Printed on 6/5/08
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Week 14, 2005
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Dear Friends and Supporters,
This week at the Capitol has been very busy. During the first part of the week our focus was the 2005-2006 budget. It is called the "long bill" and the paper draft is about 4" thick. We spent many hours individually and in caucus studying this bill and deciding on the changes that we want to make. Then the House of Representatives worked until 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday going over the budget.
BUDGET:
SB 05-209, the Long Appropriations Bill, has a total in appropriations of over $15.2 billion with a 6.1% increase over the current year. It passed by a 43 to 22 vote. I vote NO because there are several areas where we can cut expenses (taxes) and areas that we should transfer money to from other areas. For example, we could stop spending more than $136,000 per year for circumcisions for Medicaid patients. This procedure has been eliminated in 14 states because it is not necessary from a health standpoint. There is a waiting list of others who could use these funds, such as the blind and those with developmental disabilities.
We are mandated to spend an increase of 2.1% for K-12 education, but instead, the spenders added an additional 5%--a total of 7.1%. This amounts to over $60 million added to this part of the budget when we could have allocated it elsewhere or cut the spending altogether. An amendment to cut our budget by only 1/4 of 1%, except for the Department of Education and Health Care Policy and Financing, lost by a 29-36 vote. This demonstrates the Democrats' strong will to spend and spend in spite of the fact that money is so tight for so many Colorado taxpayers.
There were 65 amendments proposed and only 14 were adopted. The very first amendment offered by Democrat Paul Weissmann from Louisville states that "no moneys appropriated by this act shall knowingly be paid to any organization, business, firm, person, agency or club which places restrictions on employment or membership based on sex, race, age, marital status, creed, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, or physical handicap." Weissmann's effort to add "sexual orientation" drew fire from the Republicans. Republican Ted Harvey of Highlands Ranch accused the legislative Democrats of "pushing a homosexual agenda" onto businesses and religious institutions that contract to provide services or programs on the state's behalf. He also stated that Weissmann's amendment would "put one individual's moral views over another individual's moral views" and that it could force an organization to hire someone with different religious values. This amendment was defeated by a 34 - 30 vote. All 30 House Republicans rejected this. They were joined by only 4 Democrats. Two of the Democrats, members of the Joint Budget Committee, voted against this because they always vote to protect their proposed budget. One Democrat pressed the wrong button by mistake, I was told.
I would like to point out that the State of Colorado has grown from a $2.9 billion dollar budget in 1985 to a $15.2 billion dollar budget in 2005, with no decrease in the last 20 years. There is no budget crisis as some would have you think. We do need to spend more money on road transportation, capitol construction, plus bring back the senior citizen homestead exemption act. We can use the bonding and tolling process for additional lanes, bridges, and highways.
OTHER LEGISLATION:
SB 100, by Morgan Carroll, concerns increasing the protection for homeowners in homeowners' associations passed by a 41-21 vote. I voted YES because a small number of homeowner associations are ruling their little kingdoms like dictators resulting in closed meetings, improper voting, closed books, high legal fees, removing a person's Constitutional freedoms like letting them display an American Flag from their porch, and restricting their desire to post political signs during a political campaign.
HB 1015, by Andrew Romanoff, concerns substance abuse treatment for those who are addicted to drugs or alcohol and can't afford treatment. It passed by a 48-15 vote. I voted YES. Society pays dearly for drug and alcohol abuse. Prevention and treatment is costly. But the cost to society is far greater if this type of problem remains untreated. For example, the annual cost of housing offenders who become criminals is $28,500 per year. Emergency room treatment is also very costly.
HB 1304, by Mary Hodge, prohibits the restriction of consumer choices in housing construction. This bill passed by a 45-20 vote. I voted YES. Consumers can now choose manufactured housing. This type of home is built off site but is comparable in quality to traditional construction. The town or city will ensure the project conforms to all local building code regulations and the neighborhood's aesthetic standards.
EDUCATION:
The Independence Institute had a lunch forum on school choice issues and pointed out that 11 states are actively passing school choice legislation this year. The legal issues are on the school choice side. According to surveys, most people want school choice. A cause for concern is the taxpayers' unwitting support of the teachers' union. Almost all of Colorado's school district collective bargaining agreements grant teachers' unions taxpayer-paid release time. These subsidies fall into two general categories: allotments of leave days for union activities and release time for the local union president and other officers. For 2003-2004, the Thompson School District subsidized $22,992.44 for teacher release time for union activities and for the union president and other officers.
I am a member of the newly formed Republican Study Committee of Colorado (RSCC). The first hearing was held on Friday, April 15. The topic was higher education and academic tenure. Speakers included Bruce Fein of the Washington Times, CU Regent Steve Bosley, and CU Professors Paul Campos and Dr. Phil Mitchell. We focused on the legal, management, and academic aspects of tenure and had an in-depth discussion. Bruce Fein pointed out that ideas are important and with proper applications, tenure is not a bad thing. But he also emphasized that accountability as a professor is important. Regent Bosley stated that only 38.4% of the professors at CU have tenure. Dr. Mitchell presented data from a September 2002 issue of the American Enterprise Magazine about the political affiliations of professors. Here are the numbers from the CU campus: English - 37 Democrats, 0 Republicans; History- 28 Democrats, 1 Republicans; and Journalism- 9 Democrats, 1 Republican. At Stanford University, it is 53 to 1 in favor of Democrats over Republican in the humanities, political science, history, sociology, and ethnic studies.
