Colorado House Democrats

Ft. Collins Lawmaker Hosts Community Conversation Saturday

Rep. Kefalas to hold meeting on Jobs, the Economy and the 2009 Legislative Session

Fort Collins – State Representative John Kefalas (HD-52) will host a community conversation on the issues of jobs and the economy this week.  “Finding Common Ground;  A Conversation with Kefalas” will take place on Saturday, December 6, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM at the Dazbog Coffee Shop on the corner of Cherry and Mason Streets in Fort Collins.
 
"These are really tough times for a lot of families and businesses, and we need to work together to promote the common good by bolstering businesses and creating more good jobs,” said Representative Kefalas.  

WHAT:  Community Conversation on Job Creation and the 2009 Legislative Session
 
WHEN:  Saturday, December 6, 9 - 10:00 AM
 
WHERE:  Dazbog Coffee Shop, corner of Cherry & Mason Streets (near Old Town), Fort Collins
 
WHO:  State Representative John Kefalas (D-Fort Collins)
                       
Community conversations are open to the public, and all residents are invited to share coffee and exchange ideas with Representative Kefalas about timely topics. This conversation will focus on job creation and what to expect in the 2009 session.

-- Posted by staff

Work Off that Feast with a Post-Thanksgiving Climb to the Capitol Dome. . .Or a fun and interesting Historical Tour

CAPITOL TOURS ON FRIDAY

(DENVER) -   2008 marks the centennial anniversary of the completion of the most beautiful building in the state. The Colorado State Capitol will offer a special tour schedule for Friday, November 28, 2008 - the day after Thanksgiving.

Historical and dome tours will be offered every thirty minutes with the first tour starting at 9:00 a.m. and the last one leaving at 2:00 p.m.  

Historical tours (about 45 minutes in length) include highlights of Colorado’s early history and pioneers, as well as the Capitol’s architectural designs, building materials, portraits, and stained glass windows.  

Dome tours (about 30 minutes long) consist of a 99-stair climb to the top of the Capitol with a breathtaking 360-degree view of Denver and the mountains as well as a walk through Mr. Brown's Attic -- an exhibit dedicated to the construction of the Capitol and historic events which have taken place, as well as an interactive children's area.  A video tour of the Dome and Mr. Brown's Attic is available for those unable to do the 99-stair climb.

The public entrance to the Capitol is at Sherman and Colfax (north side of the Capitol).  Paid parking is available behind the Capitol on Grant Street.  All tours are free.

-- Posted by staff

Rep. Karen Middleton Receives Charter Friend Award

(DENVER) - State Rep. Karen Middleton (D-Aurora) was recently honored with the Charter Friends Award. The Charter School Leadership Award is given to a person directly involved with a local charter school who has been influential in developing or maintaining a charter school, or has been highly successful in promoting the school choice movement as a whole.
 
“I am very proud to be honored by the Colorado league of charter schools,” said Rep. Middleton. “We should really be honoring them for the extraordinary work they do in providing the highest quality charter schools in state.”
 
 This award is the culmination of years of tireless work by Rep. Middleton in advocating for a better charter school system. Her extensive knowledge of Colorado’s charter schools and the work she has done to expand school choice makes her this year’s champion.

Rep. Middleton sits on the Education and the State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committees, and was recently elected Majority Caucus Leader for the 2009 session. She has extensive professional experience in K-12 and higher education, and has previously worked for an education publishing company, ScholarCentric, that offers a dropout prevention curriculum. In 2004, she served as Policy Director for the Democratic Caucus in the state House of Representatives, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), the Center for Internet Technology in Education at eCollege, and as Assistant Dean of the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver.

-- Posted by staff

Senate President and Speaker-Designee Create Job Growth Committee Focused on Solutions

DENVER – Senate President Peter Groff and Speaker-designee Terrance Carroll said today they are preparing for a predicted slowing of the state's economy by establishing a results-oriented Committee on Job Creation and Economic Growth. The committee will be a focal point of the upcoming legislative session.

Colorado has a number of positive economic indicators – 26 continuous months of job growth, and an unemployment rate almost a full percentage point better than the national average (5.7% vs. 6.5%).  Nevertheless, with dimming economic projections, the legislature has signified the economy will be the top priority when it reconvenes in January.

