DENVER-
A state lawmaker whose wife is now a registered lobbyist said Thursday he will not vote on any legislation she is working on at the state Capitol.
Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, said his wife, Kara Miller Tupa, became a lobbyist for the state labor department on March 29 and filed the first required disclosure of the bills she was involved with on Tuesday. On Thursday he sent a letter to senators telling them he would recuse himself from voting on any bill she was supporting or opposing to avoid a conflict of interest under legislative rules and the state constitution.
“We have to do anything and everything we can to avoid the appearance of impropriety,” Tupa said.
Legislative staffers could not recall any other lawmaker who had to recuse himself because he was married to a lobbyist.
Tupa has been a longtime advocate of decreasing the influence of lobbyists and requiring more disclosure from them. The report Miller Tupa filed this week was required because of a bill Tupa co-sponsored last year.
Miller Tupa served as the department’s legislative liaison before being named the lobbyist. The difference is that liaisons are only supposed to provide information to lawmakers about bills, not urge them to vote for or against legislation.
Tupa said he made it a point not to discuss legislation with his wife to avoid any conflicts before she became a lobbyist and he said they’ll continue to avoid talking about bills.
He said his wife is a Republican and rarely agrees with him on politics anyway.
