STATE BILL COLORADO

Sen. Al White, R-Hayden, will resign his four-year seat at mid-term to take the position as head of the Colorado Tourism Office under Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat.

White, a moderate, follows former Rep. Christine Scanlan into the governor’s employ. The Dillon Democrat gave up her seat to become Hickenlooper’s lobbyist.

In a statement, Hickenlooper noted White’s experience as an operator of tourism businesses in Winter Park. White lived in Winter Park until moving to Hayden two years ago to run for the Colorado Senate.

Hickenlooper also said that his administration will continue employing Health Care Policy and Finance Director Joan Henneberry, albeit in a new position dealing with health-care exchanges mandated under the Obama health-care reform act passed earlier this year.

The full press release follows.

Gov.-elect Hickenlooper names Sen. Al White to head state tourism and Joan Henneberry to lead health exchanges

DENVER ­— Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010 — Gov.-elect John Hickenlooper announced today Sen. Al White will be Director of the Colorado Tourism Office and Joan Henneberry will be the Healthcare Exchange Planning Grant Project Director.

White is a businessman from Winter Park who served eight years in the Colorado House of Representatives before he was elected to the Colorado Senate two years ago. He has a long history of promoting tourism in Colorado, creating jobs as a small-business owner and working collaboratively with all levels of government.

“Tourism can be a catalyst for economic development throughout Colorado,” White said. “Our beautiful state has the perfect climate for family and business. We want people to visit every corner of Colorado and decide to stay for a lifetime.”

Henneberry is now executive director of the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing and responsible for managing public health insurance programs including Medicaid and CHP+.  She will stay in her current role until a replacement is named.

“Colorado is well positioned to implement federal health care reform that meets the needs of families throughout the state,” Henneberry said. “We are committed to working with consumers and businesses to effectively and efficiently provide health care services that are both affordable and accountable.”

In her new role, Henneberry will be responsible for continuing the planning phase for a health insurance exchange in Colorado as called for in the Affordable Care Act. This will involve setting up work groups and committees; working with the health reform director and implementation board;  working to assess through economic modeling and analysis if Colorado can sustain a state exchange; and continuing to engage stakeholders, especially consumers and small businesses, to ensure that the Colorado exchange enables them to purchase valuable, affordable health insurance.

Henneberry joined Gov. Bill Ritter’s cabinet as executive director of the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing in 2007. She previously worked in the private sector after spending seven years at the National Governors Association, providing consultation to states on health care services and financing, cost containment and emerging policy issues. She spent 13 years at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, chairs the board of the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization, and serves on the Executive Committee for the National Academy for State Health Policy.

Henneberry earned a master’s degree in management and completed the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government in 2008. She is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

White was first elected in 2000 as State Representative for House District 57, representing Garfield, Grand, Jackson, Moffat, Rio Blanco and Routt counties. He served four terms and during his tenure served as Assistant Majority Leader and Vice Chair of the Business Affairs and Labor committee. He was a member of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, the Education Committee, the Water Resources Review Committee and the Legislative Audit committee. White was the House appointee to the Colorado Tourism Office board for 10 years and was instrumental in securing funding for tourism promotion in Colorado.

White was elected to the Colorado Senate in 2008, representing District 8 (Eagle, Garfield, Jackson, Moffat, Rio Blanco and Routt counties). He currently serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee and he served on the Joint Budget Committee for four years.

White was honorably discharged from the Army and relocated 35 years ago to Colorado, where he attended the University of Colorado. He then moved to Winter Park and began a career as an entrepreneur in the ski business. Through hard work, and the community’s support, Al and his wife, Jean, spent 25 years as owners and operators of several full-service ski shops, a bike shop and a mountain lodge.

As an active member of the business community, White served on several bank boards, was the Chairman of the Fraser Valley Metropolitan Recreation District, Secretary of the Grand County Water and Sanitation board, and Vice Chair of the Winter Park Fraser Valley Chamber of Commerce.

White will resign his Senate seat in the coming weeks; a date has not been set. A vacancy committee will name his replacement.

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About the Colorado Tourism Office

The Colorado Tourism Office was created by the legislature July 1, 2000, to promote Colorado as a tourism and travel destination. The CTO replaced the Colorado Tourism Board and the Colorado Travel and Tourism Authority. The office is governed by a board of directors consisting of 15 members, including four legislators and 11 members appointed by the Governor and representing various tourism and travel industry segments. Administrative oversight is provided by the Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

About Health Care Reform

Under the Federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, states have critical responsibilities for implementation of new federal policies. One critical area for planning is the development of exchanges, or virtual marketplaces, where thousands of currently uninsured Coloradans will seek information to select and purchase health insurance. Many of these individuals and families will be eligible for federal subsidies to help them pay their insurance premiums. Click here for more information.