The Committee, comprised of ten Senators and Representatives from both political parties, gathered today to receive their charge from Speaker-elect Carroll and President Groff.  The legislative leaders asked the committee to present their action plan to the full legislature after it officially convenes in six weeks. The committee is tasked with crafting innovative legislative solutions to:

• Strengthen Colorado’s small businesses and non-profits
• Improve Colorado’s infrastructure
• Expand Colorado’s “New Energy Economy”
• Stimulate job growth in Colorado’s rural communities

Legislative Leaders Convene Committee On Job Creation & Economic Growth

(DENVER)  Colorado Senate President Peter Groff and Speaker-designee Terrance Carroll announced today the establishment of a results-oriented “Committee on Job Creation and Economic Growth.”  While Colorado has fared better than most states, with 26 continuous months of job growth and other positive indicators, our economy is slowing. The committee will look for ways to keep businesses strong, to protect jobs and create new ones, and to plan prudently for future economic variations.
 
The committee will hold their first meeting on Monday morning and will be asked to present their solutions and action plan to the full legislature after it convenes in January.

WHAT:  First meeting of the Committee on Job Creation & Economic Growth with introductory statements by Senate President Peter Groff and Speaker-designee Terrance Carroll and an economic overview presented by Mike Mauer, Director of Legislative Council.

WHO:  Members of the committee:
Senator Gail Schwartz, Chair, (D-Snowmass)        Rep. Joe Rice (D-Littleton)
Senator Jennifer Veiga (D-Denver)                        Rep. Judy Solano (D-Adams)
Senator-elect Rollie Heath (D-Boulder)                  Rep. Buffie McFadyen (D-Pueblo)
Senator-elect Shawn Mitchell (R-Broomfield)        Rep. Larry Liston (R-El Paso)
Senator-Elect Mark Scheffel (R-Parker)                Rep. David Balmer (R-Centennial)      

WHEN:  Monday, Nov. 24, 10 a.m. to Noon

WHERE:  State Capitol, House Committee Room (HCR) 0112
                Basement level

-- Posted by staff

Wheat Ridge’s Rep. Cheri Jahn Doubly Honored

(DENVER) State Representative Cheri Jahn (D-Wheat Ridge) was honored with two awards in November as she finishes her final term in the State House of Representatives.

Rep. Jahn is widely-respected as a conservative and pro-business Democrat. That led The Economic Development Council of Colorado to present her with their "President's Lifetime Achievement Award" which is given on behalf of the citizens, businesses and economic development organizations of Colorado.

Holli Baumunk, Chair of the Board of Directors of The Council said, "Rep. Jahn is a true champion of economic vitality in the State of Colorado."

Additionally, the Design-Build International Association gave Rep. Jahn the 2008 Design-Build Distinguished Leadership Award for her “demonstrated leadership in the advancement of best Design-Build practices and of Design-Build as the project delivery method of choice."

Rep. Jahn said, "I am pleased to be honored for my work on business and economic development issues.  For me it is about helping to create a strong economic engine in Colorado.   Our success has been in our ability to create jobs, retain businesses and bring in industries that support a top quality workforce for our working families."

-- Posted by staff

House Democrats Unveil 2009 Committee Chairs & Assignments

(DENVER)  The Democratic House Majority today unveiled committee assignments for its members.  Included in the announcement were appointments for the Democrats’ nine newly-elected members, Representatives Dennis Apuan (El Paso), Lois Court (Denver), Dickey Lee Hullinghorst (Boulder), Beth McCann (Denver), Joe Miklosi (Denver), Sal Pace (Pueblo), Su Ryden (Aurora), Sue Schafer (JeffCo) and Ed Vigil (San Luis Valley).

House Speaker-elect Terrance Carroll said the varied make-up of the incoming 38-member House Democratic Caucus allowed him to construct committees with a balance of expertise and flexibility.

“We have lawyers and cowboys in our caucus, and we have members that hail from every part of the state,” said Carroll. “Together, we really are Colorado.  These committee assignments draw on the diversity and tap the talent of every member in our caucus.  For example, eight of 13 committees are chaired by women. This is just one of the many ways we hope to expand the circle of opportunity for all Coloradans.”

The General Assembly will convene on Wednesday, January 7, 2009.

