was tagged with the most absurb fiscal note of nearly $19 million and over 60 FTEs over three years. Although that may be cheaper and create more jobs than some stimulus projects. The fiscal note was so bad, Swalm said even some Republicans wouldn’t support his bill.
Barring a miraculous, last minute stay of execution, Representative Amy Stephen’s bill concerning transparency in gifts, grants and donations will be dead tomorrow. It has NO cost to the state and would allow taxpayers to see what organizations are funding legislation and interim committees. It is simply a good governance piece of legislation. And chances are it won’t pass because Stephens is a Republican.
Democrats would be wise to remember that power is cyclical.