A pending proposal to hike auto-registration fees by up to $100 will fall hardest on motorists of modest means--and should be put to vote of the people. That's the conclusion of Coloradans randomly surveyed by ColoradoSenateNews.com on Denver's 16th Street Mall Wednesday.

Senate Bill 244, introduced by Democrat Sen. Abel Tapia, of Pueblo, attempts to fund transportation projects by slapping up to $100 in new fees on the annual registration tab for most Colorado cars and trucks, with older vehicles assessed the highest amounts.

Legislative Republicans, almost all of whom oppose the measure, have derided it as a "car tax" disguised as a fee and have lambasted it for creating the heaviest burden on people who least can afford it: the owners of older vehicles.

A sampling of popular opinion outside the Capitol turned up similar sentiments. A common view was that expressed by Ron Cutshall, a retiree and senior citizen who drives an older truck.

"It's not fair. I barely get by," Cutshall said. "I can't afford any more. We're squeezed as it is."

A Republican effort to combat illegal immigration was killed in a Senate committee Monday.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 9, sponsored by Republican Sen. Dave Schultheis, of Colorado Springs, would have given voters a chance to amend the constitution to prevent cities, counties and municipalities from adopting policies that limit the enforcement of federal immigration laws.

The resolution would also require that for every contact that public entities have with individuals whose immigration status raises suspicions, there needs to be a reasonable attempt to determine the person’s status.  The person is then required to be transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement if that person is found to be illegally in the U.S.

“Nearly 15 bills have been offered by members of the House and Senate to deal with illegal immigration,” said Schultheis.  “Unfortunately, the Democrats have failed to put tough laws in statute and they refuse to give the citizens to right to vote on it.”

Ruling Senate Democrats passed a measure today that, critics say, would make it easier to commit voter fraud. 

Sponsored by Sen. Ken Gordon, D-Denver, Senate Bill 240 would give anyone, even without proof of eligibility, the ability to register to vote online.  The Rocky Mountain News lambasted the proposal in a staff editorial earlier this year. 

Republicans--who, along with one Democrat, unanimously opposed the measure as an invitation to election abuse--fought unsuccessfully to add security precautions like a photo-ID requirement.

"Photo ID is kind of a passport to participating in all kinds of ordinary life," the GOP's Sen. Shawn Mitchell, of Broomfield, told his colleagues. His appeal fell flat on Gordon, however, who mocked Republican concerns about ineligible voters trying to register.

"Some people have a paranoid delusion that there are people here illegally in the United States in order to vote," Gordon said.

The bill would require the secretary of state to create an online form for people to register to vote and would require the secretary of state to match the signatures of those who register to a set of databases called for in the bill.  It does not require verification of citizenship--only that the registration form must include a notice reminding voters that it is a felony for someone who is ineligible to attempt to register.

A Republican measure to make it easier and more affordable to install solar panels on homes and businesses is heading to the governor's desk, likely to become law.

Senate Bill 117, authored by Broomfield Republican Sen. Shawn Mitchell, would cap exorbitant permit fees charged by some cities for solar-system installations on homes and businesses. It won unanimous, bipartisan approval in the Senate today.

The bill caps what cities and counties can charge for solar permitting fees at $500 dollars for residential and $1,000 dollars for non-residential permits. Mitchell said the high permit fees in some communities can grossly inflate the cost of installing solar power on homes and small businesses, discouraging many from exploring this renewable-energy option.

"It's a sunny day for Colorado," Mitchell said. "Not only does this bill bolster people's choice for renewable energy, but it's also good for the environment and pushes back government barriers and bureaucrats."

A Republican proposal that aims to prevent future forest fires on state owned lands gained unanimous approval by the Senate Agriculture Committee today.

Senate Bill 1318, sponsored by Republicans Sen. Jack Taylor, of Steamboat Springs, and Rep. Kevin Lundberg, of Berthoud, creates the Beetle Mitigation Fund in an effort to clean up Colorado’s state-owned forests littered with dead, beetle killed trees. 