Carroll said, “Our team is ready to hit the ground running.”  He singled out Rep. Claire Levy, the newly-appointed Chair of the Judiciary Committee, as “just one example of our many strong leaders who bring a wealth of experience to their new roles.”

Speaker-Elect Terrance Carroll Tours Downtown Pueblo Destruction

(DENVER) – Today, Speaker-elect Terrance Carroll joined Pueblo legislators Rep. Liane “Buffie” McFadyen and Rep.-elect Sal Pace on a tour of the destroyed Branch Inn Restaurant. Pueblo Fire Chief Chris Riley led the team through the rubble.

 

“Our friends in the southern Colorado need the support of the entire state,” said Speaker-elect Terrance Carroll. “I am confident in the emergency crews’ work here, and I plan to work with the Pueblo legislators to ensure the proper tools are in place to avert such a disaster in the future.”

 

“The damage to our community is significant, but I am confident we will pull together and work to recover from the loss,” said Rep. Sal Pace. “I am continually humbled by the people I was elected to serve in the state legislator come 2009.”

 

“The explosion yesterday was tragic,” said Rep. Liane “Buffie” McFadyen. “My deepest sympathies go out to the family of those injured and the family of Ashley Johnson. I am asking for the thoughts and prayers of our entire community for them."

-- Posted by staff

Governing magazine honors Romanoff, Colorado's "consensus-building speaker," as a Public Official of the Year

(Washington, DC) - The consensus-building speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives, Andrew Romanoff,  is among the winners of GOVERNING 's Public Official of the Year awards for 2008, given in recognition of outstanding achievement in state and local government.  The award winners were honored at a dinner November 12 in Washington, D.C.

 "These public officials each asked tough questions," said Alan Ehrenhalt, GOVERNING's executive editor, "and when they had their answers, they weren't afraid to act. Their leadership has led to unexpected progress—from reduced blight on foreclosed properties to the exoneration of inmates who were wrongly convicted to the removal of unsafe cold medicines from the shelves. These officials prove that by asking sometimes painful questions, smart, dedicated people can change government for the better."

GOVERNING is an independent national magazine devoted to coverage of state and local government. It has a circulation of 85,000 state and local officials.

From the article in GOVERNING:

Andrew Romanoff likes to say that Colorado was "driving with one foot on the brake and one foot on the gas." He's referring to the state's bizarre fiscal structure. On one hand, Colorado had a Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) that severely limited its ability to raise revenue. On the other hand, a constitutional amendment required education spending to increase at a certain rate, regardless of how much revenue the state collected. When Democrats won control of the Colorado legislature in 2004 and elected Romanoff as speaker of the House, he went right to work on straightening out these crippling contradictions.

DLC Names Colorado State Representative Terrance Carroll New Democrat of the Week

WASHINGTON - Colorado made history twice last week - the state elected the first black president of the United States and Democrats in the Colorado Legislature made Colorado the first state to select African-American lawmakers to lead both legislative chambers.  Rep. Terrance Carroll, a four-term state representative, was selected by his caucus to serve as speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives alongside Sen. Peter Groff, who was re-elected as president of the Senate.

Rep. Carroll is known for his ardent support of education reform and has sponsored several bills that to charter new schools and standardize the calculation of high school graduation rates. For his hard work, legislative accomplishments, and his historic election as Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives, the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) has named Colorado State Representative Terrance Carroll the DLC New Democrat of the Week.

In addition to his work with education, Rep. Carroll has focused on homeland security, civil justice, and criminal justice issues. Carroll plans on putting more focus on the economy next session and has already identified top issues to include balancing the state budget, revitalizing the transportation network, and reforming the school financing system.

Rep. Carroll, a Denver lawyer and ordained Baptist minister, was born into one of the worst neighborhoods in Washington DC, and is the only child to a single mother who was a sharecropper's daughter.  "You just don't grow up where I grew up and make your way out of the neighborhood by kind of slacking off. You have to work kind of hard to get out of that place," Carroll told his caucus. "I will bring that same commitment and tenacity to the role of speaker of the House." Carroll left Washington DC to attend Morehouse University and moved west in 1992 to continue his education. He received masters in Divinity at the Iliff School of Theology and his law degree from the University of Denver.

The nomination of Rep. Carroll won praise from both sides of the aisle. In January, the entire chamber must approve Rep. Carroll's nomination once the legislative session opens.