About Partners for Colorado

Partners for Colorado is organized as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation created to engage a diverse group of people from all over Colorado; ensure a smooth hand-off from the Ritter administration to the Hickenlooper administration; review the current performance, challenges and opportunities of each major area of state government and develop recommendations for improving practices within these areas; provide recommendations to the incoming administration for specific executive and legislative actions that can be pursued during the administration’s first 100 days; and recruit and evaluate candidates.

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By Rebecca Jones, EDUCATION NEWS COLORADO

Local Wellness Policies – required of all school districts participating in the National School Lunch Program as a way to boost opportunities for physical activity and healthy eating – appear to have had very little impact on either, a recent study of Colorado schools shows.

The reason – the policies are often vaguely worded, use terms such as “are encouraged to” rather than “required” and, once written, tend to be stuffed in notebooks never to be seen again. School officials focus on those mandates for which they are held accountable – raising test scores – rather than on those for which results are neither measured nor rewarded.

And many view their choices as “either/or” instead of “both/and,” failing to see how concentrating on improving a school’s physical and nutritional environment will positively impact academic performance, researchers say.

“I was surprised,” said Elaine Belansky, an assistant professor at the Colorado School of Public Health and associate director of the Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center, who was the principal investigator for the study.

And not just surprised at the lack of results.

“I was surprised by how much pressure schools and superintendents are facing,” she said. “How the expectations keep piling on them with very few getting removed from their plate, and I’m surprised that the federal government makes unfunded mandates and puts schools in a position where they may not look good because they don’t have the resources attached to the mandate.”

Low-income rural schools were surveyed

The researchers surveyed principals and food service managers in 45 low-income rural Colorado elementary schools before and after the Local Wellness Policies were implemented in 2006. They found that very little had changed between 2005 and 2007.

While P.E. class time went up an extra 14 minutes per week, in accordance with wellness-policy language, recess time actually decreased by 19 minutes, for a net loss of 5 minutes of physical activity.

As one rural superintendent told researchers, “What we continue to hear is ‘No Child Left Behind.’ I haven’t heard ‘Don’t leave fat kids behind.’ It’s about keeping kids academically fit. That’s foremost on our minds.”

And some recommended nutritional changes – banning sales of sodas or junk food from vending machines, increasing the number of daily fresh vegetable options in the lunchroom, offering a salad bar – simply didn’t happen, despite wellness policy goals.

The study found that some things did improve. More schools prohibited offering sugary or fatty treats during classroom parties and they increased the average number of daily fresh fruit offerings at lunch. More schools began serving skinless poultry at lunch. But researchers concluded that these positive changes had nothing to do with the Local Wellness Policies.

“The reason they made those improvements was because of site visits from the Colorado Department of Education,” Belansky said. “The food service managers talked quite positively about those site visits, and they felt they had gotten great ideas from the department’s nutrition staff.”

The most recent study findings were reported in the November issues of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Earlier findings were reported last year in the Journal of Public Health Policy.

Officials go for “low-hanging fruit,” not meaningful change

Belansky lauded the schools for the improvements they did make, but bemoaned the fact that more substantive changes didn’t result.

“Having policies in place about the food that can be served in classroom parties is a good change, but it’s not the kind of change that gives you a big bang for the buck when addressing childhood obesity,” she said. “It doesn’t affect a child’s daily food consumption.”

Belansky concluded that rural schools need assistance from universities, from the state department of education and from other organizations to determine the best evidence-based practices and to focus on those changes that will yield the most results.

“We need to help schools who are so overwhelmed, who have so few resources, and really guide them in a process where they’re taking on not just the low-hanging fruit,” she said, “but doing things that will really address the childhood obesity epidemic.”

Weakly worded sample policy gets watered down

Unfortunately, she said, most rural school districts – when squeezed by federal demands that they devise a Local Wellness Policy – simply used a template supplied to them by the Colorado Association of School Boards. That template was already weakly worded.

“Then the districts took that template and made the wording even weaker,” she said. “So I wonder if we couldn’t work with CASB to start with a stronger template next time, knowing that schools will tone it down.”

