Lawmakers-elect in the Colorado House participate in a mock floor session Wednesday morning . They will be sworn into office on Jan. 7, when the Colorado General Assembly convenes. (House Republicans)
Did you get all that? Probably not, but incoming lawmakers will get some very fast on-the-job training when the Colorado legislature convenes Jan. 7.
Under tutoring from veteran lawmakers, the rookies-elect took to the House and Senate chambers Wednesday morning to learn how bills are moved and debated and what happens when a lawmaker offers what is called a “third reading amendment.” (Colleagues hiss snakelike, but it’s done in fun.)
President-elect Bill Cadman, a Colorado Springs Republican, and two Senate Democrats, Rollie Heath of Boulder and Pat Steadman of Denver, oversaw the mock floor session in the Senate. In the House, outgoing Rep. Mark Waller, a Colorado Springs Republican, and former Rep. Paul Weissmann, a Louisville Democrat, served as the teachers.
After term limits hit in 1998, the nonpartisan legislative staff began offering lawmaker-in-training workshops to help incoming legislators deal with a flood of information, from the budget to the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights to the 2006 ethics law, Amendment 41. The legislators-elect went through mock committee meetings on Tuesday and mock floor sessions on Wednesday.
For some of the incoming senators, the deluge of information isn’t that new. Four of the incoming senators are currently serving in the House and a fifth previously served in the Senate. It’s a different story in the House, for the most part were most of the newbies are exactly that.
Here’s a breakdown by chambers:
Sen.-elect Laura Woods of Arvada, Sen. Pat Steadman of Denver and Sen.-elect Chris Holbert of Parker listen to President-elect Bill Cadman, not shown, discuss procedures during a mock session Wednesday morning. (Photo by Sen. Mark Scheffel)
SENATE, 35 members
Next year Republicans will have an 18-17 majority. There will be 10 new faces in the Senate, seven Republicans and three Democrats.
Of the seven Republicans, three are brand new to the Capitol: Weld County Sheriff John Cooke, Laura Woods of Arvada and Thornton City Councilman Beth Martinez Humenek. Three of the new GOP senators are currently serving in the House: Chris Holbert of Parker, Jerry Sonnenberg of Sterling and Ray Scott of Grand Junction. A fourth incoming Republican, Tim Neville of Littleton, previously served in the Senate.
As for the Democrats, there will be three new faces but only one new to the Capitol, Kerry Donovan of Vail. Leroy Garcia of Pueblo currently serves in the House and Michael Merrifield of Colorado Springs formerly served in the House.
HOUSE, 65 members
Next year Democrats will have a 34-31 majority. There will be 20 new faces in the House, 14 Republicans and six Democrats. Of the new lawmakers, Republican J. Paul Brown of Ignacio has previously served in the House. He is one of three Republicans who defeated a seated Democrat in the Nov. 4 election.
