(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

I had hoped to getting around to writing about last week’s Al Gore event, or about my visit to the Boulder Dems’ dinner last Friday, but a recent development has eclipsed all of that. In what may be the first of many, State Representative Debbie Stafford has announced that she has switched parties and has become a Democrat. The Legislature is now controlled by a rather unbelievable 40-25 margin — which is made more unbelievable when you consider that in 2004, Republicans controlled the Legislature by a 37-28 margin.

Here is some of Rep. Stafford’s statement:

I am happy to be here at this meeting of the House Democratic Caucus. I am here to announce that I will be joining the Democratic Party.
My decision to cross the aisle was not made lightly or quickly. This was a decision that was the product of a great deal of soul searching and contemplation. My decision comes from my gut sense of right and wrong, and my heart’s deepest values.

When I decided to run for the legislature in 1999, I ran because of my love for people and the issues that impacted the lives of our citizens such as affordable housing, health care, education, juvenile justice reform, protecting small businesses, and the economy. It was and is my desire to continue to make Colorado the finest place to raise a family, to work, and to preserve the beauty of this great state.

…

Like many others in Colorado, I feel this way:
I am not leaving the Republican Party as much as the Republican Party left me.

No one pushed me or pulled me: I decided it was time to place myself, and my self-respect, with the Democratic Party.

Rep. Stafford sounds a lot like the Lieutenant Governor of Kansas, about whom I wrote after hearing him a few weeks ago at the ASDC meeting in Kansas City. There are those who will argue that she is being opportunistic, but the reality is in her statement that the Republican Party of Colorado has left her. Nothing could be more true — Colorado’s Republican Party is stuck in a right-wing mentality that does not advance this state or the people of this state. It has left a lot of decent-minded folks like Rep. Stafford.

So, welcome, Representative Stafford, to the Democratic Party. We’re glad you joined us!

You will hear a lot of congratulations going around for the past and new HD2 representatives. I just wanted to add my own note of thanks.

Excuse me Mike, if I start with Mark. Soon after I was elected Chair, Sean O’Buckley decided to resign as the Colorado Democratic Party Treasurer. Mark Ferrandino immediately stepped forward. As an auditor, he brought much needed skills to the state party. As we began to embark on a 64-county strategy, we were also faced with some sticky issues from previous campaigns.

Mark brought his experience and expertise to bear on resolving those issues. He, along with Jamie Elkins our compliance officer, attended Federal Elections Commission training and put in place a stringent set of rules to not only resolve outstanding issues, but to prevent similar problems in the future. We have worked together daily on creating a healthy party structure, and I value his contributions. Given the commitment to excellence, the Colorado General Assembly gains an extremely valuable member.

And for Mike Cerbo, he is taking his extensive skills as a legislator and an organizer to the AFL-CIO. We look forward to working with him in his new role, especially in light of the Republican onslaught against our union brothers and sisters. Rep. Cerbo moves to AFL-CIO at a time when his leadership is most needed. Thank you for your public service.

I, for one, am excited that we have so many talented leaders in the Democratic party.

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

One of the best parts of being involved in this Party is seeing your friends — people who have worked hard in the trenches and who are genuinely good and decent people with their hearts in the right places — be elected to serve Colorado. I’m not talking about the folks out there who are campaigning hard and who you meet while they are campaigning, although there are some pretty amazing folks out there who fit that bill as well. No, I’m talking about the folks with whom you work in the trenches and who end up in positions to make a difference. For me, those people are folks like my State Representative, Buffie McFadyen, Rep. Morgan Carroll, and La Plata County Commissioner Joelle Riddle.

Last night, State Party Treasurer Mark Ferrandino joined that list when he was selected by the HD2 Vacancy Committee to serve in the State House.

Mark knows how to effectively fill a vacancy. In 2005, when we had a vacancy in the tough position of State Party Treasurer, Mark stepped forward and was selected to fill out the term. As a testament to his hard work and dedication, he was re-elected this year without any opposition. For a State Party officer, Mark is a quiet guy. He doesn’t demand attention. He just shows up and works hard.