Each week, the DLC selects a New Democrat from across the nation who is making a difference in the lives of his or her fellow Americans using modern, innovative means to promote the traditional values of opportunity, responsibility and community. The DLC leads the New Democrat movement, a national network of elected officials and community leaders whose innovative ideas are modernizing progressive politics for the 21st century. For additional information on the DLC or for more background on the elected officials around the country governing as New Democrats, visit www.dlc.org.

-- Posted by staff

Gov. Ritter & Lawmakers Announce Healthy Forests/Vibrant Communities Act of 2009

Gov. Bill Ritter and lawmakers today announced the "Healthy Forests / Vibrant Communities Act of 2009," a comprehensive legislative proposal that would protect Colorado's prized forestlands, assist local communities and stimulate economic activity.

"Colorado is home to nearly 23 million acres of forests – forests that are rich with diverse wildlife, clean water and unbelievable scenery," Gov. Ritter said. "These forests also are a major part of Colorado's economic engine. They drive our recreation and tourism industries, and can produce valuable materials for the timber, construction and renewable energy markets.

"But our forests are at grave risk," Gov. Ritter said. "They are at risk from pine beetle and other insect epidemics. They are at risk from drought, climate change, wildfire and development. And these risks threaten not just our forests, but also Colorado's communities, economies, air quality, water supplies and wildlife."

The proposed Healthy Forests/Vibrant Communities Act, to be introduced for consideration in the upcoming 2009 legislative session, will help mountain and Front Range communities plan for forest health management activities, provide funds to reduce wildfire risk,  protect watersheds, water and power infrastructure, and encourage business opportunities for wood-products entrepreneurs.

Rep. Kathleen Curry of Gunnison Named Speaker Pro Tempore

First Session of the 67th General Assembly Begins Jan. 7, 2009

(DENVER)   State Representative Terrance Carroll, Speaker-elect of the Colorado House of Representatives, announced today that he has made a Western Slope addition to the Colorado House Majority leadership team.
The new Speaker pro tem is State Representative Kathleen Curry.  Rep. Curry, a Gunnison Democrat, is a small-business owner, a part-time professor at Western State College, a scientist, and a mother of two sons.  With her family, Rep. Curry runs a ranch and a small natural beef distribution business.

By way of introduction, Speaker-elect Carroll said, “My goal as Speaker of the House is to tap into the talents and diversity of all 38 members of our caucus.  Today, I am proud to announce that I am appointing as our new Speaker pro tempore a smart colleague who is a rancher, scientist, and mother. Rep. Kathleen Curry has a deep and broad understanding of agriculture, property rights, ranching, oil and gas, water rights, and most importantly, economic development issues.  Rep. Curry will help lead our caucus as we fight for the middle-class, for job creation, and for economic stability in Colorado.  I am thrilled that she has joined our leadership team.”

“I'm happy to accept the role of Speaker Pro Tem and to work side by side with you to improve the lives of everyone in the state,” said Rep. Curry. “Democrats continue to respect rural Coloradans and to hear their voices.  Rural voters may be far away from the power-base, but they are powerful.  I'm proud to sit at the Democratic leadership table, representing western Colorado and all Coloradans.”

Democratic Majority Elects New Leadership for 2009-2010 Session

(DENVER) The incoming members of the House Majority Caucus met this morning and elected their new leadership team:

Speaker of the House, Rep. Terrance Carroll, Denver
Majority Leader, Rep.  Paul Weissmann, Louisville
Assistant Majority Leader, Rep. Andy Kerr, Lakewood
Majority Caucus Chair, Rep. Karen Middleton, Aurora
Assistant Caucus Chair, Rep-elect Sal Pace, Pueblo
Majority Whip, Rep. Claire Levy, Boulder
Deputy Whip, Rep. Randy Fischer, Fort Collins

House Speaker-elect Carroll emphasized how House Democrats’ commitment to promoting diversity is reflected in the leadership team.

“We have lawyers, cowboys, teachers, ranchers and engineers in our caucus, and we have members that hail from every part of the state,” said Speaker-elect Carroll.  “Together, we really look like Colorado and we truly understand the economic struggles Coloradans face.  As the new speaker, I hope to draw on that diversity and tap the talent of every member in our caucus.”

Speaker-elect Carroll said, “Our new team is ready to hit the ground running.”

-- Posted by staff