Senate doomed growth bill

Senate doomed growth bill

May 15, 2001

Life in the Legislature
By State Representative Mark Larson

The first regular session of the 63rd General Assembly has ended. The following day, the "First Extraordinary Session" (as the proclamation reads) was convened. The Governor's Executive Order requires the special session to consider comprehensive planning, alternative dispute resolution between and among cities and counties, annexation and regional planning. The special session will adjourn sine die on May 23rd.

It was unfortunate that the Senate chose to hold HB-1225, the growth bill, until the last minute before sending it back to the House. The House sent the bill to the Senate four weeks ago. It was returned to the House, completely revised and leaving only four days for action. When the conference committee convened, Senate majority conferees continually moved away from compromise efforts, offering an 85-page "strike below" bill on the last day. This document was being promoted by the environmental lobbyists and certain special interest groups BEFORE the House conferees even received a copy. Put simply, the Senate majority should be ashamed of this blatant attempt at forcing last-hour major revisions knowing the urgency of the issue. These tactics obviate the Senate's unwise strategy of adhering to a position more restrictive than that of the failed Amendment 24. One well-connected insider leaked the ill-advised Senate majority secret meetings agenda of frustrating legislation while working for another initiative that would draw out more like minded voters in an election year. Incredible as this may sound, actions I personally observed last week would give pause that such skullduggery was indeed afoot. I truly hope the Senate majority will be more forthright and work for effective legislation in the special session.

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The end of the first regular session was exciting and exhausting. The second Telemarketing Bill was maneuvered through the House in a well-orchestrated effort that saw unusual mo-tions and several heated sidebars. My plan to remove the committee report from the bill on second reading (done only one other time this year) was aggressively fought but we had our votes. Removing the committee report allowed the bill to return to it's original form and required the detractors to attempt to hang their special interest amendments on before the full House. With the committee report removed, Rep. Al White (R-Steamboat), and I rejected amendment after amendment, each time calling for a "division" or stand-and-be-counted vote to assure that a voice vote would not be "misheard." Sometimes a voice vote may be swayed by the chairman's opinion of the bill.

One final attempt by the opponents to kill the bill by filibustering past the deadline of midnight was short circuited. After the first telemarketing bill (SB-93) failed due to partisan game playing and rules manipulation, public outcry dictated the allowance of a second bill. The lastness of the bill placed it in jeopardy due to fast approaching deadlines. The midnight deadline on second reading meant that the opponents could introduce endless amendments delaying final action past midnight, thus killing it.

What happened next completely floored me. Speaker Doug Dean, the very person I had fought with for months on this bill, came to the floor when it appeared the filibuster might succeed. The Speaker is a very astute political analyst. Recognizing the significant collateral damage that failure of a second popular bill would have on the party and certain members, the Speaker jumped in with both feet. He called a side bar and backed down several members who had been participant to the filibuster.

One last attempt by unyielding Rep. Mark Paschal (R-Arvada), to put the committee report back into the bill was met by a flat refusal of, "No, we have the votes and if this bill dies, it will be directly on Mark Paschal's head." The Speaker again urged Rep. Paschal to back down but he continued on. Not until Committee of the Whole Chairman Rep. Tambor Williams (R-Greeley), refused to acknowledge Rep. Paschal at the microphone were we able to take a final vote on the bill. The bill passed, was also passed in the Senate on procedural moves by Sen. Ken Chlouber (R-Leadville) and is on its way to the Governor for signature. This was definitely a bi-partisan victory.

The two telemarketing bills saw just about ever imaginable action allowable (and sometimes questionable) in the arsenal of legislative rules and procedures.

Mark Larson is a state representative from Cortez. He can be reached by phone (303) 866-2914; by fax, (303) 866-3318; or by e-mail at marklarson@qwest.net . He also has a Website at www.larsoncolorado.com .