"The single greatest concern posed by wildfire in Colorado is the enormous potential for the loss of life and property," said Taylor, following the committee hearing today.

The bill is part of the GOP's 2008 legislative agenda.  

Last week, when a 9,000-acre brush fire destroyed 24 houses near Ordway in southeastern Colorado and was responsible for the deaths of firefighters Terry DeVore and John Schwartz, Taylor's fear became a reality.

"The beetle infestation is killing trees in all forests across the state," said Taylor. "That dead wood is kindling. It's a disaster waiting to happen."

The newly created account would be funded by donations though a new website dedicated to clearing state-owned land of kindling.  The funds would also be used to save future trees from being killed by the beetle infestation.

The Senate passed a Republican measure today that would help fund highways and place the state in a better position for future transportation funding.

Sponsored by Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton and Rep. Mike May, R-Parker, House Bill 1139 makes the state government conduct a fiscal analysis to determine if it is in the best interest of Colorado taxpayers to bid on projects that come on the market.  If the state bought the road--or entered into a public-private partnership, the proceeds that exceed debt-service payments could be used to fund critical transportation needs.

“This bill helps position the state to innovatively address its transportation-finance needs,” said Kopp.  “This bill would give Colorado the opportunity to take advantage of a new source of revenue to help fund our highways.” 

House and Senate Republicans led by the GOP's Sen. Josh Penry unveiled a proposal today to shore up the state's backlogged transportation needs--without raising taxes, changing the constitution or staging a costly campaign for a statewide ballot issue.

Republicans say their "Plus-One Plan"--which also sets aside funding to back up the state budget in an economic downturn--is a more realistic alternative to a pending Democrat proposal that would ask voters in November to scrap the state's constitutional spending limits.

"This is a smart way to get at the same end without raising taxes and without a fall campaign," Penry, of Grand Junction, told reporters at a Capitol news conference.

Plus-One would tap into annual funding increases for schools that are currently mandated by the constitution but that are scheduled to end next year. The GOP plan would redirect those funds to transportation and a "rainy day" fund for the budget. The Republicans released data compiled by nonpartisan legislative staff showing the GOP plan will raise nearly $3.8 billion over the next decade. Some $2.5 billion of the money would go to transportation and more than $1 billion to a reserve fund.

"You take the budget freedom that (the GOP plan) creates and invest it in transportation and other needs," Penry said.

The Senate passed a Democrat measure today that would make it even harder for county clerks to purge inactive voters from the voter rolls--leaving some of the state's clerks shaking their heads. Critics say the bill is part of an ongoing push by the ruling party to rewrite Colorado’s election laws over the objections of some of the officials charged with overseeing elections.

House Bill 1329, sponsored by Sen. Ken Gordon, D-Denver, would require county clerks to send mail ballots to voters in 2009 even if they failed to vote in the 2008 election, if a mail-ballot election is held. 

Currently, voters who fail to vote in the previous election will not automatically be sent a ballot.  Critics contend that fraud could be committed if a ballot is mailed out to someone who didn’t ask for one and didn’t vote in the last election. 

With wildfire season rapidly approaching, a Senate committee has OK'd a Republican proposal to launch a year-long legislative review of the most effective ways to confront the fires that regularly ravage Colorado's forests and mountain communities.

Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, and Rep. Rob Witwer, R-Genesee, are championing the plan to create an interim committee investigating wildfire issues in areas where urban and wild lands collide.  They say they want the legislature to take a more active role in anticipating future wildfires and bolstering the work of community firefighting programs.

Part of their bill package to promote healthy forests, Senate Joint Resolution 25 gained the support of the Senate Committee on Local Government today with a 6-1 vote.  The healthy-forests package is one component of the GOP's legislative agenda for 2008. 

"We need more hands on deck," Kopp said.  "We need more legislators to own this as their issue to ensure it is taken more seriously in this body.  It's a critical policy area." 

