Letters & Op-Eds

Roberts: Renewable-energy mandate threatens rural communities

April 19, 2013

Submitted by admin on Fri, 2013-04-19 11:33
When people have asked me to describe this legislative session, I often find myself referring to the expression that it’s been like “the pig in the python.” There’s so much being jammed through in a frantic hurry that it’s caused a huge bulge like a pig swallowed by a python, eventually being digested down the python’s body, but not pretty to watch in the meantime.

My legislative record demonstrates that I like to work on policy challenges more than political maneuvering. I can work with all, across the aisle and in my own party. So, my unease and, at times, my dismay with this session is that, on the big, divisive issues, these opportunities are too few and far between.

Roberts: Proposed budget does not reflect state, federal reality

April 11, 2013

Submitted by admin on Thu, 2013-04-11 08:25
Last week brought life in the Legislature face-to-face with the real world on a couple of different fronts. We began the week with two funerals, one for Tom Clements, head of Colorado’s corrections system, who is suspected of being murdered by a recently released inmate, and the second one for David Brophy, the beloved father of our colleague, Sen. Greg Brophy of Wray.

Each service was a fitting tribute to a man who had lived life very well. Both had touched many in a positive way, lending a helping hand to those around them. It was a sad start to the week, but a privilege to share in those moments with their families and friends, and to collectively pause in our busy lives to reflect on their contributions and to honor those who will be missed dearly.

King: Colorado needs its own aerial firefighting fleet

April 4, 2013

Submitted by admin on Thu, 2013-04-04 17:03
The Denver Post editorial board advises state lawmakers to take a step back and evaluate the necessity of a statewide aerial wildfire-fighting fleet. Instead, I suggest we wake up, open the windows, and smell the smoke.

Despite acknowledging last year's "devastating" fire season, the board asserts "more work should be done in defining the problem" before a solution is crafted. This, I submit, is typical "paralysis by analysis," an approach aptly demonstrated by the federal government for the past 12 years as we watched our federal wildfire air fleet dwindle from 44 air tankers to nine functional tankers in 2013.

The evidence is clear and the problem is thoroughly defined: Colorado has nearly 4 million acres of dead trees and is still languishing in a 12th straight year of drought. Only last year, Colorado suffered six fatalities, lost 647 homes, and incurred $48.1 million in fire suppression costs.

Roberts: Hot topic of the week shifts to school funding

March 28, 2013

Submitted by admin on Thu, 2013-03-28 10:28
Every week, this session seems to feature a new high-profile and volatile issue to be debated. Last week, it was the start of the school-finance bill. Colorado’s approach to funding schools has been incredibly complex and difficult to understand. There’s a formula that takes into account many factors, which then determines how much funding each school district will receive from the state.

Getting to fair and balanced funding of schools hasn’t been achieved and is evident in my Senate district. I was hopeful that those working most closely on the new formula would be able to arrive at something that would transcend the rural-versus-urban disparities.

The bill sponsors hope to arrive at a new formula that would be sufficiently popular to help pass a $1 billion tax increase to be proposed this fall for a statewide vote. It’s an ambitious goal, and one that will require buy-in from across the state to succeed.

Roberts: Four gun bills trigger public’s concerns about self-defense

February 27, 2013

Submitted by admin on Wed, 2013-02-27 09:05
A busy week at the Capitol was followed by a Saturday town hall meeting in Durango. An unprecedented number of people attended the annual forum hosted by the League of Women Voters, with many familiar faces in attendance.

It was clear early on that a principal concern for many who attended is the proposed gun-control bills now headed to the state Senate after passage in the state House. As with all bills, the devil is in the details, meaning that the shorthand reference to a bill doesn’t really tell you much until you read the bill. This is especially important with these four bills as the details of each bill are causing so much alarm.

Brophy: Gun bill dangerous, unnecessary

February 27, 2013

Submitted by admin on Wed, 2013-02-27 08:54
The seemingly innocuous House Bill 1229, which proposes a de facto ban on private sales, is ridiculous, unnecessary and dangerous.

Ridiculous, you ask? How can a bill dealing with firearms safety be ridiculous? The bill sends you to jail for six to 18 months for loaning a shotgun to your nephew without getting a background check on him.

How about this: Your neighbor, who you've known for 20 years, wants to borrow your rifle to take on a trip to Nucla to shoot prairie rats. Bang, both of you wind up in jail for six to 18 months. You should have gotten a background check on him. Don't bother the government with the fact that you know he already has 10 guns. Just call up the dealer, make the arrangements and pay for the check. Absurd. And it doesn't do a single thing to make anyone safer.

Click here to continue reading in the Denver Post.

Roberts: Looking at top legislation beyond hot-button issues

February 12, 2013

Submitted by admin on Tue, 2013-02-12 08:38
After a quick trip home for the weekend, I’m preparing for a busy week ahead with four of my bills to be heard in committee. My two water bills passed out of the agriculture committee last week and will be heard on the Senate floor for any debate and, hopefully, passage on through to the House chamber.

Every bill goes through hearings and debates in the assigned committees and again on the floor of both chambers of the Legislature before ending up on the governor’s desk, if all goes well, or in the killed bills’ pile, if a bill fails to garner enough support for passage.

Roberts: Work on bills is just beginning

January 29, 2013

Submitted by admin on Tue, 2013-01-29 16:15
The finishing touches went on the last regular bills in the Senate at the end of this past week. If a legislator wants to get another bill introduced this session after this point, he or she needs to get permission to have a "late bill" introduced.

Some of the bills I'm carrying are ones based on ideas from my district and others are ones that I've been asked by House legislators to carry in the Senate. Since there are twice as many state representatives as senators, senators tend to have more bills to work on.

Since these bills span a number of topics, they get assigned to different committees, with varying meeting times. This week, I have two water issues bills scheduled for their first hearing in the Senate Agriculture Committee. The bills concern allowed purposes of water storage and emphasizing Colorado's need to adequately fund water infrastructure efforts.

Roberts: Lawmakers can benefit from the ‘SMART Act’

January 25, 2013

Submitted by admin on Fri, 2013-01-25 14:33
Things are moving into first gear here in Denver at the Capitol. A couple of years ago, we passed a law called the SMART Act, (plenty of joke material there, I know), that was intended to increase legislators’ familiarity with the vision and strategies of Colorado’s state agencies, and to give us an opportunity to ask questions of agency directors and their key staff members.

I was in the Legislature when the bill proposing this new approach was passed. The bill reflected the frustration of many legislators that we weren’t provided enough background about how effectively the agencies served the people of Colorado. While a slower and more cumbersome start to a new session, under this legislation, we now receive more information about agency strategy and goals. We’re also expected to engage in a critical analysis of the agencies from the legislative perspective.

Click here to continue reading in the Durango Herald.

Roberts: ‘Kumbaya’ stuff is over, real work can now begin

January 16, 2013

Submitted by admin on Wed, 2013-01-16 08:53
The legislative session has started with the obligatory formal ceremonies. The initial speeches laying out agendas have been given, and now, having had my first flight home canceled because of a combination of bad weather and flight crew issues, all is back to normal here in Denver. Patience and flexibility are two key personality traits to work on as a legislator.

Friends from home teased about the numerous choruses of bipartisanship echoing from the Capitol and asked me how long that might last. I’m guessing the singing of “Kumbaya” is about over as we move to the substance of why we’re here – that is, to make state-level policy for Colorado for the next year.

We do have lots to work on, and I was pleased to hear Gov. John Hickenlooper put front and center, in his State of the State Address, his priority of improving Colorado’s economy. I wholeheartedly agree that is where our focus should be, and I will support him in that effort.
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