I came to the conclusion that it is the "liberals hiring the liberals." In the case of CU, the Regents, since they are elected and have a direct representation to the general public, need to be much more active in the hiring process of professors in the non-science areas. They would not personally have the time since these Regents are non-paid positions, but they could have a direct representative on the CU staff. This would increase the likelihood of having true academic freedom in the hiring process of new professors. Without a change, we will be seeing the same liberal control of our public universities 10, 20, or 30 years from now.
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS:
The State Department of Corrections and the Department of Youth Corrections (ages 10 - 19) made a presentation about faith based ministries in the correction environment. Joe Ortiz, DOC Director, pointed out that there are over 2,000 volunteers going to the state's 24 adult prisons. He described improvements in the training programs 60 days before the release of a prisoner, as well as the after care programs. He is excited about the direction we are going in this area. The recidivism rate for Colorado is 51.7%, which is much lower than the 70 - 80% rate in other states. Just a couple years ago, our recidivism rate was over 53%.
June 3 - 12 there will be over 20 ministries from other states visiting 28 of our prisons with road shows, speakers, singing, and the message of what they believe that life is all about. Governor Owens and Joe Ortiz endorse these type of programs, at no cost to the taxpayer, so we can reduce our recidivism rate and spend less money of our tax dollars of the cost of incarceration ($28,500 per person per year.) Also, there is a great cost to law enforcement, public defenders, court costs, and the victims of crimes. This is a program that I endorse because the results are there and it costs the taxpayers nothing.
There is still a large shortage of the number of churches getting involved, both in the prisons and in the after care programs. If you or anyone you know desires to get involved in this area, let me know and I can get you in touch with the people that will give you the necessary clearance and a short training course. Your rewards may have eternal consequences!
QUOTE:
"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here. The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed." Patrick Henry
CONCLUSION:
If you are from Loveland or any area of the state for that matter--please let me know if and when you are coming to the Capitol. I will try to bring you on to the House floor so you can observe our legislative process. I am grateful that our founding fathers set up a system that gives us the chance to make public policy with words instead of with bullets and spears as they did in other parts of the world for hundreds of years! Today, sadly to say, some countries still have no free elections.
Thank you for your support and prayers!
Rep. Jim Welker
House District 51
This week at the Capitol has been very busy. During the first part of the week our focus was the 2005-2006 budget. It is called the "long bill" and the paper draft is about 4" thick. We spent many hours individually and in caucus studying this bill and deciding on the changes that we want to make. Then the House of Representatives worked until 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday going over the budget.
BUDGET:
SB 05-209, the Long Appropriations Bill, has a total in appropriations of over $15.2 billion with a 6.1% increase over the current year. It passed by a 43 to 22 vote. I vote NO because there are several areas where we can cut expenses (taxes) and areas that we should transfer money to from other areas. For example, we could stop spending more than $136,000 per year for circumcisions for Medicaid patients. This procedure has been eliminated in 14 states because it is not necessary from a health standpoint. There is a waiting list of others who could use these funds, such as the blind and those with developmental disabilities.
We are mandated to spend an increase of 2.1% for K-12 education, but instead, the spenders added an additional 5%--a total of 7.1%. This amounts to over $60 million added to this part of the budget when we could have allocated it elsewhere or cut the spending altogether. An amendment to cut our budget by only 1/4 of 1%, except for the Department of Education and Health Care Policy and Financing, lost by a 29-36 vote. This demonstrates the Democrats' strong will to spend and spend in spite of the fact that money is so tight for so many Colorado taxpayers.
There were 65 amendments proposed and only 14 were adopted. The very first amendment offered by Democrat Paul Weissmann from Louisville states that "no moneys appropriated by this act shall knowingly be paid to any organization, business, firm, person, agency or club which places restrictions on employment or membership based on sex, race, age, marital status, creed, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, or physical handicap." Weissmann's effort to add "sexual orientation" drew fire from the Republicans. Republican Ted Harvey of Highlands Ranch accused the legislative Democrats of "pushing a homosexual agenda" onto businesses and religious institutions that contract to provide services or programs on the state's behalf. He also stated that Weissmann's amendment would "put one individual's moral views over another individual's moral views" and that it could force an organization to hire someone with different religious values. This amendment was defeated by a 34 - 30 vote. All 30 House Republicans rejected this. They were joined by only 4 Democrats. Two of the Democrats, members of the Joint Budget Committee, voted against this because they always vote to protect their proposed budget. One Democrat pressed the wrong button by mistake, I was told.
I would like to point out that the State of Colorado has grown from a $2.9 billion dollar budget in 1985 to a $15.2 billion dollar budget in 2005, with no decrease in the last 20 years. There is no budget crisis as some would have you think. We do need to spend more money on road transportation, capitol construction, plus bring back the senior citizen homestead exemption act. We can use the bonding and tolling process for additional lanes, bridges, and highways.