They came up with the idea to create the interim committee because they say the issue hits too close to home to be ignored.  Kopp--who is a former "hot shot" forest firefighter and is also the son of a firefighter--wants to take what he says is a lifetime of education on the subject of forest fires and put it to use for his foothills constituents. They are often in harm's way due to wildfires.

Exasperated Republicans accused Democrats on the Senate floor this morning of raising wide-ranging fees on ordinary Coloradans in order to avoid seeking voters' permission for a tax hike.

The debate erupted amid discussion of House Bill 1100, which attempts to attach a new fee to birth certificates--and came only days after a proposal by another Senate Democrat, John Morse of Colorado Springs, to slap a $25 fee increase on marriage licenses.

The Republicans point to numerous fee hikes authored by Democrats during the 2008 session alone, ranging from Keller's and Morse's to  one that would assess higher fees on ozone-depleting compounds. 

"Will enough ever be enough?" the GOP's Sen. Josh Penry, of Grand Junction, said to colleagues.

"When do we stop the fees? We have a fee on marriage, we have a fee on weddings--did we forget caskets?... I'm sure that's coming before the end of the session," Penry said. "There is no end to the appetite to spend more money."

HB 1100's sponsor, Democrat Sen. Moe Keller, of Wheat Ridge, said the 75-cent

surcharge on each copy of a birth certificate would be used to provide "additional resources and outreach" for parents of children with birth defects.

Republicans, however, said the measure represented yet another attempt this session to enact a new tax in the guise of a fee, sidestepping the constitutional requirement to seek voter permission.

A groundbreaking Republican effort to reward the best and brightest teachers throughout the state won approval in the Colorado Senate today--after gaining the support of Colorado's Democrat governor and onetime Democrat opponents in the legislature.

Assistant Senate GOP leader Nancy Spence's Senate Bill 65--also sponsored by Democrat Sen. Sue Windels--would set up a $2 million fund to help jump-start efforts by school districts to cultivate and retain teachers based on their performance.

"Recruiting and keeping our most talented and dedicated classroom teachers has to be one of our highest priorities if we want to prepare our children for the 21st century," Spence, of Centennial, said after the vote. "This is a great investment not only in our teachers but also in our children."

The Spence plan was announced last fall as part of the Republican legislative agenda for 2008. The administration of Gov. Bill Ritter, himself a supporter of teacher performance pay, subsequently embraced Spence's effort and offered to collaborate on her bill and help find majority Democrat co-sponsors--some of whom had opposed and killed a performance-incentive bill Spence carried last year.

The Senate gave its nod to a bipartisan effort--championed by Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, and Rep. Rob Witwer, R-Genesee--that will establish new tracking standards for schools, from pre-kindergarten to college.

The Senate also gave its full approval to an amendment to the Senate Bill 212--the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids--enhancing the way Colorado students' progress is assessed.  The amendment, authored by Penry, addresses the growing dissatisfaction with the Colorado Student Assessment Program and works to modernize and streamline standardized curriculum assessment.  

Penry and Witwer were joined by legislative Democrats, Sens. Chris Romer of Denver and Suzanne Williams of Aurora, as well as Rep. Christine Scanlan, of Dillon--all co-sponsors on the bill.  They commended Penry for his efforts to improve the CSAP.

"The global economy dictates where our schools need to be, we need to decide whether or not we want to step up and meet those challenges," Penry said. 

Broomfield Republican Sen. Shawn Mitchell's bid to make high school students demonstrate proficiency in the English language won approval from the full Senate today--after Mitchell amended the idea into another bill. It represented another stride forward for the GOP's legislative education agenda for 2008.

Mitchell's move effectively folded Senate Bill 98 into Senate Bill 212, a bipartisan measure that aligns rigorous course content standards with meaningful proficiency assessments and standardized college admission requirements.