Occasionally, however, the wellness policies became “living” documents rather than unheeded and unread policies. That happened only when a “champion” emerged to constantly remind school staff about the policy and ensure that it was followed.

CASB spokesman Brad Stauffer said the wellness policy template the organization supplied to school districts was intentionally weak, but that CASB expected local districts to have their own discussions about what policy language best meets their own needs and circumstances.

“When we use words like ‘encourage,’ it is intentional and appropriate,” he said. “School districts care about good nutrition for students and are working toward offering better choices. However, many of the nutritional strategies, such as serving more fresh fruits and vegetables, are costly and additional funding is not presently available.”

Geoff Gerk, superintendent of Fremont County school district RE3 – which serves 225 students in Cotopaxi – acknowledged using the CASB LWP template, tweaking it only slightly to reflect the fact that the district is on a four-day week. And in Cotopaxi, they don’t worry about kids loading up on sweets at a nearby convenience store. There aren’t any.

“I guess we’re paying more attention to (the policy) as time progresses,” said Gerk. “But it hasn’t changed a whole lot of what we were doing prior to having it.”

Gerk said nutrition in Cotopaxi schools is much better than it was five years ago, but that he nevertheless feels frustrated by trying to fulfill extra requirements without extra resources.

“I think every agency, every person involved in education has wonderful plans, wonderful ideas, and always the best interests of the students at heart. But when you get multiple agencies, legislators, more and more federal regulations all tied to the Title (federal grant) programs, it does seem like there’s a constant barrage of things we have to do. And when we get down to it, we have to ask ‘How does this affect the kids in the classroom?’”

Making clear the link between wellness, academic performance

Belansky said the questions Gerk raises are typical of those she heard voiced by rural educators across the state.

“One of the things I’m struck by is how many principals – and superintendents and board members too – don’t know about the very good studies that show the positive relationship between physical activity and academic achievement,” she said.

“I think there’s a real opportunity for reform leaders in Colorado to help them make that link. They say they took away recess because they were worried about how time away from classroom instruction would impact CSAP scores. But studies show that when you increase physical activity, it has no negative impact on tests such as CSAP.”

Belansky said that despite the disappointing findings, she doesn’t believe the creation of Local Wellness Policies was wasted effort.

“It started a conversation at high levels of school administration,” she said. “It gave voice to those champions in the school district who wanted to address nutrition and physical activity. It gave them a reason why school officials had to have a meeting with them about this. So it was a good first step.”

But she acknowledges that meaningful changes cost money. P.E. classes can’t be extended without money to pay for staff, and the quality of P.E. classes won’t improve without money to provide continuing education to the teachers. And schools can’t provide better meals with money to buy fresh fruit and vegetables.

Lessons for urban schools as well

This study focused on rural low-income districts, but Belansky believes many of its findings are applicable across the state. She said interviews with urban school principals also found widespread unfamiliarity with district wellness policy, and a lack of authority to control what happens in the lunchroom.

Quantity of P.E. is substantially lower in Denver than in rural districts, Belansky found, but the quality is much higher. “That’s because they have fabulous professional development in Denver, which they just don’t get in rural schools,” she said.

Belansky and her colleagues will continue to collect information about what’s going on in regards to nutrition and physical activity in Colorado schools, thanks to a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Their first goal was to understand the impact of the Local Wellness Policies. Now they’ll move on to the next: identifying the key school environments and policies that really do impact healthy eating and physical activity. She expects that work to consume most of 2011, and hopes to submit findings for publication toward the end of next year.

For more information

Read the study findings related to physical activity in this report, “Early Impact of the Federally Mandated Local Wellness Policy on Physical Activity in Rural, Low-Income Elementary Schools in Colorado.”

Read an abstract of nutrition-related findings of the study, “Early Effects of the Federally Mandated Local Wellness Policy on School Nutrition Environments Appear Modest in Colorado’s Rural, Low-Income Elementary Schools.” Downloading the full article may require a subscription or a one-time fee.

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DENVER DAILY NEWS

Republican state Attorney General John Suthers yesterday said a recent national report suggests that increased accessibility and acceptability of marijuana — such as medical marijuana centers in Colorado — is to blame for a rise in drug use among youth.

But marijuana advocates say critics are making excuses for a failed war on drugs.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse report attributes the 1.5 percent increase in drug use among 8th-graders to increased marijuana use.  The percentage of 8th-graders using drugs rose to 16 percent from 14.5 percent the previous year.