I knew that from almost the first time I saw his work as Party Treasurer, but it was never made more clear to me than when I was walking for candidates last fall. As regular readers of DemNotes know, I spent about every weekend, and several weeknights, walking with Democratic candidates for the House and Senate across Colorado. Last fall, I showed up in a north metro parking lot to meet Sen. Lois Tochtrop to walk with her. Mark Ferrandino was there, too. We spent the morning knocking on doors together. I found out that he, too, spent about every possible spare moment walking with legislative candidates — unlike me, he just didn’t talk about it much. It was just something that a loyal Democrat does. I wrote about it then - you can see that post at:
http://demnotes.com/?p=190

Rep. Ferrandino deserves this selection — he is truly an unsung hero of the Colorado Democratic Party. I understand he will eventually be leaving his position as State Party Treasurer (he doesn’t have to immediately do that — it is not too uncommon for legislators around the country to serve double-duty as State Party officers). When he does leave, whoever is selected by the Central Committee to fill his position will have huge shoes to fill. But Rep. Ferrandino will continue to fight for the things that make this Party so important to the future of Colorado, and we’ll wish him well on this new chapter of his life.

Thank you, HD2 Vacancy Committee, for making such a wise choice. Rep. Ferrandino will serve you — and the people of Colorado — amazingly well!

Our current health care “system” is in crisis. Colorado consumers have seen sky-rocketing premiums (82% increase 2000 – 2004 for families, 140% increase 2000 – 2005 for small employers) and plummeting benefits. So what has changed over the decades? Profit. We’ve seen a corporate take-over of healthcare and most people don’t know what hit them. Ever wonder what is really driving up the cost of our healthcare? I want to share with you my assessment of the problems and some of my thoughts on solutions.

• Pharmaceutical Advertising: Companies are spending billions per year on direct television advertising for prescriptions (a practice that used be illegal under federal law that is driving up the cost of prescription medicine.) Most are spending 4 or 5 times as much on marketing as on research.

Solution: Reinstate prior federal prohibition against direct TV advertising for prescription drugs (FEDERAL).

• Overcharging Insurance Premiums: Most states require a rate-review process before an insurance company can file rate increases. Colorado doesn’t. Colorado allows insurance companies to file rate increases in any amount, at any time, without any oversight. It works well for them ($$$), but not so well for consumers.

Solution: Implement insurance rate review for price gouging in Colorado (STATE).

• Cuts in Funding Public Research: As the states and federal government pulled back on funding public research there are fewer public medical patents. Private companies now own most of the patents, allowing monopolies over healthcare pricing, driving up the cost of healthcare.

Solution: Increase publicly funded research and therefore publicly held healthcare patents consider reducing duration of healthcare patents (STATE & FEDERAL).

(more…)

This past legislative session, State Senate Jennifer Veiga (Senate District 31, Denver) and House Majority Leader Alice Madden (House District 10, Boulder) sponsored a bill to prevent employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or religion. The bill, SB07-25, takes effect this Friday, August 3.

Senator Veiga has sponsored similar legislation every year since 2001, and it has twice passed the state legislature only to be vetoed by then-Governor Bill Owens.

“Such an important, basic human right as employment should never be based upon race, gender, age, country of origin, or in this case sexual orientation,” said. Senator Veiga.

To read the text of the bill, click here, or see:

http://www.leg.state.co.us/Clics/Clics2007A/csl.nsf/BillFoldersSenate?openFrameset

On June 10, 2007, the President of Western State hosted educators and community leaders in a Sunday afternoon discusion about education. This meeting was one of a number that Speaker Romanoff is holding to promote a dialogue on education issues.

The purpose of the meetings is to have conversations with citizens in Colorado about what we want out of public education. We can produce the finest public education, but what is the specific goal. Romanoff said that what we really want is to help every child to fulfill their potential as a human being. Are we there yet? Most people say no. How do we get there? A lot will depend on the new council set up by Governor Ritter, which consists of thirty participants plus 3 co-chairs. Their goal to create a seamless educational process without pitting K through 12 against college funding. So the new council is focused on P through 20. In talking to young people 20% of 100 kids say they will get a AA or BA.