“While SB 212 raises standards and aspirations for the bulk of students, this amendment provides a lifeline for students who need it most,” said Mitchell, a legislative veteran rounding out his first term in the Senate.

“Kids who graduate without knowing English are at risk of becoming economically disadvantaged, socially isolated and unprepared to participate in their communities,” he said.

Sheriffs and district attorneys testifying at a heated Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday warned of criminals walking the streets freely alongside victims under a Democrat bill that would go easier on juvenile offenders.

House Bill 1208, sponsored by Democrat Rep. Claire Levy, of Boulder, and Longmont Democrat Sen. Brandon Shaffer, comes to the Senate following similarly intense opposition from House Republicans days earlier.

"This bill is like a get-out-of-jail-free card for some of Colorado's most heinous gang-bangers," said Republican Sen. Greg Brophy, of Wray, as he watched the debate.

The measure would prevent district attorneys from filing adult charges against 14- and 15-year-olds. District Attorneys could still file charges against 16- to-18-year-olds, but the accused could challenge the filing and request a hearing, even years after being found guilty.

"District Attorneys need more tools, not less," said Republican Sen. Scott Renfroe, of Greeley, moments after Democrats on the  committee approved the measure on a party-line vote. "We should let the people who are most qualified and experienced make these decisions."

Ignoring pleas from law enforcement, majority Democrats on a Senate committee turned down a GOP effort today to get Congress to make good on its promise and crack down on illegal immigration along our nation's borders.

On a party-line vote, the Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs killed Senate Joint Memorial 2, sponsored by Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, and Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma. It would have called on Congress to release funding to fully implement the Secure Fence Act of 2006--a bill that was passed by Congress and signed by the president.

The resolution, co-sponsored by most Republicans in the General Assembly, is a response to the apparent bottleneck that has put the Secure Fence Act on hold in Congress since Democrats took control of that body in November 2006.

The congressional act authorized the construction of over 700 miles of two-layered fencing along the southwest border of the United States.  Attacks against U.S. Border Patrol Agents reportedly went down as a result of two-layered fencing that has been erected in some locations along the U.S.-Mexican border.  Attempts made by illegal aliens to cross the border have also gone down in areas where the two-layered fencing was constructed.

"Our legislation would have sent an important message to Congress by the people of Colorado to abide by a law it passed,” said Kopp.  “I think it is imperative that the fence be built to begin regaining operational control of our border.”

Senate and House Republicans said today they will push for an interim committee to gauge the impact of regulations as well as taxes and fees imposed by state government on Colorado's economy.

Republican leaders in the House and Senate met with the media to announce a resolution that will be sponsored by the GOP's Rep. Ken Summers, of Lakewood, and Sen. Shawn Mitchell, of Broomfield, that, if adopted and funded by fellow lawmakers, would establish the interim committee. The panel would launch its inquiry after the regular legislative session concludes.

"The concern at the Capitol seems to be, 'How do we make the government's ends meet?' rather than, 'How can we grow Colorado?' " said House Republican chief Mike May, of Parker.

Summers said the panel's mission would be to push for a serious cost-benefit analysis of each additional layer of regulation and taxation in order to determine what it does to the state's economy.

"Let's take a timeout and evaluate...what is the cumulative effect of all these bills," he said. 

In an effort to ensure public safety--as well as curb illegal immigration--a Republican senator is asking Colorado voters to make it harder for people in the country unlawfully to plea bargain if charged with a felony.

Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, and Rep. Mike May, R-Parker, introduced a measure Monday that would prohibit district attorneys in Colorado from offering plea-bargains to illegal immigrants--especially if the result of the bargained plea is the defendant's attempt to avoid deportation.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 4 would ask the voters of Colorado to amend the state constitution in November to require courts to not accept guilty pleas from defendants who are here in clear violation of federal immigration law.  SCR 4 targets those individuals who are given misdemeanor plea-bargains by district attorneys when their original felony charges call for deportation.