“These increases in youth drug use are being fueled by the increasing accessibility and acceptability of marijuana use,” Suthers said in a statement.  “Marijuana use can have grave detrimental effects on the developing minds and behavior of teens. This report highlights one of the side effects of the increasing social acceptance of medical marijuana and the ramifications of its widespread use.”

Medical marijuana is legal in Colorado, approved by voters and put into the state constitution.

Over the past year-and-a-half, there has been a spike in medical marijuana centers across Colorado, with there being nearly double the number of MMJ centers to Starbucks.  Over the past year-and-a-half, the number of MMJ centers jumped from just over a dozen to over 1,000.

The Legislature this year crafted some of the toughest medical marijuana regulations in the nation, cracking down hard on both MMJ centers and patients, with a seemingly endless list of regulations, dealing with everything from cultivation to tax and fee requirements.  Lawmakers even imposed a one-year moratorium on new MMJ centers.

The Legislature is expected to draft more tough regulations this year, with a heavy focus placed on doctors who make medical marijuana recommendations.

A recent Colorado Department of Education report on safety and discipline suggests a similar trend among youth drug use here in Colorado, with the number of drug incidents reported by school districts in Colorado rising 34 percent from 2008-09 to 2009-10.

“Increased marijuana use among youth has serious ramifications for the education of our children and numerous other important issues that could compromise Colorado’s future,” Suthers said.  “Although the Legislature has chosen to legitimize dispensaries beyond what the voters approved in 2000, I would encourage policymakers to continue to consider and, if necessary, revisit this issue as more and more data reveals the effects of marijuana proliferation and use.”

But Mason Tvert, of the pro-marijuana advocacy group Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), says failed drug policies are to blame for the continuing increase in youth drug use.  He says there is much less risk surrounding marijuana than alcohol.  Tvert believes more youth smoking pot suggests progress.

“We would all like teens to remain drug free,” said Tvert.  “But if they are going to use an intoxicating substance, they pose far less harm to themselves and to others if they choose to use marijuana instead of alcohol.”

“Alcohol contributes to overdose deaths, significant long-term health problems, serious injuries, and violent crimes, whereas marijuana has never been found to contribute to such problems,” Tvert added.  “Teens choosing to use marijuana instead of alcohol are in fact making a safer choice.”

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By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS

Not surprisingly, Denver mayoral candidate James Mejia believes education is the key to the city’s success.

The Denver native and chief executive of the Denver Preschool Program launched his campaign yesterday with several campaign stops around town, addressing audiences on challenges facing the city and how to solve those problems.

The fastest way to create jobs and solve the city’s $100 million budget shortfall is to attract companies and businesses to Denver — but that can’t be done without first creating a high quality education system, said Mejia.

“When we look at this future of our city, and we look at what it takes to make the workforce of tomorrow, and what it takes to make sure that when companies are looking at Denver and growing in Denver, that they’re saying, ‘This is a place where I would be proud to send my children to school, and this is a place where I can find my future workforce,’” Mejia said yesterday to a small audience at Rosa Linda’s Mexican Cafe in the Highlands.

Mejia, a Democrat, faces a tough battle before the May 2011 municipal election, competing in a large pool of formidable candidates, including State Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, as well as at-large City Councilman Doug Linkhart and City Councilman Michael Hancock — both Democrats.  Councilwoman Carol Boigon, also a Democrat, is expected to announce her intentions to run for mayor on Thursday.

All candidates have filed their exploratory paperwork, but are not considered official mayoral candidates until they are certified for the May ballot.

Education and jobs won’t be the only concerns facing voters at the polls — much of the community is also concerned with the police and sheriff’s departments following a string of internal arrests and brutality incidents.

Mejia says it’s time for police Chief Gerald Whitman to be replaced.

“A new mayor has an opportunity to bring in a new police chief.  That’s an important step because I think that the police chief has a great deal of latitude in terms of addressing issues before they become problems,” said Mejia.

Concerns over Manager of Safety’s office

Mejia also raised concerns over the Manager of Safety’s office.  Manager of Safety Ron Perea resigned in August after outrage erupted over his not firing two Denver police officers caught on tape beating a 23-year-old gay man in downtown Denver.

Mayor John Hickenlooper has asked the FBI to conduct an independent investigation into the alleged beating. Denver police have also re-opened their investigation into the incident. The FBI supposedly has not looked into the case since DPD is conducting another investigation.