OTHER LEGISLATION:
SB 100, by Morgan Carroll, concerns increasing the protection for homeowners in homeowners' associations passed by a 41-21 vote. I voted YES because a small number of homeowner associations are ruling their little kingdoms like dictators resulting in closed meetings, improper voting, closed books, high legal fees, removing a person's Constitutional freedoms like letting them display an American Flag from their porch, and restricting their desire to post political signs during a political campaign.
HB 1015, by Andrew Romanoff, concerns substance abuse treatment for those who are addicted to drugs or alcohol and can't afford treatment. It passed by a 48-15 vote. I voted YES. Society pays dearly for drug and alcohol abuse. Prevention and treatment is costly. But the cost to society is far greater if this type of problem remains untreated. For example, the annual cost of housing offenders who become criminals is $28,500 per year. Emergency room treatment is also very costly.
HB 1304, by Mary Hodge, prohibits the restriction of consumer choices in housing construction. This bill passed by a 45-20 vote. I voted YES. Consumers can now choose manufactured housing. This type of home is built off site but is comparable in quality to traditional construction. The town or city will ensure the project conforms to all local building code regulations and the neighborhood's aesthetic standards.
EDUCATION:
The Independence Institute had a lunch forum on school choice issues and pointed out that 11 states are actively passing school choice legislation this year. The legal issues are on the school choice side. According to surveys, most people want school choice. A cause for concern is the taxpayers' unwitting support of the teachers' union. Almost all of Colorado's school district collective bargaining agreements grant teachers' unions taxpayer-paid release time. These subsidies fall into two general categories: allotments of leave days for union activities and release time for the local union president and other officers. For 2003-2004, the Thompson School District subsidized $22,992.44 for teacher release time for union activities and for the union president and other officers.
I am a member of the newly formed Republican Study Committee of Colorado (RSCC). The first hearing was held on Friday, April 15. The topic was higher education and academic tenure. Speakers included Bruce Fein of the Washington Times, CU Regent Steve Bosley, and CU Professors Paul Campos and Dr. Phil Mitchell. We focused on the legal, management, and academic aspects of tenure and had an in-depth discussion. Bruce Fein pointed out that ideas are important and with proper applications, tenure is not a bad thing. But he also emphasized that accountability as a professor is important. Regent Bosley stated that only 38.4% of the professors at CU have tenure. Dr. Mitchell presented data from a September 2002 issue of the American Enterprise Magazine about the political affiliations of professors. Here are the numbers from the CU campus: English - 37 Democrats, 0 Republicans; History- 28 Democrats, 1 Republicans; and Journalism- 9 Democrats, 1 Republican. At Stanford University, it is 53 to 1 in favor of Democrats over Republican in the humanities, political science, history, sociology, and ethnic studies.
I came to the conclusion that it is the "liberals hiring the liberals." In the case of CU, the Regents, since they are elected and have a direct representation to the general public, need to be much more active in the hiring process of professors in the non-science areas. They would not personally have the time since these Regents are non-paid positions, but they could have a direct representative on the CU staff. This would increase the likelihood of having true academic freedom in the hiring process of new professors. Without a change, we will be seeing the same liberal control of our public universities 10, 20, or 30 years from now.
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS:
The State Department of Corrections and the Department of Youth Corrections (ages 10 - 19) made a presentation about faith based ministries in the correction environment. Joe Ortiz, DOC Director, pointed out that there are over 2,000 volunteers going to the state's 24 adult prisons. He described improvements in the training programs 60 days before the release of a prisoner, as well as the after care programs. He is excited about the direction we are going in this area. The recidivism rate for Colorado is 51.7%, which is much lower than the 70 - 80% rate in other states. Just a couple years ago, our recidivism rate was over 53%.
June 3 - 12 there will be over 20 ministries from other states visiting 28 of our prisons with road shows, speakers, singing, and the message of what they believe that life is all about. Governor Owens and Joe Ortiz endorse these type of programs, at no cost to the taxpayer, so we can reduce our recidivism rate and spend less money of our tax dollars of the cost of incarceration ($28,500 per person per year.) Also, there is a great cost to law enforcement, public defenders, court costs, and the victims of crimes. This is a program that I endorse because the results are there and it costs the taxpayers nothing.
There is still a large shortage of the number of churches getting involved, both in the prisons and in the after care programs. If you or anyone you know desires to get involved in this area, let me know and I can get you in touch with the people that will give you the necessary clearance and a short training course. Your rewards may have eternal consequences!
QUOTE:
"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here. The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed." Patrick Henry
CONCLUSION:
If you are from Loveland or any area of the state for that matter--please let me know if and when you are coming to the Capitol. I will try to bring you on to the House floor so you can observe our legislative process. I am grateful that our founding fathers set up a system that gives us the chance to make public policy with words instead of with bullets and spears as they did in other parts of the world for hundreds of years! Today, sadly to say, some countries still have no free elections.
Thank you for your support and prayers!
Rep. Jim Welker
House District 51
< Back to 2005 Legislative Session