"It's wrong that we're letting people charged with a felony, who are already in our country illegally, stay here after serving a short sentence," Harvey said.  "We need to close this dangerous loophole in a judiciary system--I'm confident that the people of Colorado will view this situation in the same light."

A year after Gov. Bill Ritter and ruling Democrats in the legislature pushed through a statewide property-tax hike without consulting voters, Senate and House Republicans are introducing a plan to let the public have a say after all.

At a news conference today, Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, and Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, said their resolution will give voters "veto power" over a tax hike that will cost some $3.8 billion over the next 10 years. The lawmakers also released a letter endorsed by more than 70 local elected officials of both parties across the state, calling  on the governor to support the effort to hold a popular vote on the issue.

Gardner and Kopp pointed out that the issue only has become more controversial since the policy was adopted last year. Projections of the Democrat tax hike's ultimate cost have more than doubled over time. Meanwhile, some Democrats recently acknowledged that revenue from the tax hike will be spent on other programs besides public education--contrary to earlier promises by the Ritter administration.

"The gravity of this unconstitutional property tax hike keeps growing," Gardner told members of the Capitol press corps. 

The resolution, to be introduced in the House this week, follows an opinion from the Attorney General's Office last year saying the tax hike should have been put to a vote, as well as a citizens lawsuit, filed in December, against the state for failing to consult with voters.

Senate Democrats pushed through a measure today that more than triples the state marriage license fee in order to fund a child-abuse program--while Republicans charged that the bill aims at the wrong target and amounts to a new tax on marriage. 

The proposal's author, Democrat Sen. John Morse, of Colorado Springs, also left some of his colleagues nearly speechless in debate on the Senate floor when he said people who didn't want to pay the higher license fee could live together instead.

"Certainly, if you want to avoid paying this fee, you have the option of common law marriage and you don’t have to pay for your marriage license," Morse said. When challenged on the remark by Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, Morse refused to back down, saying, "I said if they want to avoid the fee they have that as an option."

An astounded Mitchell reacted with disbelief after the vote.

"Basically, he's telling Coloradans, 'If you don't want to pay the toll, you can always shack up,' " he said. 

Morse's Senate Bill 47 raises the marriage-license fee from its current $10 to $35 in order to increase funding for the Court Appointed Special Advocates program, which intervenes on behalf of child-abuse victims.

Two Republican proposals aimed at protecting children from sexual assault were killed on party-line votes in the Senate Appropriations Committee today. 

Meanwhile, the same committee approved two measures, also along party lines, that critics say are soft on criminals.

“This committee is the most dangerous place for a child in Colorado,” said Sen. Steve Johnson, a Fort Collins Republican on the committee.

The first of the GOP bills, Senate Bill 195, would have given prosecutors the option of seeking the death penalty for anyone convicted of a violent sexual assault on a child.  The policy already is law in several other states.

A GOP plan to expand capacity on a chronically congested stretch of Interstate 70 west of Denver took a big stride forward today, winning the approval of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Democrats on the same committee, however, killed another Republican transportation proposal--to let voters secure all highway funding in the state constitution.

Both measures are part of the GOP's legislative transportation agenda for 2008 and represent an effort by the party's elected leadership to end the legislative stalemate over how to shore up transportation funding--and break the logjam on the state's highways. Although a special transportation panel appointed by Democrat Gov. Bill Ritter has made several funding recommendations, the Ritter administration and its ruling Democrat allies in the General Assembly have yet to embrace any of them.

"We are trying to move past the gridlock, not just on our highways but also in the statehouse when it comes to transportation policy," Senate GOP leader Andy McElhany, who introduced the GOP measures, said after the vote. House Republican chief Mike May, of Parker, is sponsoring the legislation in the House.

Winning committee approval was Senate Bill 213, which would toll motorists along Interstate 70 west of Denver to pay for expanding the highway's capacity into the mountains. The Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce has endorsed the proposal, underscoring how that stretch of the aging interstate is a notorious chokepoint for weekend ski and travel traffic as well as a major impediment to Colorado commerce.

