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Lack of leadership leads to disappointing session
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Scott Renfroe
Guest Columnist
May 7, 2008
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The last few weeks of the session brought back memories of traveling with my children. Are we done yet? Are we there yet? The time has finally come: We are there. The Sixty-sixth General Assembly of the State of Colorado will close its second session by adjourning sine die. The Colorado Constitution states that the sessions of the general assembly shall not exceed 120 calendar days, and May 7 was the 120th day. Sine die is Latin for "without day" and occurs when an organized body will not meet again.
The next General Assembly will have different membership due to the November election. Fifteen of the 100 lawmakers are term-limited. They represent 162 years of elected service to our state. Their experience and knowledge of history will be missed, but I believe we are to serve as citizen legislators, not lifetime legislators.
There were 247 Senate bills and 415 House bills this session. Each legislator is allowed five bills to introduce. That means there were 162 bills that had late-bill status. I believe this many late bills is an abuse of leadership. To get a late bill, two of the three leaders in a chamber must approve of the request. There are some issues that come up and should be addressed, but were there 162? The last three weeks at the Capitol is crazy, everyone is on edge with what issues will surface.
Who were the winners and losers of the 2008 legislative session? Did the Democrat-controlled legislature lead the state in the right direction? Did our Governor fulfill his promises for Colorado? In Gov. Bill Ritter's State of the State speech his "first and foremost" agenda item was to fix the problems with voting machines and "promptly deliver" a system we can be proud of. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon introduced at last count, 17 elections-related bills. The clerk and recorder's of our state (our local elected experts on elections) opposed many of these bills. The Governor backed away from his fix, and even on the last day of the session, we were debating an election bill. I carried an election bill that was killed in committee this year, which would have required each voter to provide photo identification to vote. I would give the Governor and the Democrats a "D" for their leadership on this issue. Our Secretary of State did not do much better, but I do have great faith in our clerk and our local election staff to provide safe and accurate elections this fall.
Last year was full of blue ribbon commissions; this year was full of fee increases, trial-lawyer-friendly legislation, increased business licensing and regulation. The approved budget grants massive growth of government with zero fiscal restraint and nothing accomplished on solving our transportation needs. Republicans tried to negotiate a rainy day fund for the state with the current economic forecasts, but the desire of this government's need to "solve every problem" led to the spending of every dollar of our $18 billion budget. The lack of leadership has resulted in only studies and uncontrollable urges to increase taxes.
Colorado Sen. Scott W. Renfroe (R-Greeley) is member of the Judiciary Committee and the Transportation Committee for the Colorado Senate.
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