The mill levy stabilization bill was passed giving more local autonomy. The idea came forward in 2004 and passed the Senate. It did not get out of the house. This year the Governor proposed that the legislation be reintroduced. It passed and was signed into law. 175 local jurisdictions already have passed local legislation freezing the mill levy.

Speaker Romanoff talked about other legislation that was passed to provide funding for education. The following is just some of those bills.

House Bill 1048, sponsored by State Representative Mike Merrifield (D-Colorado Springs), helps parents and teachers get a better understanding of kids’ progress by focusing on the individual child’s development throughout the school year using longitudinal assessment.

House Bill 1345, sponsored by Rep. Merrifield, make it easier for parents to understand and access how their kids’ schools perform by streamlining three School Accountability Reports into one easy-to-read report and making it available online.

Senate Bill 148, sponsored by State Representative Edward Casso (D-Thornton), establishes a pilot program that helps kids stay in school and on a track toward college by allowing students to get a high school diploma and an associate degree within five years.

Senate Bill 239 “Long Bill”, sponsored by State Representative Bernie Buescher (D-Grand Junction), keeps college affordable by boosting financial aid by $7.4 million and increases the Colorado Opportunity Fund for 122,000 students.

Senate Bill 97, sponsored by House Majority Leader Alice Madden (D-Boulder), ensures that Colorado’s only medical school remains competitive to foster future doctors by funding the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center.

House Bill 1014, sponsored by State Representative Kathleen Curry (D-Gunnison), makes higher education more accessible to the Western Slope by reinstating graduate programs at Western State College.

House Bill 1145, sponsored by Rep. Merrifield, helps fund K-12 education through alternative energy development by authorizing the state land board to lease land for renewable energy development. Currently, 90 percent of the revenues from state lands help fund K-12 education.

Jay Helman, president of Western State, talked about the recent higher education summit. The theme was why education matters. He noted that there are problems with equal opportunity in the K-12 system. That challenge doesn’t change going into colleges and universities. People are coming to college who are not prepared. On Sept. 8, 2007, at the fall meeting of Club 20, education will be addrewswed. They hope to lay out a strategy and vision for what we want.

About 20 people participated in this discussion, and it was an important opportunity for exchanging information between lawmakers and local activists.

Pat Waak

From Paul Thompson, Douglas County Dems Chair

Jon Caldara is not a happy camper today as legislators head home after a highly successful session. The guru of the all-government-is-evil set had been riding high on the hog earlier in the decade as his disciples, led by John Andrews, went to work sowing vitriol in the state capitol, and reaping the stench of a decaying state government. By helping dysfunctional people win legislative seats, Caldara had gone a long way toward making his dreams come true, creating an evil government in his image.

Sure, state government had been like a rusty old Chevy that needed more and more money to keep it going. Voters toyed with the idea of crashing their old Chevy into a bridge pier to put it out of its misery. But they realized just in time that this isn’t such a great idea if you’re still sitting in the driver’s seat.

With the help of simple-minded media, we’d been led to believe that every election was a choice between wastefulness or destruction. We’d been electing people whose only talent was elementary school mud-slinging, and building the expectation that the legislature is a playpen for the most immature people we can find, people lacking the brainpower to earn more than $30,000 per year.

Fortunately, this was not our only choice. Contrary to what Jon Caldara had been telling us, and in spite of his best efforts, we discovered better options. There are people in this world willing to work in jobs where they are vastly underpaid relative to their skills. People whose worldview includes taking responsibility for problems and solving them, not simply blaming others for them. People smart enough, and motivated enough, to see our complex world as it is, and find clever and elegant ways of making it better. People motivated by a feeling of mutual responsibility.

Andrew Romanoff is one of those people, the new breed of adults who are now in power in the State House. He has set a new tone for the institution, taking people’s concerns seriously, even those of the opposing party, and looking for common ground and practical solutions. At a time when party warfare so often involves each side looking for a bigger bazooka to blast the other, Romanoff adopted a much more clever approach: listen to the other side and solve their problems, disarm the partisan militants by taking away their reason for bickering.

