COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—Former state Senate President Ray Powers died Friday after suffering an arm injury that became infected. He was 79.
Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, a fellow Colorado Springs Republican and longtime friend, said Powers had been recovering from the injury.
Powers served in the House from 1979-80 and in the Senate from 1981 to 2000, when he was forced to step down due to term limits. He was the Senate president his final two years.
Powers earned praise from members on both sides of the aisle. He passed tax cuts and gun-rights legislation and wrote the single-subject rule for statewide ballot initiatives.
Powers wrote Senate Bill 1, a law that ensures all revenue coming into the state beyond a 6 percent budget growth goes to road projects.
“He for many years in the Senate was Mr. Transportation,” McElhany said.
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Information from: Rocky Mountain News,
