Gov. Bill Ritter last week decried a trio of anti-tax initiatives heading for the Colorado ballot next year and challenged his Republican opponents to recognize the threat the initiatives pose to the state and come out strongly against them. “The problem is that voters concerned with federal spending will be looking for a solution to that problem. This is not the solution. It’s a misguided strategy,” Ritter told the Colorado Independent.

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By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS
The leader of a local libertarian group is making plans for a 2010 ballot initiative that would exempt Coloradans from a possible federal mandate requiring all citizens to buy insurance or pay a penalty.
Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute, is taking aim at health care reform legislation heading through Congress. Both the House and Senate versions — which is headed into difficult negotiations — includes individual mandates for purchasing health care.
Caldara — who attempted a similar initiative in 2008 but failed due to a lack of financial interest — said Coloradans shouldn’t be required to purchase an insurance plan forced on them by lawmakers in Congress.
“We’re setting up a battle between who gets to call the shots when it comes to policy for health care in Colorado — is it Colorado or is it D.C.?” asked Caldara. “I believe that people in Colorado want an opportunity to have the final say of ‘ObamaCare’ here in Colorado.”
Proponents say they want to wait until a final bill makes its way to the President for his signature before they finalize the language of the initiative. But they believe some sort of reform will make its way through Congress, and are therefore acting now.
At the heart of the initiative is to exempt Coloradans from the individual mandate and ensure that they can pay cash for health care expenses. Caldara and his supporters are also examining allowing cross-state purchasing of insurance products as part of the initiative.
Questions, however, have already been raised as to whether the initiative would be only symbolic in nature because federal legislation would supersede a state amendment. Caldara believes the Constitution gives states the right to choose. His opponents disagree.
Dede de Percin, executive director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, said her organization was cautious about supporting the proposal for individual mandates before they decided on backing the provision. But because the proposal is coupled with “strong consumer protections” and regulations on the insurance industry, as well as “robust” subsidies, de Percin said her organization was able to support the proposal.
She does not believe it is healthy to cherry pick specific aspects of the reform effort just to attack it.
“It is certainly bad policy and doesn’t necessarily make a lot of sense to try to peel out one piece of a comprehensive strategy to health care reform that is very much interwoven and interlocked,” said de Percin.
Meanwhile, conservative state lawmakers are also examining what they can do from a legislative end to attack health reform. Sen. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud, told the Denver Daily News recently that he believes a federal mandate would violate state rights. He said he would consider a state constitutional amendment that would ban the federal mandate. Rep. Cindy Acree, R-Aurora, has also said she would push for legislation that would take Colorado out of the federal reform component.
But Michael Huttner, executive director of the liberal ProgressNow group, called Caldara and his supporters “pawns” and a “puppets” for suggesting such an initiative.
“Caldara is little more than a pawn of the health insurance industry, and that’s why he’s been part of the whole effort to kill any health care reform,” said Huttner. “He’s a puppet of the health care industry, and it’s unfortunate that he would deprive so many people in Colorado who are uninsured or underinsured.”

Distributed by Colorado Capitol Reporters

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By Gene Davis, DENVER DAILY NEWS
Medical marijuana advocates scored a big victory after a judge Wednesday ruled that the City of Centennial is prohibited from banning medical marijuana dispensaries from operating within its city limits.
The oral ruling by Arapahoe County District Judge Christopher Cross followed a passionate hearing that spanned two days. Experts believe the ruling is a landmark case that could set a precedent preventing other Colorado municipalities from banning medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits.
“It’s a victory for patients and caregivers across the state of Colorado,” said Bob Hoban, a lawyer who represented the Centennial medical marijuana dispensary in the case. “And it’s clearly a victory for the constitution in that it shows that local governments can’t pick and choose which constitutional provisions they want to follow.”
In October the City of Centennial revoked the business license of CannaMart after learning that the business was a medical marijuana dispensary. In turn, two caregivers and three patients from the dispensary sued the city in hopes of having the decision overturned.
Wednesday’s oral ruling by Cross implemented an injunction against the cease and desist letter that the City of Centennial issued to CannaMart. In turn, CannaMart can open up for business again, at least for now. A broader trial on the issue could start as early as 60 days from now, according to Hoban.
In his ruling, Cross said that Centennial can zone dispensaries, but can’t forbid them from operating within city limits.
In 2000, Colorado voters approved medical marijuana to treat serious illnesses. Marijuana is still considered illegal under federal law.
Attorneys for the City of Centennial argued during the hearing that the city could ban dispensaries because they violate federal law. However, Cross said that the Colorado constitution allows the use of medical marijuana, and that the state constitution is there for a reason, according to Hoban.
“It would be an affront to the citizens of Colorado if they couldn’t rely on their constitution,” said Hoban.
Medical marijuana user and CannaMart patient Shannon Mosher cheered Wednesday’s ruling as a victory for sick patients in Colorado. Although CannaMart was only open several weeks, Mosher, who suffers from ankylosing spondylitis, said he had already started feeling at home at the location.
“I feel very reassured that among all the other things I’ve lost already from my disability, thatÉone thing I won’t lose is my constitutional right,” he said. “I’m really excited about winning this particular battle.”
Mosher uses medical marijuana to treat the chronic pain that derives from a genetic disease that breaks down tissue and infuses it with bone. He said that the CannaMart owners went out of their way to discount the marijuana for him, picked him up when he needed a ride, and kept track of his symptoms.
“These guys were very compassionate and took extra time to learn about my disease,” he said.