The city has paid nearly $6.2 million since 2004 to settle lawsuits involving police officers, according to a recent report by the city attorney’s office. Almost all of the lawsuits involved allegations of police brutality.

Mejia yesterday also stressed a focus on hiring local companies and individuals for public projects.

“Keep it local,” he says.

The next mayor of Denver will replace the extremely popular current Mayor Hickenlooper, who will head across Civic Center Park to the Statehouse where he will become the next governor of Colorado.

Hickenlooper will hold his position until his Jan. 11 inauguration when Deputy Mayor Bill Vidal will then become acting mayor until the municipal election in May.

A crowded field

Others who have filed paperwork to explore a run for mayor are Danny Lopez, a city employee who lost to Hickenlooper in the 2007 mayoral race, as well as Dwight Henson, Michael Forrester, Kenneth Simpson, Paul Noel Fiorino, Theresa Spahn, Thomas Andrew Wolf, and Eric Jon Zinn.

In addition to his work founding the Denver Preschool Program, Mejia headed up the Department of Parks and Recreation under former Mayor Wellington Webb, he has served on the Denver Public Schools board, and was selected by Hickenlooper to lead the development of the $425 million Denver Justice Center bond project.

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By Debi Brazzale, COLORADO NEWS AGENCY

State lawmakers expressed dismay Tuesday over gaps in tracking the money that is paid out for foster care in Colorado, and they want something done about it.

“We have identified basic oversight lapses here. This is a population that is not able to do its own oversight, and if you’re not doing it—who’s doing it?” Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, asked officials from the Department of Human Services who were testifying before the Legislative Audit Committee.

Foster care falls under the purview of the Colorado Department of Human Services, but the program is administered by individual counties. The counties contract with privately owned child-placement agencies that hand over checks to foster parents.

An audit performed by the state’s auditor found that the department has not heeded the recommendations of the previous two years’ audits calling for more oversight over the child-placement agencies.

The department, funded through the state’s operating budget as well as by fees and federal dollars, is a recipient of federal money under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In order to receive those funds, the federal government requires that audits reflect how the money is spent.

An audit in 2008 showed numerous instances where expenses charged to the program by foster-care providers may have been excessive or not allowed, and red flags were raised. However, the department said the federal requirement for audits does not apply to the vendors receiving the federal money. The department made a formal decision in 2008, and still maintains, that child-placement agencies are vendors and therefore are not subject to the added scrutiny of an audit.

The department’s stance, despite the state auditor’s assessment that the vendors should be subject to further scrutiny, troubled Carroll.

“Let me just be candid—I find that disturbing,” said Carroll. “We’re talking about some really high-profile problems with the division of child welfare. We’re talking about the past experience of being overcharged and having unallowable expenses in a system that desperately needs money to go to direct care for children.”

Carroll said she wants to make sure that the oversights are put in place regardless of how the child-placement agencies are defined by the department.

Yet, Jenise May, a deputy executive director of the department, defended her department’s reluctance to exclude the agencies from the auditing requirements.

“When you end up in that arena, you end up having to track a dollar down to the provider level,” said May. “It really limits our ability to serve the child.” May said, for example, a child may not be able to receive a birthday present under the federal guidelines if even child-placement agencies must be audited.

Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton, reiterated the concerns of her colleagues.

“This (child-placement agencies’) administrative cost is pass-through money. The county gives it to the (agency), the (agency) passes it through to the foster parents,” said Tochtrop. “That’s where the concern is: that pass-through that there’s no oversight on. “

Sen. Dave Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, said he hopes that the department will find a way to create the oversight that appears to be lacking.

“I do hope that future audits appear better than they appear here. It gives the impression that you (the department) don’t care about it,” said Schultheis. “It looks like we’re at logger heads and you’re going to do what you want to do.”

Tochtrop said perhaps it is time to look at the overall structure of human services and to reconsider decentralization put in place just over a decade ago.

“We need to sit down and look at how well decentralization has worked,” said Tochtrop. “When you pick up the paper, last Sunday, and you see the things that go on because of things that fall through the cracks—maybe we need to look at this.”

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Primary care Dr. Irene Aguilar will become Denver’s newest state senator after a vacancy committee chose her Monday night to fill outgoing Sen. Chris Romer’s seat, The Denver Post reports.

