Rep. Mark Larson (R-Cortez) claimed his share of legislative victories and defeats during the first part of his second term, returning home to Cortez last week after a grueling 2001 legislative session and a special session on growth.

Ten of the 18 measures Larson sponsored during the session passed, and four have been signed by Gov. Bill Owens.

Among Larson’s victories was a bill that would allow county commissioners to regulate county sewage systems that emit under 2,000 gallons a day. The bill was at the request of the Montezuma County commissioners, who have dealt with numerous failing sewage systems over the years, and a state health department that rarely forces the owners to clean up the mess.

But the General Assembly failed to pass legislation that addresses the state’s booming growth. Larson says the timing of the special session backfired.

"I support the governor on damn near everything, but I don’t think it was wise to bring us right back in, the next day, after we had already bloodied ourselves and each other. We needed to lick our wounds and do some research with our communities and float some of these things out," said Larson, who said the Senate crafted legislation too late in the session for compromise or thorough consideration.

"What I heard from my constituents through all last summer and after (the failed Amendment 24) is that we recognize there has to be comprehensive planning, but we don’t want property rights taken."

Larson speculated that the Democrats, a small majority in the Senate, were not compromising on the issue because they didn’t want growth legislation to pass. "Why pass legislation when you can bring a referendum, get all the fervor heated up, and get people to the polls that will help maintain the Senate?"

Despite a Democratic Senate, and a more urban House, Larson managed to maneuver some of his legislation through. One of the more interesting legislative efforts he helped push was a state no-call list for consumers fed up with telemarketers. Larson butted heads with House Speaker Doug Dean, who killed Larson’s bill but allowed an almost identical bill to be reintroduced after his phones rang constantly with calls from angry constituents.

Larson said Dean bent the rules because he saw the need for the law.

"The rules predominantly say that you don’t introduce a bill that is predominantly the same as the one that has died," explained Larson, whose name was not on the bill that passed, but who lobbied his colleagues to vote for it.

Larson said the legislature’s most significant accomplishments were made in education. "We’re putting our money where our mouth is. We’re saying that education reform is necessary, but we’re also saying that it needs to be properly funded," said Larson, who backed Owens’ attempt to refine the punishments for schools with inadequate Colorado Student Assessment Program scores.

"We took away the letter grade, which, whether I agree with it or not, was what the teachers wanted. We gave more resources for challenged children, we redefined the people that were carved out with the CSAP scores, we just did a lot of good stuff for education," said Larson.

Larson said he thought the largest disappointment during this legislation was the misunderstanding over his hate-crimes bill.

"I got an incredible amount of mail and cards that said I was changing life in Colorado as we know it," he explained. What is currently an "ethnic intimidation" law that covers race, color, national origin, ancestry, and religion, Larson wanted changed to include age, physical and mental disability, and sexual orientation with the moniker of "hate crimes" attached.

But the sexual-orientation language eventually derailed the bill in the House State Affairs Committee after the Christian Coalition and another "family-values" organization lobbied against the bill.

Larson thinks this was a shame.