Latest NewsSpecial Session Ends: No Civil Unions in 2012
Supporters of civil unions gather at the Capitol for a rally on May 8, 2012 The results of our 2012 special legislative session weren't exactly what many people had hoped for, but we finished our business in three days and passed some important legislation. Gov. John Hickenlooper called the session on May 10, noting that House leadership did not bring SB-002 (authorizing civil unions) and nearly 30 other bills to the House floor on May 8 for a fair and full hearing. As a result, SB-002 and most of the other bills died as time ran out on the regular session, unless bills could be combined into other pieces of legislation. We started the special session on the morning of May 14 as planned, but it soon became obvious that the new civil unions bill, HB S12-1005, would not pass either. Speaker of the House Frank McNulty assigned the bill to a committee with membership that would certainly defeat the bill, and it died on a 5-4 straight party-line vote - once again not advancing to a vote of the entire House. While the defeat of civil unions legislation was again incredibly disappointing, we did pass three key bills through the House and Senate during this special session, although Gov. Hickenlooper had not yet signed them into law as of May 17. Special Session Called: Civil Unions One of the Issues
Legislators and citizen supporters of SB-002 gather on the West Steps of the Capitol on May 8, 2012 The final 24-hour period of the 2012 legislative session will be remembered for years to come. In a nutshell, supporters of SB-002, a bill that would have authorized civil unions for same-sex couples in Colorado, hoped to see the bill go to a second-reading vote of the entire House of Representatives on Tuesday, May 8. The last day of our regular session was May 9, and the House would have needed to pass the bill on second reading on May 8 for it to face the third-reading vote that would be necessary for passage on May 9. Unfortunately, despite the fact that SB-002 had already passed three House committees, Speaker of the House Frank McNulty did not allow the bill to be heard on the House floor on May 8. Also, roughly 25 other bills on a variety of topics were not heard on May 8, which meant in essence that the bills as written would not go forward during this regular session. Click here for a Denver Post/Associated Press account of Tuesday's House session, and click here for a Post editorial regarding Speaker McNulty's course of action. Needless to say, supporters of civil unions were extremely disappointed, but they weren't the only ones. Many people contacted Gov. John Hickenlooper's office, asking him to call a special session so a bill on civil unions could be given a full and fair hearing, and on Wednesday, Gov. Hickenlooper obliged. Certain details about the special session weren't clear as of the late afternoon of May 9, including when it would start and a full list of topics to be addressed, but Gov. Hickenlooper was clear that the issue of civil unions would be on the agenda. Just Hours Left in the 2012 Session
The seconds are ticking away in the 2012 legislative session, as we must complete our business in the House and Senate by the end of Wednesday, May 9. As of Tuesday afternoon, one of the bills I sponsored has been signed into law while six others have a chance of earning Governor John Hickenlooper's signature. Click the link below to learn more about the bills and the bill status for each of them. The pace here at the Capitol has been unbelievable between committee hearings, work on the floor and negotiations regarding the finer points of legislation. Still, it's been enjoyable and I believe we'll pass some good bills by Wednesday evening. Thanks to everyone who participated in this year's legislative process, and I'm looking forward to what the summer has in store!
First Bill Signing of Session: HB-1162
On Thursday, May 3, Governor John Hickenlooper signed House Bill 12-1162 into law during a signing ceremony in the Governor's office. The bill authorizes the creation of special license plates for veterans of Operations Desert Storm or Desert Shield. As a veteran and the chair of the Senate State, Veterans, and Military Affairs committee, I was proud to be the Senate sponsor of this bill, and to share this bill signing with House sponsor Rep. Nancy Todd and the Governor. During Thursday's ceremony, Gov. Hickenlooper also signed HB 12-1063 into law. The bill established the Homelake Military Veterans Cemetery, which will consist of the existing cemetery at the Colorado State Veterans Center in Homelake (Monte Vista, CO) along with an adjacent portion of land available for cemetery expansion. Rep. Robert Ramirez and Sen. Gail Schwartz were the prime sponsors of HB-1063. Big Issues at Last Town Hall of the 2012 Session
Lee Kemp (left) and John Tayer of the RTD Board of Directors talk about FasTracks at Saturday's town hall meeting. We held our last town hall meeting of the 2012 session on Saturday, April 28, and attendees were treated to discussions of some very big issues facing us at this point in time. The first topic up for the 40 or more attendees was the RTD FasTracks mass transit project, along with its Northwest Rail (NWR) component that would eventually connect Longmont and Denver through Boulder. RTD Board of Directors members Lee Kemp (Chair) and John Tayer (First Vice Chair) were on hand, as was RTD's Assistant Manager of Communications Scott Reed. Reed led the crowd through a presentation about highlights and challenges of the FasTracks project to date. After the RTD segment, I had the chance to bring up some equally big state issues. For starters, we recently worked on the $19 billion "Long Bill" (HB 12-1335), or our annual budget bill. We also talked about HB-1238, a bill designed to make sure that Colorado's young students are able to read at grade level.
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