Aguilar’s appointment follows House District 56′s selection of Millie Hamner, superintendent of the Summit County School District. That decision was made Sunday in Frisco by the district’s Democratic vacancy committee, according to the Colorado Statesman. Hamner replaces Rep. Christine Scanlan, D-Dillon, who has been named the chief lobbyist for Gov.-elect John Hickenlooper and will resign her seat on Dec. 31.

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As he wraps up his first and only term as Colorado governor, Bill Ritter says his administration will have a lasting impact on the state, providing more jobs in the emerging field of renewable energy and more money for hospitals and transportation, the Associated Press reports.

“We changed the direction of this state,” Ritter said in an interview as he relaxed in his office at the Capitol, mulling over what he still considers “a great job to have.”

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STATE BILL COLORADO

House Minority Leader Sal Pace, D-Denver, today unveiled budget-committee assignments for 2011.

One notable new assignment is John Soper, D-Thornton, as ranking member of the business committee. When the Democrats were in the majority, the chair was held by Joe Rice and the vice chair held by Sara Gagliardi, but both lost in tight elections in November.

A press release follows.

COLORADO
HOUSE DEMOCRATS
STATE CAPITOL

Minority Leader Pace Announces House Democrats’ Committee Assignments

DENVER— House Minority Leader Sal Pace today announced the Democratic committee assignments for the coming legislative session that opens on January 12, 2011.  Democrats hold 32 seats in the House while Republicans hold 33.

Included in the announcement were appointments for the Democrats’ nine newly-elected (and appointed) members, Representatives-elect Crisanta Duran (Denver), Rhonda Fields (Aurora), Deb Gardner (Boulder), Millie Hamner (Summit County), Matt Jones (Louisville), Pete Lee (Colorado Springs), Dan Pabon (Denver), Angela Williams (Denver), and Roger Wilson (Garfield County).

Pace praised the newest members of the House, calling them “extraordinarily promising lawmakers.”  Rep.-elect Roger Wilson, who was appointed to the Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee, said “I’m excited to be on a committee that is a key economic component to the district I serve.”

Rep.-elect Angela Williams, a small-business owner, said she would use her assignment to the Economic and Business Development Committee, “to focus on creating jobs, fixing the economy and creating small business opportunities for entrepreneurs.”

Newly appointed Rep.-elect Millie Hamner was selected to be on the Education Committee and on the Transportation Committee, where she has vowed to, “work on behalf of our local economy by fighting for scarce transportation dollars and keeping the Western Slope a beautiful place that continues to attract visitors from all over the globe.”

Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Resources
Ranking Member: Rep. Randy Fischer, Fort Collins
Rep. Wes McKinley, Baca County
Rep. Su Ryden, Aurora
Rep. Ed Vigil, Alamosa
Rep.-elect Matt Jones, Louisville
Rep.-elect Roger Wilson, Glenwood Springs

Appropriations
Ranking Member: Rep. Mark Ferrandino, Denver
Rep. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, Gunbarrel
Rep. Andy Kerr, Lakewood
Rep. Jim Riesberg, Greeley
Rep. Judy Solano, Adams County
Rep.-elect Dan Pabon, Denver

Economic and Business Development
Ranking Member: Rep. John Soper, Adams County
Rep. Joe Miklosi, Denver
Rep. Max Tyler, Golden
Rep.-elect Deb Gardner, Boulder
Rep.-elect Angela Williams, Denver
Rep.-elect Roger Wilson, Glenwood Springs

Education Committee
Ranking Member: Rep. Judy Solano, Adams County
Rep. Andy Kerr, Lakewood
Rep. Cherylin Peniston, Westminster
Rep. Sue Schafer, Wheat Ridge
Rep. Nancy Todd, Aurora
Rep.-elect Millie Hamner, Summit County

Finance Committee
Ranking Member: Rep. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, Gunbarrel
Rep. Daniel Kagan, Arapahoe County
Rep. John Kefalas, Fort Collins
Rep. Jeanne Labuda, Denver
Rep.-elect Crisanta Duran, Denver
Rep.-elect Dan Pabon, Denver

Health and Environment
Ranking member: Rep. Jim Riesberg, Greeley
Rep. John Kefalas, Fort Collins
Rep-elect Rhonda Fields, Aurora
Rep. Beth McCann, Denver

Rep. Cherylin Peniston, Westminster

Rep. Sue Schafer, Wheat Ridge

Judiciary Committee
Ranking Member: Rep. Claire Levy, Boulder
Rep. Daniel Kagan, Arapahoe County
Rep. Su Ryden, Aurora
Rep.-elect Crisanta Duran, Denver
Rep.-elect Pete Lee, Colorado Springs

