FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 8, 2010 For more information:
Courtney Law

COLORADO
HOUSE MAJORITY COMMUNICATIONS
STATE CAPITOL

Gagliardi Bill Helping Foster Kids Get Driver’s Licenses Passes Final House Vote

(Denver) – Representative Sara Gagliardi’s (D-Arvada) bill to help foster kids get a driver’s license easier, successfully passed a final reading in the House today 63-0, with 2 excused.

Currently, Colorado teens in the foster care system face barriers in getting their licenses because they cannot provide the signature of a legal guardian. House Bill 1059 allows kids in the foster care system to easily register for driver’s education and apply for their learner’s permits. The measure would allow foster kids to sign for themselves when registering for driver’s education.

“I’m thrilled this bill passed in the House and look forward to its success in the Senate. This bill represents a minor fix to an issue that affects a lot of children’s lives. The kids in our foster care system face enough hurdles in life, so I’m pleased that I can help make their lives a little easier,” said Rep. Gagliardi.

The bill is sponsored by Linda Newell (D-Arapahoe County).

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About the Colorado General Assembly Majority Party
Thirty-seven Democrats comprise the majority of Colorado’s 65-member House of Representatives. Leadership for the 67th General Assembly includes Speaker of the House Terrance Carroll; Majority Leader Paul Weissmann; Speaker Pro Tempore Buffie McFadyen, Assistant Majority Leader Andy Kerr,
Caucus Chair Karen Middleton and Majority Whip Christine Scanlan.
Current and past House proceedings can be seen on Comcast Channel 165 or at www.coloradochannel.net. Breaking news, legislator biographies and photos are available at www.coloradohouse.org.

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Rep. Edward Casso of Commerce City lost his committee vice chairmanship a day after he cheered Gov. Bill Ritter’s decision not to run for re-election and ripped the governor, The Denver Post reports. Speaker Terrance Carroll demoted him in favor of Sara Gagliardi, who’s in a competitive race in her district. “I hope my crocodile tears don’t flow too much, or you might actually think I will miss the governor,” Casso said, in a news release Wednesday.

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By Don Knox, STATE BILL COLORADO
There’s a reason for Colorado Republicans’ optimism for reclaiming the Colorado House in November 2010.
According to a State Bill Colorado analysis, it’s this: In those districts where one party dominates (defined as 40 percent of total voter registration), Republicans enjoy a 23-20 lead over their rivals, the Democrats.
In Colorado’s 65-seat House, that leaves 22 truly competitive districts. The GOP needs to win just 10 of those seats to gain a 33-32 majority. (Currently, Democrats have a 37-27-1 edge.)
But here’s the rub: Of those 22 competitive seats, 18 are now held by Democrats, and 14 of those are held by Democratic incumbents who are running again.
Thus, Republicans will need to knock off at least two of those incumbents — and probably more.
Put that way, it’s very achievable. But when you consider that it’s January and that Republicans have yet to field candidates in half of those races, it’s more daunting.

A closer look
One key to GOP control will be holding their four currently competitive seats: HD-59 (Ellen Roberts is running in the Senate), HD-39 (David Balmer), HD-30 (Kevin Priola) and HD-22 (Ken Summers). This keeps them steady at 27.
After that, they’ll need six pickups. There are four competitive seats in which incumbents aren’t re-running, at least not under their previous affiliations. In Boulder’s HD-11, Jack Pommer is term-limited. Buffie McFadyen is term-limited in Pueblo’s HD-47. Mike Merrifield is term-limited in Colorado Springs’ HD-18. The fourth district without a Democrat incumbent is HD-61 on the Western Slope. It has an incumbent, Kathleen Curry, but last week she affiliated away from the Democratic Party to undertake a never-before-successful write-in candidacy as an unaffiliated.
If the Republicans manage to take all four seats, it means they need to pick off only two Democratic incumbents for a 33-32 majority. But for each of the above seats that they fail to win (Pommer’s and McFadyen’s will be toughest) the price will be knocking off an additional Dem incumbent.

Incumbents in path
And those 14 Democratic incumbents are: HD-17′s Dennis Apuan, HD-23′s Max Tyler, HD-24′s Sue Schafer, HD-26′s Andy Kerr, HD-27′s Sara Gagliardi, HD-29′s Debbie Benefield, HD-31′s Judy Solano, HD-33′s Dianne Primavera, HD-34′s John Soper, HD-38′s Joe Rice, HD-50′s Jim Riesberg, HD-52′s John Kefalas, HD-53′s Randy Fischer and HD-56′s Christine Scanlan.
Of these, Joe Rice has the district that’s most vexing to the GOP — Republicans have a solid majority in HD-38. But the Army Reserve colonel has won twice here, and he currently has no opponent. For the GOP, the strongest tack may be trying to get Rice to switch affiliations.
Sara Gagliardi also has bested GOP opposition in her district, HD-27, where Republicans also enjoy a registration advantage. For 2010, she does have a GOP opponent.
Of the rest, the top GOP prospects figure to be those 10 districts where unaffiliateds have a registration lead. Those are HD-17′s Apuan (probably the top GOP objective), HD-23′s Tyler, HD-26′s Kerr, HD-29′s Benefield, HD-31′s Solano, HD-33′s Primavera, HD-50′s Riesberg, HD-52′s Kefalas, HD-53′s Fischer and HD-56′s Scanlan. Of these, the GOP so far manages to field candidates in five. (Tyler, Solano, Riesberg, Kefalas and Fischer so far are unopposed.)
In their quest for the Colorado House, the GOP will need to continue to try to find and field credible opponents in House Districts 23, 31, 38, 50, 52 and 53. To keep their lock on the House, the Democrats will need to support and bolster their incumbents while attempting a few pickoffs of their own. Of these, Kevin Priola’s HD-30 is the most likely: Democrats enjoy a strong majority in the district but have so far failed to field a candidate there for 2010.

