Republican Sen. Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, stood by Gov. Bill Ritter and other Democratic legislators today as he introduced a bill that consolidates the state government's information technology infrastructure--a bill initially crafted and championed by Cadman and retired Sen. Ron May.

Cadman, who was named to replace May by a vacancy committee late last year, said he was elated that the bill is finally going to see the light of day.

"This is a great long-overdue legislation," Cadman said. "It streamlines our state's IT system and it does so without just shifting resources from department to department. "

Despite renewed calls by the public to secure the state's elections, majority Democrats on a House committee shut down a proposal Thursday to require proof of citizenship for those seeking to vote.

On a party-line vote, the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs committee killed the Republican-authored House Bill 1177, which would have required people registering to vote to show one of several commonly held forms of identification to prove citizenship.

The bill's sponsors--Republican Rep. Frank McNulty, of Highlands Ranch, and Senate GOP leader Andy McElhany, of Colorado Springs--expressed dismay at the vote.

“We have an obligation as state lawmakers to protect the integrity of our voting process against election fraud,” McNulty said.   “I am saddened by the fact that Democrat leadership made this common sense proposal a partisan issue. ”

McElhany expressed near-disbelief at the action by House Democrats.

"You would think this was one issue that both parties could agree on," he said.