Local Government
Ranking Member: Rep. Ed Casso, Adams County
Rep. Beth McCann, Denver
Rep. John Soper, Adams County
Rep.-elect Rhonda Fields, Aurora
Rep.-elect Pete Lee, Colorado Springs

State, Veterans, and Military Affairs
Ranking Member: Rep. Nancy Todd, Aurora
Rep. Lois Court, Denver
Rep. Claire Levy, Boulder
Rep. Joe Miklosi, Denver

Transportation Committee
Ranking Member: Rep. Max Tyler, Golden
Rep. Randy Fischer, Fort Collins
Rep. Matt Jones, Louisville
Rep.-elect Deb Gardner, Boulder
Rep.-elect Millie Hamner, Summit County
Rep.-elect Angela Williams, Denver

Capitol Development Committee:
Rep. Ed Vigil, Alamosa

Audit Committee:
Rep. Joe Miklosi, Denver
Rep.-elect Deb Gardner, Boulder

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By Debi Brazzale, COLORADO NEWS AGENCY

The potential benefits of declaring a state fiscal emergency were laid on the table last week as state lawmakers learned what their options are for crafting a workable balanced budget for 2011-12.

“We’ve done this in the last two years and I believe that the General Assembly will have to do it again in order to move some of the tobacco-tax moneys to back-fill the General Fund,” Joint Budget Committee staffer Melody Beck told the budget-writing panel during a staff briefing on the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing.

Declaring a state fiscal emergency is accomplished by passing a resolution with a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate along with a nod from the governor, who must sign the resolution for it to take effect. For the past two years the legislature and governor have successfully declared such an emergency in response to dismal revenue forecasts against the backdrop of a constitutional mandate for a balanced budget.

With passage of the resolution, a portion of tobacco tax revenue would be freed up to patch up fiscal holes in the state’s Medicaid program through a provision in Amendment 35, approved by voters in 2004. The amendment allowed the state to increase an excise tax on tobacco products in order to fund expansions in Child Health Plan Plus and Medicaid, primary care serving the uninsured and medically indigent, prevention and treatment of cancer, cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases; and tobacco cessation programs.

Sen. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs, said the introduction of such a resolution appears to be likely and quite possibly could become inevitable once December’s revenue forecast is known.

“I’m sure this will be brought forward this year,” said Lambert. “However, I think there’s going to be some debate on it trying to figure out where we are in all of this.”

House Minority Leader Sal Pace, D-Pueblo, said today that he will be taking a wait-and see-approach on the necessity of declaring a state fiscal emergency until more is known on the numbers front.

“I’d have to see what the budget is looking like and what kind of money we’re talking about,” said Pace. “There’s a down side any way you look at it.”

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By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS

The Denver Post and its parent company have aligned with a Las Vegas-based “bottom feeding legal outfit” to “shakedown” a small blogger and the mega news aggregation Web site Drudge Report over copyright infringement, according to critics.

But the founder of copyright enforcement firm Righthaven, LLC says newspapers such as the Denver Post have no choice but to sue over infringement cases because simple cease and desist letters just aren’t doing the trick.

Righthaven — presumptively on behalf of the Denver Post and its parent company MediaNews Group — filed a lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court in Nevada alleging that Matt Drudge of Drudge Report on Nov. 18 unlawfully used a photograph taken by a Post staff photographer that appeared the same day at DrudgeReport.com. The photograph complemented a story in the Denver Post and at DenverPost.com about intensified TSA security screenings at Denver International Airport and other airports around the country.

Righthaven also recently filed suit in federal court in South Carolina against a small blogger there for copyright infringement for using a Post column from local conservative talk show host Mike Rosen. Dana Eiser posted to her blog lowcountry912.wordpress.com on Sept. 23 a column by Rosen called “Rosen: A letter to the Tea Partyers.” Eiser’s blog credited the column to the Denver Post and Rosen, but lawyers argue that it remains a copyright infringement.

The reason the lawsuits are filed only presumptively on behalf of the Post is because of the nature of how Righthaven goes about its lawsuits. Righthaven obtains the copyrights to alleged infringed material and then sues on its own behalf retroactively, confirmed Steven A. Gibson, the founder of Righthaven.