Romanoff’s willingness to listen to Republicans and take them seriously, makes him perhaps more conservative than other Democrats, more respectful of tradition and more cautious, more willing to balance competing interests, and less willing to spend money. Sometimes it’s frustrating for the Democratic base. But it’s infuriating for outside troublemakers like Caldara, who make their living on conflict. It’s challenging for local newspapers, who find it much easier to invent conflicts than to sit down and carefully explain a complex issue.

Words can’t describe how much fun it is to watch people like Mike May and Ted Harvey try to come up with partisan zingers to blast the Democratic leadership. How do you criticize this year’s highly successful legislation on energy efficiency, cutting health care costs, strengthening of schools, and consumer protection; when so much of it was supported by both parties and especially by the business community? How can you complain that the legislature did all of this within the bounds of Tabor, and further saved the taxpayers’ money by finishing early? Mike May tries to work up a head of partisan steam, but then has to let it out and criticize the color of Romanoff’s tie.

It will be especially interesting to hear from Dick Wadhams, the new Republican State Chair who was described by fellow Republican Senator Nancy Spence as the “The meanest, roughest, toughest, take-no-prisoners SOB we can hire.” He’ll soon be on TV whining about how those awful Democrats take all the fun out of politics by actually solving problems with bipartisan support. Spence’s comments will come back to haunt her when she realizes Wadhams’ mean and nasty approach is no longer wanted here.

Yes, the adults are back in charge, much to the voters’ satisfaction. We now have sustained proof that government can work for the good of the people.

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at: www.DemNotes.com)

I’ll write about the last bit of our county chair summit weekend below, but I can’t let this story in today’s Post go un-noticed.

As many of you have heard, the Colorado Legislature and the Governor are working on ways to ensure that local school districts can avoid automatic tax cuts, especially when the voters of all but three of Colorado’s school districts have lifted TABOR limits. Through a quirk in the law, even though the voters have said in these districts that schools deserve priority in funding, revenue from local taxes continues to decrease.

It’s a common-sense proposal to eliminate a loophole in the law. But Dick Wadhams sees blood, and an election issue, so our children pay the price for his games.

This is such a common-sense proposal that even the Republicans in the Legislature thought so in 2004. Even uber-right-winger John Andrews supported the idea.

Here’s where it gets interesting: Four current State Senators supported the idea. Sens. Johnson, Kester, May and Taylor all happily voted for the idea then. But times have changed, and the re-taking the majority is more important now to the GOP than good public policy. I’ll let the Denver Post set the stage for the official line of the Republican Party on this flip-flop:

In 2004, Sens. Johnson, Ken Kester of Las Animas, Ron May of Colorado Springs and Jack Taylor of Steamboat Springs voted for a school finance act that included a similar provision. All were no votes Tuesday.

Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, dismissed those concerns.

“The worst they can be accused of is that they voted for a bill they didn’t understand,” he said.

That’s right: he just called four members of his caucus too slow to understand an education finance measure. (Caveat: I ran against Sen. Kester in 2002; he kicked my butt. Needless to say, I don’t share the Minority Leader’s sentiment that Sen. Kester is too dim-witted to understand things.)

We elect people to serve in the Legislature to make hard decisions and to deal with complicated issues like school finance. If even the leader of the Republican Party doesn’t have faith in the abilities of his own members to do those things, what does that say about the Republican Party? Howard Dean has it right: The Republicans have proven that you can’t trust them with your money! Fiscal responsibility? That’s been left to the sole purview of the Democrats.

—————————–

Sunday afternoon, the State Executive Committee met in Georgetown. We adopted some changes to the 2007 budget; more important, we adopted the 2008 Delegate Selection Plan.

There was a lot of debate on a few issues. It seems like every time we adopt a Delegate Selection Plan (every 4 years), we have a debate about some of the “goals” for delegate diversity. In this case, there was a debate about the goals for delegates with disabilities. A motion to increase the goal for the number of delegates with disabilities by 700% failed, but there was a fair and decent discussion about what the goals mean and how important it was to meet — and exceed — those goals. In 2004, Colorado sent the most diverse delegation in the Nation to the National Convention, and we hope to repeat that feat in 2008.

