Sparks are already flying in legislative special session

Sparks are already flying in legislative special session

October 2, 2001

Life In The Legislature
By State Rep. Mark Larson

The special session opened on Sept. 20 with a speech from the Governor that laid out the topics for discussion. Almost immediately the partisan sparks began to fly and the tone for the next few weeks was established. I have become accustomed to the political infighting but this time, it has not set very well and I am voting exactly as I believe you would have me.

The Governor's Call that determines the issues that the legislature will consider during this extraordinary session came under fire in the House as soon as bills were introduced.

The constitution states that the Governor has the authority to dictate the issues that must be considered. In his address to the General Assembly, the Governor made specific reference to case law that allowed him to tightly restrict those issues and suggested that it would be inappropriate to consider anything perceived to be outside of the call.

Several House members, mostly Democratic, rejected that concept and stated their own case law that would lead one to the conclusion that the Governor cannot dictate such stringent guidelines to another branch of government, a separation of powers issue.

The case was made that several Supreme Court decisions also found that the legislature must consider the Governor's Call but only as a minimum. In other words, if the Call states that the legislature shall address specific transportation issues, those issues must be addressed. However, the naysayers contend that other transportation issues may also be addressed that were not specified in the call.

One such issue came before the Transportation Committee. When considering the issue of requiring regional transit planning coordination, the discussion centered on whether the bill "fit under the call".

After a very long discussion, I reasoned that, while the bill indeed was not referenced in the call, the Governor's address to the General Assembly in the opening session made specific reference to exactly what this legislator was proposing.

If the Governor had not wanted this topic to be considered, he probably should not have made reference to it in his speech. Other committee members agreed and the bill passed.

So far, this is the only so-called "non Call" bill to make it out of committee. While I think the committee work was accurate, I am not optimistic the bill be make it out of the House.

The reapportionment discussion has risen to a new level of absurdity. Both sides of the aisle have promulgated maps for our consideration that are laughable. The six current congressional districts are split with four Republicans and two Democrats. Our job is to add another district because of the new census figures.

One would assume that adding this district would allow for a certain amount of common sense. Not so. The Republicans were offering maps that reflect six Republican districts to one Democratic and the Democrats were offering maps that would reflect five Democratic districts and two Republican... not to mention the Democratic splitting of the Western Slope and putting Jefferson County in the 3rd Congressional District!

In my opinion, only one plan has any merit. Rep. Richard Decker (R) Colorado Springs, offered a plan (HB01S2-1014) suggesting four Republican, one Democratic and two "competitive" districts. This plan is by far the best offered.

Yet, in both caucuses, the plan was rejected in favor of the obviously partisan foolishness. So, the House will send one-sided Republican maps to the Senate, the Senate will send one-sided Democratic maps to the House, and the court system will decide the outcome, something both sides have given much lip service as being undesirable.

I am working hard to assure the Decker proposal makes it to the Senate for consideration. Review the proposed maps at http://statereapp.state.co.us/congressional.

Mark Larson is a state representative from Cortez. He can be reached at the Capitol by phone, (303) 866-2914; by fax, (303) 866-2218; or by email at mlarson@sni.net. He also has a web site at www.larsoncolorado.com .