Distributed by Colorado Capitol Reporters

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Colorado has the longest waiting period of any state for unaffiliated candidates. To run as an unaffiliated, the candidate has to have been registered as one by June the year before the election, The Denver Post reports. The issue is being raised in the wake of the affiliation switch by Rep. Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison.

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Two state legislators — Democrat Claire Levy and Republican Cory Gardner — are planning to introduce bills to increase the penalties for the worst of the worst drunk drivers, 9News reports. Levy plans to introduce will send second-time offenders to county jail for 10 days and put them on supervised probation for two years. Gardner’s bill is different from Levy’s in that it would make the DUI repeat offenses a felony.

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Rep. Joe Rice, a Littleton Democrat who represents a moderate district not unlike Curry’s, said he understands her decision, even though he doesn’t agree with it. “There’s pressures, and people ask you things all the time, but you still have to stay true to your beliefs, and I think she has,” he told the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.
State Bill’s 2010 House Election Tracker was unchanged Wednesday as no Democrats or Republicans stepped forward to run in Curry’s HD-61.

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A new state law going into effect New Year’s Day will provide comprehensive preventive health care to people in rural Colorado. Other new laws provide oversight for new school construction, stronger requirements for citizens gathering signatures for ballot measures and expansion of the state employee pension plan to include Denver teachers, the Associated Press reports.

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State Sen. Al White said he plans to sponsor a bill in 2010 that would reduce late vehicle registration fees implemented this year. White, a Hayden Republican, told the Steamboat Pilot that his bill would revoke a provision of Funding Advancements for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery, or FAS­TER, that charges drivers $25 a month for late vehicle registrations.

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“It is refreshing to see a politician who puts her principles above personal advancement and party politics, especially when so many in both the state Legislature and Congress simply follow the party line when their leaders tell them to do so,” the Grand Junction Sentinel editorializes. “Curry will remain an important voice in the Legislature through the session that begins next month. Beyond that, her political future is uncertain.”

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By Don Knox, STATE BILL COLORADO
Some GOP political hopefuls in Garfield County have quiet feelers out in the wake of Rep. Kathleen Curry’s switch from Democrat to unaffiliated, but nobody’s stepped forward to announce publicly, a local Republican Party official said Wednesday.
“Hopefully, we have someone who wants to have a good go,” said Marilyn Oden, secretary for the Garfield County Republicans.
Oden declined Wednesday to say what Republicans have inquired about running for House District 61 now that Curry, the current speaker pro tem, will be forced to compete as a write-in candidate. Curry, of Gunnison, on Tuesday told House Speaker Terrance Carroll and Gov. Bill Ritter about the affiliation switch.
“It’s kind of a bombshell,” Oden said. “We’re scratching our heads about it.”
The news was particularly interesting because unaffiliated voters in HD-61 tend to side with Republican candidates over Democratic ones, Oden said.
“I don’t think she (Curry) is going to cater to Republicans or conservatives in any manner,” Oden said. “We have many people in the county have contacted her to vote no on (a lot of) legislation.”
Curry has served in the House since 2005. Her opponent in that election cycle was Becky Rippy, then a special advocate for children in the county’s Ninth Judicial District. Rippy couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
Rippy is the cousin of former Rep. Gregg Rippy, also a Republican, a former congressional candidate and the person before Curry to represent the district. He also was not immediately available for comment.
HD-61 includes Hinsdale, Gunnison, Pitkin, Eagle, and Garfield counties. Unaffiliated voters outnumber Democrats and Republicans.
Garfield County is traditionally Republican territory. Besides Curry, the other representative serving Garfield County is a Republican, Randy Baumgardner of Hot Sulphur Springs. And presidential candidate John McCain won the county in the 2008 election — albeit by just four votes.

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