One of the state’s top Republican lawmakers filed a complaint with the secretary of state’s office Monday accusing a Democratic legislator of campaigning with state resources.
House Republican leader Joe Stengel alleges Democratic Rep. Buffie McFadyen of Pueblo West used a state-funded trip to advocate for November’s budget-reform measures, Referendums C and D, which ask voters to allow the state to keep an estimated $3.6 billion for state services.
In his complaint, Stengel, who opposes the measures, refers to a newspaper article that describes McFadyen, chairwoman of the Capital Development Committee, using a tour of state facilities to advocate for the measures’ passage.
“She’s flat out going into classrooms saying if you don’t want the roof to fall in, … vote for C and D,” said Stengel, of Littleton. “She’s using state resources to advocate a position, and that is against the law.”
McFadyen said the law allows her to express her opinions during committee meetings.
“When people ask you why you’re touring and … how you’re going to pay for things, I tell them, ‘I don’t know about you, but I’m voting for C and D so I can get things fixed,”‘ she said.
Stengel, she said, is welcome to tour state facilities with her committee, and “he can explain to them where we’re going to get the money.”
Staff writer Chris Frates can be reached at 303-820-1633 or cfrates@denverpost.com.
