by Briggs Gamblin, BVSD Director of Communications and Legislative Policy
The Colorado General Assembly convenes its regular session on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. That “regular session” is then limited by the Colorado Constitution to run for no more than 120 calendar days or May 6, 2009. If an issue of critical state importance arises at any other time the governor may call Colorado’s 35 state senators and 65 state representatives into “special session” to address that issue or issues.
Colorado Democrats retained control of both houses of the legislature on Tuesday, Nov. 4. The following state legislators, whose respective district lies wholly or partially within BVSD boundaries, were elected or re-elected and will be sworn in on January 7:
Senator Dan Gibbs (D-Silverthorne)
Senator Brandon Shaffer (D-Longmont)
Senator-elect Rollie Heath (D-Boulder)
Senator Shawn Mitchell (R-Broomfield)
Representative-elect Dickey Lee Hullinghorst (D-Niwot)
Representative Jack Pommer (D-Boulder)
Representative Paul Weissmann (D-Louisville)
Representative Claire Levy (D-Boulder)
Representative Dianne Primavera (D-Broomfield)
State Senator Ron Tupa (D-Boulder) and current House Majority Leader Alice Madden (D-Boulder) were term limited and will leave the Statehouse in December. Senator Tupa will be succeeded by Boulder businessman and community leader Rollie Heath. Representative Madden will be succeeded by former Boulder County intergovernmental affairs director Dickey Lee Hullinghorst. BVSD thanks Representative Madden and Senator Tupa for their outstanding service to public education and BVSD.
STATE SENATE:
The Colorado Senate showed a net Democratic gain of one seat. This changes the Senate’s partisan make-up to 21 Democrats and 14 Republicans. On Thursday, Nov. 6, House and Senate Democrats and Republicans met separately to choose their respective caucus’s leadership for the 2009-2010 general assembly. The Senate Democratic and Republican leadership will be as follows:
Senate Democrats
President – Senator Peter Groff (D-Denver)
President pro tempore – Senator Betty Boyd (D-Lakewood)
Majority Leader – Senator Brandon Shaffer (D-Longmont)
Assistant Majority Leader – Senator Lois Tochtrop (D-Thornton)
Caucus Chair – Senator Suzanne Williams (D-Aurora)
Senate Republicans
Minority Leader – Senator Josh Penry (R-Fruita)
Assistant Minority Leader – Senator Greg Brophy (R-Wray)
Caucus Chair – Senator Mike Kopp (R-Littleton)
Minority Whip (new position) – Senator Nancy Spence (R-Littleton)
STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
The Colorado House of Representatives showed a net Republican gain of two seats. This changes the House partisan make-up to 38 Democrats and 27 Republicans. On Thursday, Nov. 6, House Democrats and Republicans chose the following leadership for the 2009-2010 general assembly.
House Democrats
Speaker of the House – Representative Terrance Carroll (D-Denver)
Majority Leader – Representative Paul Weissmann (D-Louisville)
Assistant Majority Leader – Representative Andy Kerr (D-Lakewood)
Caucus Chair – Representative Karen Middleton (D-Aurora)
Assistant Caucus Chair – Representative Sal Pace (D-Pueblo)
Majority Whip – Representative Claire Levy (D-Boulder)
Deputy Whip – Representative Randy Fischer (D-Fort Collins)
House Republicans
Minority Leader – Representative Mike May (R-Parker)
Assistant Minority Leader – Representative David Balmer (R-Centennial)
Minority Whip – Representative Cory Gardner (R-Yuma)
Minority Caucus Chair – Amy Stephens (R-Monument)
In addition, the membership and leadership of the legislature’s critically important Joint Budget Committee (JBC) was chosen on Nov. 6. The six-member committee, which writes Colorado government’s annual budget, is made up of two majority party members and one minority party member from the House and the Senate. The committee chairmanship alternates annually between the senior House member and the senior Senate member. The 2009 JBC make up is as follows:
Joint Budget Committee
Senator Moe Keller (D-Wheat Ridge), Chair
Representative Jack Pommer (D-Boulder) Vice Chair
Senator Abel Tapia (D-Pueblo)
Senator Al White (R-Hayden)
Representative Don Marostica (R-Loveland)
Representative Mark Ferrandino (D-Denver)
During the 2010 session, Representative Pommer will chair the JBC and Senator Keller will serve as vice chair.
Because of the critical fiscal and policy importance of the legislature’s deliberations to BVSD, the Boulder Valley Board of Education, upon the recommendation of the superintendent, retains a professional lobbyist to represent and advocate for the positions of BVSD at the Capitol. BVSD was fortunate to secure the highly-regarded lobbying services of Tanya Kelly-Bowry in 2007. Tanya brings a strong background in education and legislative representation to her position. She is currently vice president of federal and state government relations for the University of Colorado system. Prior to being named to that position, she has held several other intergovernmental policy positions with the university from 1998. From 1990 until 1998, Tanya was public media relations director for the Colorado State Senate. She holds a master’s degree in non-profit management from Regis University and has successfully completed the highly-regarded “Senior Executives in State and Local Government” at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Each year, the Board of Education adopts a legislative platform for the coming session. Watch for the Dec. 5 BVSD Key Communicator for a review of the proposed 2009 BVSD Legislative Platform that will be before the school board for final action on Tuesday, Dec. 9.