In addition to diversity, we tweaked a few numbers and typos in the Plan — the Plan was approved overwhelmingly.

The Delegate Selection Plan is, as of yesterday, in the hands of the DNC. The DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee will go through it with a fine-toothed comb and tell us what changes we need to make to the Plan. However, it is likely that the main substance of the Plan will stay the same. I understand that the Delegate Selection Plan, as submitted to the DNC, will soon be available online at the State Party website:
http://www.coloradodems.org

Gov. Bill Ritter today signed into law the nation’s toughest targeted divestment bill aimed at ending the suffering in Darfur. HB 1184, supported by a broad bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, cuts the financial ties between the state’s public pension funds and companies that support the Sudanese government responsible for the atrocities in Darfur.

“This bill is especially meaningful to me because of my time in Africa,” Gov. Ritter said. “Colorado has no business supporting companies that facilitate genocide. Targeted investment can help insure our pension funds are redirected in a responsible way, and by joining with other states we can send a strong message that what is happening in Darfur is unacceptable.”

The genocidal government of Sudan is heavily reliant on foreign investment, and spends more than 70 percent of its oil revenue on a military force that perpetuates genocide.

HB 1184 requires pension funds to maintain a list of companies that either directly or indirectly help the Sudanese government commit genocide. After an expedited engagement period, the pension funds would be required to divest from companies that do not change their business practices in Sudan. The funds would be prohibited from future investment in offending companies until the atrocities cease.

Here is the text of HB-1184

For those of you who subscribe to the Week In Review, you will see the content below. However, I wanted to reinforce the accomplishments of our Democratic leadership. In a recent interview, my counterpart on Republican side said that Democrats had done nothing this cycle. I beg to disagree. In fact, the legislature and the Governer have in fact responded to many of the major concerns of voters in the state. So here it is again.

Bringing New Energy to Colorado

The House Majority Communications Office of the Colorado House of Representatives has issued a great progress report on legislation passed in the four major areas Colorado voters identified as the most important to them.

Curbing the cost of Health Care: 1) Cutting drug prices for seniors and the uninsured - SB 07-001 has been passed by the both the House and Senate and signed by the Governor. 2) Governor Ritter also signed an executive order to have Colorado join a multi-state pharmaceutical pool. 3) HB 07-1301 passed the House Health and Human Services Committee and protects women from the most common cause of cervical cancer. 4) A bill to boost coverage for children, mental health, drug treatment and indigent care, SB 07-097, passed the House, Senate and was signed by the Governor. 5) Both the House and Senate have passed SB 07-079 to help insurers, providers avoid disputes.

Strengthening our Schools: 1) HB 07-1048 which track will track students’ academic progress passed the House and Senate and was signed by the Governor. 2) SB 07-199 was approved by the Senate and the Education Committee of the House, which will expand early childhood education. 3) Both the House and Senate have passed a bill to make college more affordable - SB 07-148. 4) A bill to streamline accountability reports, HB 07-1345, passed the House Education Committee.

Energize our Economy: 1) Both the House and Senate passed and the Governor signed a bill to double Renewable Porfolio Standard, HB 07-1281. 2) SB 07-100 will enhance energy-transmission capacity and was passed by both the House and Senate. 3) The House passed HB 07-1169 to promote homegrown power. 4) The House and Senate passed a bill to provide “Wind for Schools” - HB 07-1087. 5) A bill to bring biofuels to market, HB 07-1060, was passed by the House and the Senate Finance Commmittee.

Conserve our Reserves: 1) A bill to safeguard forest health passed the House and Senate, HB 07-1168, and another, HB 07-1130, has passed the House Agriculture Committee. 2) HB 07-1037, will improve energy efficiency and has passed the House and the State Affairs Committee. 3) A bill to preserve water quality, HB 07-1132, passed the House, Senate and was signed by the Governor. 4) HB 07-1302, to increase the rainy-day fund, passed the House and the Senate Finance Committee.

Congratulations to our hard-working Representatives, Senators and Governor