A little friendly football wager
Gov. Bill Owens and Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell on Wednesday made a friendly wager on this weekend’s football game between the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
If Denver wins, Rendell will wear a Broncos jersey around the Pennsylvania Capitol for a day. If Pittsburgh wins, Owns will don a Steelers jersey. Owens also wagered a box of Colorado buffalo burgers to counter Rendell’s wager of a box of hot dogs from Pittsburgh’s Original Hot Dog Shop, with a case of Heinz condiments.
Both governors engaged in a little trash talking, too.
“The Bus stops here,” Owens said. “The steel curtain will be orange-crushed on Sunday.”
Rendell said “the Colorado thin air has obviously affected Gov. Owens’ judgment.”
At 9:30 this morning, Owens will join Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper for a rally in Civic Center park to proclaim “Orange Friday.”
Budget hawks beware
Each year, former lawmaker Jerry Kopel finds obsolete provisions of state law that lawmakers can strike from the books. This year, he found $10 stowed away in the little-used “predatory animal fund,” a law that hadn’t been amended since 1893. “I’m surprised the JBC didn’t find that,” said Sen. Steve Johnson, R-Fort Collins, referring to the committee that writes the state’s annual budget.
Proposal to curb cash gifts
Lawmakers would not be able to accept cash gifts under a bill that passed the Senate state affairs committee 5-2 on Wednesday. Under current law, office holders can accept cash as long as it’s reported in an annual disclosure.
“I’m encouraged by the bipartisan support of the bill being sent out of committee,” said the bill’s sponsor, Democratic Sen. Ron Tupa of Boulder.
New smoking ban on tap
A bipartisan group of state lawmakers held a news conference Wednesday to announce their intent to file a bill to ban smoking in almost all public places, including bars and restaurants. A similar proposal was killed last year.
Kissing banned, too
When Miss Rodeo Colorado and Miss Rodeo America were introduced in the Senate chambers Wednesday, Sen. Lew Entz, R-Hooper, reminisced about the days when he was chairman of the agriculture committee and the then-reigning gals of rodeo kissed him on the cheek.
“Those days are long gone, Sen. Entz,” Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald quipped.
New bills of note
Senate Bill 101, sponsored by Sen. Ron Teck, R-Grand Junction, would ban public-funded treatment services for tobacco-related head, neck or lung cancer.
House Bill 1161, sponsored by Reps. Val Vigil, D-Thornton, and Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs, would require mortgage brokers to register with the state.
Senate Bill 102, sponsored by Sen. Suzanne Williams, D-Aurora, and Rep. Mark Larson, R-Cortez, would protect from manslaughter charges any medical care-givers giving pain-relief treatments to chronically ill patients. It would not allow for assisted suicide.
Senate Bill 88, sponsored by Sen. Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora, would require those who talk to state employees for the “purpose of aiding in or influencing the awarding of a state contract” to report their activities.
House Bill 1149, sponsored by Rep. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, would expand what professional lobbyists must legally disclose.