BOTTOM LINE: If you believe in the strength of incumbency, the 2010 Democrats again walk away with the Colorado House. But if this is an election where voters blame some, or most, of the statehouse incumbents for the state’s problems, Republicans have a shot to regain.

B

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Bolstered by public frustrations with government, GOP leaders have set their sights on reclaiming the state House and Senate in an election year that will shape Colorado politics for the next decade. Analysts tell The Denver Post that a takeover of both chambers and the governorship in 2010 a long shot. State Bill Colorado weighed in recently with its own seat-by-seat analysis of the Colorado House.

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A native of East Orchard Mesa is the latest person to join the fray to be the Republican nominee for House District 54. David L. Cox, 28, will jump into next year’s race to replace Rep. Steve King, that is, should King run for the seat now occupied by Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, The Grand Junction Sentinel reports. Cox said he isn’t aligning himself with the conservative “Tea Party” movement, but said he agreed with much of what it stands for.

Data for this chart was assembled from the following sources: Colorado Secretary of State’s website, the Democratic and Republican parties, political blog Mile High Politics, The Denver Post, The Gazette, The Fort Collins Coloradoan, The Pueblo Chieftain, The Durango Herald, The Steamboat Pilot, The Craig Daily News, The Montrose Daily Press, The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, The Vail Daily News, The Summit Daily, The Greeley Tribune, the Boulder Daily Camera, the Loveland Reporter-Herald, The Aurora Sentinel and State Bill Colorado research.

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By Allie Winter, STATE BILL COLORADO
As part of a plan to create jobs and improve working conditions in Colorado, Gov. Bill Ritter and Colorado Senate President Brandon Shaffer on Thursday unveiled four job-training bills that will come into play during the 2010 legislative session.
The first, called Job Retraining Accounts, will allow employer-matched, portable, employee-owned accounts to finance employee education and training. This will create a partnership between workers and employers. Rep. Andy Kerr and Sen. Bruce Whitehead are sposoring this bill.
The second proposal provides incentives to health care workers who will agree to serve in rural communities. Bill backers Rep. Sara Gagliardi and Sen. John Morse believe this bill will improve existing public and private loan repayment programs.
“Without any new taxes, we are cutting government and streamlining access to fair loan repayment programs for health care workers,” Gagliardi said. Morse said, “This bill creates a streamlined process to put primary care physicians and nurses in the communities where they are needed, without increasing the cost to taxpayers.”
Sen. Abel Tapia will sponsor the third bill presented, which is to improve the existing CollegeInvest nurse loan forgiveness program by extending its eligibility requirements.
A fourth and final bill announced was the CareerReady Colorado Certificate program. It was piloted earlier this year but would be available statewide if the bill passes and is signed by Ritter. The program provides job-seekers with a state-issued credential, certifying their skills and abilities. The sponsors of the proposed bill weren’t identified.
House Republican Leader Mike May agreed with Ritter’s focus on jobs. However, he had several criticisms. “I would suggest that if Gov. Ritter wants to get Coloradoans back to work, he repeal his onerous tax and fee increases, scale back his damaging oil and gas rules, and rethink the way government does business,” May said.

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By Don Knox, LAW WEEK COLORADO
DENVER — An El Paso County woman who filed spurious liens against current and former Colorado legislators has ceased doing so for a good reason.
She’s been jailed.
Mary Severance was arrested in April on a 1996 civil contempt-of-court warrant. She rejected settlement offers in her case, according to a legislative summary of the matter presented Tuesday to the General Assembly’s joint Legal Services Committee. On Oct. 8, she was sentenced to 90 days in jail, and she was taken into custody after the hearing.
Severance also faces felony criminal charges for filing false documents. In the criminal case, Severance rejected the original plea offer of probation “but the offer remains open,” the legal staff said. “Mediation is scheduled for Dec 3, and a motions hearing is scheduled for the following day. Both parties should be prepared, if necessary, for trial on Dec. 14.”
The cases involved purported election contests filed with the Secretary of State’s office challenging the elections of Colorado Sens. Abel Tapia and Moe Keller, Rep. Sara Gagliardi and former Rep. Dorothy Butcher. All are Democrats. Severance “later filed documents that could be interpreted as liens against the property” of Tapia and Butcher.
Following an investigation, the legislature’s legal staff determined that Severance and Richard Ludwig had made “similar filings of spurious liens” in El Paso County against various Pueblo County officials. The various cases were combined into a single matter.
A settlement was reached with Ludwig in November 2008. It calls for him not file any other spurious documents.
The lawyers representing the legislature are Richard Kaufman and Lino Lipinsky de Orlov of the Denver office of McKenna Long & Aldridge.

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