But Marc John Randazza, a San Diego, Calif.-based attorney whose firm has represented six “Righthaven victims” questions why the Denver Post and MediaNews didn’t just use its own legal team to argue the infringement cases.

“Doing that suggests to me that they are concerned about the validity of their case,” said Randazza, who has opened an office in Las Vegas just to handle the influx of Righthaven cases being filed. “The one reason I can think of to do that would be to insulate themselves against attorneys fees being issued against them.”

MediaNews on Friday did not return requests by the Denver Daily News seeking comment. Westword reporter Michael Roberts has also reported MediaNews executives not being “eager to discuss” copyright infringement issues.

The Post has been on the attack over content, issuing a warning in November that it would use “all legal remedies available” to go after outlets that post a significant amount of Denver Post stories on their own Web sites. The warning was published in a Sunday edition of the Denver Post.

The Post’s warnings come as its circulation has decreased by more than 9 percent over the past year. The Denver Post’s 9.12-percent weekday circulation drop over the past year is well above the 4.99 percent newspaper circulation decline nationwide.

Targeted by the Post has been ColoradoPols.com, a political Web site dedicated to Colorado politics. In May, a law firm representing MediaNews Group sent a letter to Jason Bane of ColoradoPols.com threatening legal action if the political Web site didn’t stop its “flagrant and persistent theft of our clients’ intellectual property.” ColoradoPols.com often pulled several paragraphs from papers like the Denver Post to analyze an issue in depth.

Critics of such lawsuits being pushed by the Denver Post and Righthaven question their validity, arguing that many of the suits are frivolous or seek to “shakedown” “mom and pop” Web sites, as well as non-profits, political action and public interest groups, writers, and forum board operators. Critics argue “fair use” in their defense.

As with most of the Righthaven lawsuits, attorneys seek damages of $150,000, as well as forfeiture of domain names, thus forcing smaller entities to settle out of court, say critics.

Web sites, blogs and Facebook pages have been set up to call attention to Righthaven’s practices. At righthavenvictims.blogspot.com, the Denver Post and all of MediaNews Group’s 54 newspapers have been added to its “blacklist.” People are encouraged to block the Web sites.

Also on the list is WEHCO Media and Las Vegas-based Stephens Media, LLC, owner of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a regular client of Righthaven. In fact, an affiliate of Stephens Media is an investor in Righthaven, according to Las Vegas Sun reporter Steve Green. MediaNews is part of a California-based partnership called the Bay Area News Group that includes Stephens Media, according to the Las Vegas Sun.

Haters of both Righthaven and its founder, Mr. Gibson, say the firm is attacking people who should be given an education in copyright laws, not forced to defend themselves against expensive lawsuits.

“These are people who feel like they’re doing the online equivalent of cutting a newspaper out and sending a copy to their friends,” said Randazza, the California attorney representing “Righthaven victims.”

Randazza agreed that Drudge Report is a different beast, but pointed out that the Drudge Report suit is the first lawsuit brought by Righthaven against a large, truly profitable entity.

“These aren’t people putting movies on Torrent sites,” continued Randazza. “This is a whole different degree — essentially it’s the hall monitor waiting until the bell rings and saying, ‘Got you.’”

But Gibson himself told the Denver Daily News on Friday that a less aggressive approach simply does not work. As of Friday, he had filed 183 copyright infringement lawsuits through Righthaven. An independent Web site not affiliated with Righthaven, RightHavenLawsuits.com, estimates that Righthaven has earned $269,500 in settlements for its clients.

“It does not appear that an approach to addressing the infringement of copyrights that is based upon merely sending out takedown letters is a very effective way of dealing with that issue,” said Gibson. “There are literally millions, if not billions of infringements out there.”

“If a newspaper were to add the requisite staff to identify the infringements, to properly identify the infringers, and spend the time drafting appropriately worded letters, and kindly ask each one of those infringers to stop infringing, it would cost a newspaper an unmanageable amount of money to do that,” continued Gibson.

But Colleen Lynn, founder of righthavenvictims.blogspot.com, says Righthaven is approaching the issue from the wrong angle. Lynn started the anti-Righthaven blog after becoming concerned that content she posted on her Web site, DogBites.org, might result in her being sued. The Web site analyzes dog bites in America, and often used content from newspapers.

Lynn said she couldn’t believe Righthaven was suing people such as herself, adding that she is now afraid to use anything from the Denver Post, even if it’s for the greater good of her audience.

“This really is going to hurt, across the board, all kinds of people,” she said.

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