Gov. John Hickenlooper delivered his first State of the State speech Thursday, the second day of the 2011 legislative session.
Hickenlooper, a Democrat, doesn’t have the easiest name in the world, and now he has a linguistic soulmate under the gold dome. In his address, the governor pointed to Rep. Keith Swerdfeger, a West Pueblo Republican.
The name Hickenlooper, by the way, is Dutch for “hedge hopper.” Swerdfeger is German for “sword fighter.”
Short, by a matter of degrees
Hickenlooper got a laugh when he reminded lawmakers that his predecessor, Bill Ritter, during his inaugural ceremony said no speech should be longer in minutes than the temperature.
“We checked the thermostat on the way in, and it’s about 70 degrees in these chambers,” Hickenlooper said.
But Senate Minority Leader Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, made the same joke the day before on the opening day of the legislature.
“The governor’s going to be borrowing some other ideas too,” Republican Sen. Bill Cadman said with a straight face.
Counting the minutes
Hickenlooper probably set a record for the shortest State of the State speech in recent memory. It was 25 minutes long.
Here’s a sampling of previous State of the State efforts:
2008: Bill Ritter, 53 minutes
2007: Ritter, 42 minutes
2005: Bill Owens, 46 minutes
2001: Owens, 51 minutes
1994: Roy Romer, 65 minutes
1992: Romer, 57 minutes
A certain Webb of intrigue
Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb had a prominent seat in the House opening day and again for Hickenlooper’s speech.
“I used to think it was because I was important, but now I think it’s because I’m big,” said Webb, who is 6 feet 4 inches.
Webb, a former state lawmaker, wasn’t wearing a tie, a no-no in the chambers. When that was pointed out to him, Webb was quick to note that Denver Post columnist Mike Littwin wasn’t wearing one either.
An excused delay
House members gave the Senate grief about starting late Wednesday until they heard the story behind the delay.
Sen. Irene Aguilar’s family was in a traffic accident on the way to the Capitol to see the Denver Democrat’s swearing-in. The Senate delayed action until the family could get there.
After the ceremony, an injured relative went to the hospital, where it was determined she fractured a wrist, Aguilar said.
Compiled by Lynn Bartels
Stay on top.