The Senate today concurred with minor changes made in the House to a first-of-its-kind Republican measure that will modernize emergency planning in schools--so that students, teachers and first-responders can act fast in a crisis.

Supporters of the SB 181 indicate that the governor is expected to sign the measure into law.  The House also overwhelmingly approved the measure 64-1.

“We need to build upon some of the lessons we’ve learned here in Colorado related to school safety,” said Castle Rock Republican Sen. Tom Wiens, the Senate sponsor of the legislation.

"During the school season, almost a fifth of our state's population is in a school everyday, about 800,000 people. School safety is an important issue that needs close attention," Wiens said. “I recently spent a lot of time talking to school officials, both around the state and in my district, about school safety and ways to keep our kids as safe as possible."

Amid plans by GOP lawmakers to give voters a veto over the statewide property-tax hike that Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law last year, Coloradosenatenews.com escaped the cloistered confines of the Capitol earlier this week to gauge public sentiment on the issue.

The upshot? Everyday taxpayers surveyed along Denver's 16th Street Mall all agreed: Whether or not the state really needs the extra revenue--a projected $3.8 billion over the next 10 years--voters should have been asked for permission first. They're not alone in that sentiment.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers issued an opinion last year saying that the governor's tax hike, passed by ruling Democrats in the General Assembly, should have been put on the ballot to ensure compliance with the state constitution.

A citizens group also took up the cause, suing the state for imposing the tax hike--which froze the property mill levy throughout Colorado--without voters' permission. And Republican Sen. Mike Kopp, of Littleton, and Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, are soon expected to introduce a measure referring the controversial tax hike back to the voters.

The Coloradans polled Tuesday on the Mall said it is about time they were consulted.

"Everything should be voted on," said Brad Brooks, a Republican business owner who was taking a break sketching a street scene on a sheet of paper. "Government IS the people."

A Republican measure to make access to health care simpler and more affordable for consumers passed the Senate today.

As part of the Republican agenda on health care, Broomfield Republican Sen. Shawn Mitchell's measure would streamline health care and reduce red tape.  The bill would require health insurers and providers to develop and use a standardized card that would hold vital information about a patient’s health coverage. 

The electronic, readable cards would immediately give doctors and hospitals the details of the patient’s insurance so that fewer mistakes would be made by the providers and insurers when inputting a patient’s information.“

We’ve had input from the stakeholders on this bill and shaped a creative, exciting proposal,” said Mitchell.  “We have broad, bipartisan support, and I am proud to carry the measure.”

A Republican staffer was ejected from a Senate Democrat caucus meeting today at an eatery near the Capitol, raising concerns by Republican leaders that the ruling party might be debating public policy in private--a violation of state law.

By law, when two or more members of the General Assembly meet to discuss legislative business--regardless of the location--other members of the public cannot be refused entry. There are no exceptions for members of an opposing political party or the news media. 

The meeting had been announced on the Senate floor today by Democrat Sen. Suzanne Williams, of Aurora, at the conclusion of the Senate's morning session. Senate GOP policy and research assistant Kevin Van Winkle was asked to sit in on the meeting, which began at noon. Shortly after he and a companion arrived, he said, the Senate Democrat chief of staff told him to leave because the meeting was "private."

Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Mike Kopp, a senator from Littleton, expressed disappointment and noted that the press and the rest of the public are routinely permitted to attend GOP caucus meetings if they wish.

"We know that's the law, and there's a good reason for it," Kopp said. "Deliberations about legislative business could affect the public, so the public has the right to a seat at the table."

A bipartisan proposal that would finance higher education across the state with revenue generated by Colorado's energy boom won the unanimous support of the Senate Committee on Education today at the Capitol. 

Senate Bill 218, whose key sponsors include West Slope Republican Sen. Josh Penry,  would allocate nearly $1 billion over ten years into two permanent funds--one solely for higher education and the other for upgrading public infrastructure in areas affected by oil and gas drilling.  The windfall would include revenue that is expected to come from drilling on the Roan Plateau on the Western Slope.

