Anti-Referendum C Republicans have been vowing to be vigilant watchdogs of state spending, saying they will oppose “creating” new programs with the extra money the state gets to keep.
So what do those watchdogs do when the governor proposes a new program?
They lap it up.
Owens said: “We need to give these children a medical home. Let’s create Colorado Family Care this year.”
Guess who clapped? Those vocal watchdogs House Minority Leader Joe Stengel of Littleton and Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany of Colorado Springs.
McElhany later said he supports the program in concept because it would reduce government spending. Colorado Family Care would streamline Medicaid, the federal-state health care program for the poor.
A staff member quipped, though, that McElhany may have clapped because he was thinking about playing golf this weekend.
Silent treatment
Not every lawmaker clapped during the more than 40 times the governor’s speech was interrupted by applause.
Rep. David Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, sat silently during Owens’ call for tougher federal action on illegal immigration. Schultheis has been a leader in calling for tougher state action.
Sen. Moe Keller, D-Wheat Ridge, and Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, didn’t cheer when he called for an extra $80 million for roads.
Keller said she didn’t clap because “we don’t have that money and the governor knows we don’t have that money. … So I’m not going to clap about something we don’t agree with.”
Jerry this, Jerry that
Rep. Jerry Frangas was one of the most frequently mentioned lawmakers in the governor’s speech. The Denver Democrat shyly raised his hand when the Republican governor joked that he hoped that he wasn’t hurting Frangas politically.
Afterward, Frangas shrugged off the possibility of being tainted by his association with the Republican governor.
“People know I’m a liberal,” he said.
Also of note at the Capitol on Thursday:
A Denver lawmaker is bringing back a bill that he sees as a modest proposal, something that failed in the House last year: It allows workers in Colorado to take unpaid leave to attend their children’s school events. Democratic Sen. Peter Groff got the idea through the Senate last year, but it died in the House, where critics called it a government intrusion into the affairs of private business.
This year, Groff has scaled back his bill, he said. Instead of 40 hours of guaranteed leave every school year, parents would get 30 hours, he said.
And instead of all school functions, the new bill says only an “academic activity” could justify leave, ruling out sporting events.
“When the parents care about education, the kids care about education,” Groff said Thursday. “We’ll see what happens this time. I think there’s going to be more support on the other side of the building.”
Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Jefferson County, has formed a select committee on government accountability to investigate the state’s contracting processes. Citing a February 2005 audit of state contracting, a 2005 interim committee “in which the governor blocked directors of departments from testifying on contracting procedures” and the recent canceling of two information technology contracts, Fitz- Gerald said she wants lawmakers to get a better understanding of how well state contracts work in Colorado, she said in a news release.
“The citizens of the state must know if their tax dollars are being spent in a responsible way,” she said.
