The national AFL-CIO dropped a bomb on Gov. Bill Ritter last week, threatening to get the Democratic National Convention pulled from Denver if Colorado doesn’t make the changes it wants to the Labor Peace Act.
Legislative leaders and some other labor groups, however, seemed loath to hop on board, despite their disappointment in the governor’s February veto of the bill he had promised to support.
Asked if she would try to reintroduce the proposal to eliminate one of two votes needed to create all-union shops, Sen. Jennifer Veiga, D-Denver, laughed and said, “Do I look like I want to beat my head against the wall some more?”
House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, who appointed a special council to try to bridge labor-business divides after House Bill 1072 was vetoed, said he would rather spend the rest of the session “focusing on issues of common ground, like education and health care.”
In addition to threatening to get the convention moved, the union asked for a “top-level” meeting with the governor. Ritter said his door is open, but noted that the first he heard of the resolution was from the media.
Asked if his union would support reopening the debate this session, Mitch Ackerman, president of Colorado’s Service Employees International Union and a member of Romanoff’s business-labor council, said, “If something is different, let’s revisit it. The question is, what’s different?”
Ackerman said his union’s priority is improving the lives of working Coloradans – specifically access to quality health care.
“Our choice is to figure out where do we have common ground, to build relationships,” Ackerman said.
Bipartisan spirit dwindling?
Labor Peace Act or no, partisan sparks will be flying at the state Capitol this week as the Senate state affairs committee holds a public hearing on a Democratic resolution against an escalation of troops in Iraq.
Republican leaders have accused Democrats of staging political theater by calling a hearing on a nonbinding measure.
Yet they didn’t hesitate to turn the rhetoric up a notch, holding a news briefing where House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, released a letter he sent to the governor declining to participate in a lunch at the mansion on Wednesday – when the debate is scheduled.
They also warned that the spirit of bipartisanship that has dominated the first half of the session could evaporate.
That’s exactly the kind of political drama some Democrats have privately said they expect with the election last week of Dick Wadhams as the new state GOP chair.
May and Wadhams both say the letter was May’s idea. But Wadhams makes no secret of the fact that he is much more involved in statehouse politics than recent predecessors.
In fact, Wadhams says he meets with lawmakers regularly.
Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, said the meetings are “a mix of big picture – trying to get the pulse of Colorado voters – and day-to-day positioning, looking at what bills are on the calendar, which ones we want to promote and which ones we want to actively oppose.”
“Dick’s definitely brought a new energy and focus to the party,” Mitchell said.
Capitol Bureau chief Jeri Clausing writes each Sunday. She can be reached at 303-954-1555 or jclausing@denverpost.com.