The plan--an outgrowth of a proposal originally championed by Penry, of Grand Junction--would ensure funding to institutions of higher learning even when energy development stops.  It sets aside bonus payments and royalties received from the federal government for energy development on federal lands and dedicates the funds to the state's colleges and universities as well as local maintenance and construction needs.

"When Al White and I proposed this plan earlier this summer, I never would have guessed that our once controversial proposal would earn such bipartisan support," Penry said after the hearing. "All the parties that have worked so hard deserve real credit on this landmark proposal." 

With only a single "no" vote, the Senate today re-approved a Republican measure that helps employers screen for illegal immigrants in the work force. Senate Bill 139 , authored by Colorado Springs Republican Sen. Dave Schultheis, and Rep. Kevin Lundberg, of Berthoud, would require the state to notify employers that they can participate in the federal "E-Verify" program, which lets them check if a newly hired employee is in the country illegally.

Schultheis says while federal law bars knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, many employers aren't aware of their options for verifying an employee's status.

"Most employers want to comply with the law," he said. "This measure will empower them."

Senate Bill 139 had passed the Senate overwhelmingly prior to the House passing the measure 52-12, making a few minor changes and then returning the bill to the Senate for its approval today.

Schultheis noted his bill places no mandates on employers, instead apprising them of a tool that they may not know about. SB 139 requires the state Department of Labor and Employment to regularly remind employers of the federal law and that they can participate in E-Verify.

With most of the 2008 session behind them and still no significant Democrat health-care reform in sight, Senate and House Republicans appealed again today for lowering regulatory barriers and improving access to coverage.

At a news conference highlighting the GOP's agenda for health care in the 2008 session, House and Senate Republican leadership, joined by leading voices on health care from both caucuses, bemoaned the defeat of key GOP health-care reforms at the hands of ruling Democrats. Republicans said the state cannot wait any longer for real, practical solutions and that the gaps in health care coverage among Coloradans, as well as the cost spiral that bedevils those who have coverage, warrant action now.

Republicans also chided Democrats for at least one measure--controversial Senate Bill 164, which loosens restraints on runaway lawsuits against doctors--that critics say would actually drive up the cost of coverage and drive doctors out of the state.

"The Democrat majority is continuing to push us in the wrong direction," said Republican Sen. Shawn Mitchell, of Broomfield.

Mitchell and the other Republicans were joined at the podium by doctors, including rural practitioner Thomas Bryant of Fort Morgan, who turned out to denounce SB 164. Bryant pointed out how the bill, now pending in the House, would backfire on the state's ability to attract new doctors.

Following an unsuccessful attempt by Republicans earlier today to cut state spending and save for the impending recession, Senate Democrats pushed through a $17.6 billion budget that critics said bloats the bureaucracy, continues to neglect transportation and leans hard on taxpayers.

Republican senators started off the day with a tentative agreement with Democrats to make at least $15 million in budget cuts and hold the difference in reserve to weather the coming economic downturn. Democrat Gov. Bill Ritter stepped in to scuttle that deal at the last moment, however, so Republicans pressed on during today's budget debate in a bid to implement the cuts on their own through budget amendments.

The GOP also unleashed another salvo of budget amendments intended to check the Ritter administration's controversial imposition of a statewide property-tax hike last year as well as administration policies expanding organized labor's hold on state personnel.

Most of the amendments failed on party-line votes at the behest of ruling Democrats, with one especially notable exception. A proposal by Republican Sen. Tom Wiens, of Castle Rock, diverted $150,000 that was  originally budgeted for the administration's legal defense against a lawsuit over the property-tax hike, and allocated it to wildfire mitigation. Several Democrats crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans and pass it.

"We were disappointed but not surprised that we weren't able to pass more of the cuts we had proposed," said Senate GOP leader Andy McElhany, of Colorado Springs. 

