DENVER—Anti-tax crusader Douglas Bruce is refusing to be sworn in as a state representative unless the House of Representatives is in session, saying Democrats accused him of wrongdoing and he won’t take the oath of office in secret.
House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, a Democrat from Denver, balked at the demand.
“I’m not willing to delay the business of the House to indulge anyone’s vanity,” Romanoff said Friday.
Romanoff wanted Bruce, a Colorado Springs Republican and author of the state’s constitutional limits on taxes, to take the oath at 8 a.m. to start his tenure as a midterm appointee. Bruce told Romanoff it was unreasonable to expect him to get up at 5 a.m. and battle the elements driving from Colorado Springs to get to the Capitol by then.
He countered with 10 a.m., but Romanoff rejected that time because that’s when the House is scheduled to convene. Lawmakers are expected to meet briefly and then adjourn for committee meetings.
Romanoff said he offered Bruce four other times. Bruce said Friday he rejected the other times because the House would not be in session.
Midterm appointees typically are sworn in shortly after their appointments during private ceremonies usually presided over by the Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court. A swearing-in while the House is in session would cause a delay about 15 minutes.
He said Democrats accused him of doing something wrong when he delayed his swearing-in until five days after the Legislature convened.
He said he will be there at 10 a.m. on Monday, and if Romanoff refuses to administer the oath while the House is in session, he’ll wait. Bruce said he plans to get a fellow lawmaker to invite him to be a guest until he can be sworn in publicly.
“I don’t want to create the impression I did something wrong. I did nothing wrong. I will stick around as long as it takes. It will not be a proceeding in secret,” Bruce said.
Bruce was chosen last month to fill a vacant House seat. By waiting to take the oath until Monday—when the unexpired term will be more than half over—he will be eligible to serve eight more years under term limits, instead of six.
Bruce said the delay was recommended by a judge during a previous court challenge to term limits.
Romanoff has said Bruce should have taken the oath within 10 days of his appointment.
Romanoff punished Bruce for the delay by denying him one of the five bills lawmakers are entitled to introduce each year. Romanoff said he docked Bruce one bill because Bruce deliberately missed a Dec. 1 deadline to file it.
Romanoff said he will introduce a bill setting a deadline for midterm newcomers to take office, saying it’s a loophole that needs to be closed.
Bruce has stepped down as an El Paso County commissioner. He attended his last meeting as a commissioner on Thursday.