Indignant Senate Republicans stopped a Democrat attempt today to boost the State Board of Education's expense budget, which had been downsized amid controversy over the board's free-spending ways.

The GOP members said the bid by veteran Democrat Sen. Sue Windels--who wanted to take $36,500 from community colleges to cover state board members' expense accounts--was a slap at taxpayers following news reports about the board's outlandish expenditures on dinner, hotels and travel.

The Associated Press uncovered lavish board spending that included expensive meals, themed catering and valet parking, prompting the legislature's powerful Joint Budget Committee to cut the board's budget last month by $44,000.

"The budget committee uncovered what I think is waste, fraud and abuse in this budget," Republican Sen. Steve Johnson, of Fort Collins, told fellow senators in this morning's debate on the state budget.

Johnson, who sits on the budget committee, said the cut was justifiable in the face of "embarrassing" expenditures by some board members, and he chastised Windels for downplaying the concerns.

"This wasn't a sensational newspaper story," he said. "This was about a $2,000 dinner bill that the taxpayers of this state paid for, at the most expensive restaurant in Telluride. This is about a $160 limo ride that the taxpayers in my district paid for so that somebody on the board could go shopping at a mall in Washington, D.C."

GOP senators who worked all Tuesday with Democrats on a plan to cut millions of dollars from the pending state budget--with hopes of banking the savings for the coming economic downturn--were stunned this morning after learning Gov. Bill Ritter lowered the boom on the compromise.

"It's extremely disappointing," said Sen. Josh Penry, a Grand Junction Republican who had helped negotiate the scuttled deal. Penry, addressing fellow GOP senators just before the Senate convened, chided the governor for failing "to prepare for what we know is an inevitable recession."

Fort Collins Republican Sen. Steve Johnson, who serves on the powerful Joint Budget Committee, bemoaned the collapse of the bipartisan agreement under pressure from a governor who, "wants to spend all this money and not save any for the future."

Added Sen. Scott Renfroe, an Eaton Republican who also helped drive the negotiations, "It's always easy to say we're going to create a rainy day fund, but to put the money in the fund is where we never come together."

The lawmakers had made considerable progress toward the budget breakthrough before being short-circuited in the effort, having agreed with Democrat Senate leaders on some $15 million in cuts.

On the heels of Gov. Bill Ritter's announcement of a bipartisan proposal to fix Colorado's public school system, two Republican lawmakers stood on behalf of a charter-school advocacy group Tuesday to call on the governor to remember the schools in the plan.

Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, and Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, joined representatives of the Colorado League of Charter Schools at a Capitol news conference to present a report by the League outlining how charter schools are shortchanged year after year in Colorado.  As charter enrollment soars, too many students are being turned away from the innovative, independently run schools every year due to lack of available space, the report says.

"Clearly, there is a huge demand for charter schools, and it's only growing," Kopp said, adding that there is a waiting list of tens of thousands of Colorado students. "In light of that demand, we have to reassess our spending priorities for our state's school funding."

Just under $700,000 to give more prison inmates their GEDs? How about another $20,000 for the state's wine promotions board so it can promote--what else--wine? Or, $676,000 for salary hikes to the state agency that runs Medicaid health coverage for the poor?

And then there's $150,000 in legal fees to defend the governor against a lawsuit charging him with pushing through last year's property-tax hike in violation of the state constitution. 

Those and other line items in the Democrat-authored 2008-09 budget, now pending before the Senate, were put to the public today when coloradosenatenews.com took to the 16th Street Mall for citizen input. Their feedback, captured on video, ranged from the indignant to incredulous at some budget items they saw as frivolous.

"There's only so much you can do to promote wine," said Jamie Johnston of the proposed wine-board appropriation.

Madison Stewart Wilkins, who runs a nonproift that aims to keep kids off of drugs, agreed.

"We don't need to spend any money on liquor," she said. "You know what happens when kids start drinking."