Dear Friends and Supporters,

The major responsibility we have at the Capitol is to "balance the budget;" the voters may be given a
referendum on the Fall ballot for approval. It seems that the Democrats believe that we have four branches of
our state government instead of three. Their list reads: 1) Legislative, 2) Executive, 3) Judicial . . . and 4)
Initiative/ballots/referendums.

Please note the words used by Minority Leader, Joe Stengel (R) Littleton (I did the underlining):

Poll Proves Romanoff TABOR Proposal Dead on Arrival

House Republican Leader Joe Stengel, R-Littleton, had the following reaction to today's release of a poll by the
Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce showing that voter support for Speaker Andrew Romanoff's TABOR
proposal is only 37 percent.

"Clearly, the Denver Chamber's poll shows that Speaker Romanoff's TABOR proposal is dead on arrival before
it even reaches the House floor.

"Since Democrats control both chambers, they still have the ability to ram Speaker Romanoff's proposal through
the legislature, but that would be a mistake. Without question, this poll indicates that the Romanoff proposal
would be soundly defeated by the voters this November. Maybe now Speaker Romanoff will listen to what we've
been telling him and other Democrat leaders since the session began in January.

"The voters get it. They are not about to support the Romanoff plan, which calls for taxpayers to give up
hundreds of millions of dollars of future TABOR refunds to pay for the largest expansion of state government in
Colorado history.

"What the voters do in fact want is a long-term solution to the budget conflict caused by Amendment 23,
TABOR, Gallagher and the Senior Homestead Exemption. While they want us to find a way to meet critical
funding needs, they do not support Big Government spending. The Denver Chamber poll confirms that voters
won't authorize a blank check spending spree such as that called for by the Romanoff plan.

"So far during the session, Democratic leaders in the legislature have said they want bipartisan support for their
proposal, but their actions have not matched their rhetoric. Democrats have dug in their heels, insisting that it
would be their plan or no plan. Republicans have made suggestion after suggestion in trying to reach a fair
compromise, but each time we were rebuffed and told 'no.'

"House Democrats have already killed one Republican bill. Another attempt at compromise, a proposal by Rep.
Dale Hall, has not even been calendared by the House Finance Committee. The question now is: where do we
go from here? Does Speaker Romanoff have another 'take it or leave it plan' or is he now willing to begin trying
to reach some type of compromise that will attract bipartisan support?"

Victories:

HB 1269 by Representative Decker - Concerning a requirement that a certificate of death identify whether the
deceased woman is pregnant. The vote was 40 YES, 22 NO, and 3 Excused.

HB 1229 by Representative Lindstrom (D) - Concerning government and privately owned rent controlled
housing. This bill started in the Local Government committee. I voted NO, but the bill passed by a narrow
margin of 6-5. When it went to the House floor, the vote was 32 YES, 31 NO, and 3 Excused. Three
Democrats did not vote for this "Democrat" bill on rent control. ALL Republicans voted NO. (Thirty-three votes
are always needed to pass a bill in the House.) I worked hard in the Committee and on the House floor to
convince others that this is not a good bill. We all know that rent controls and price controls by
government never work. The marketplace must be allowed to make the needed adjustments.

Disappointment:

HB 1260 by Representative Crane (R) - Concerning the viability of babies during late term abortions. The vote
was 6 No and 4 YES. All NO's were from Democrats and all YES's were Republicans. Through technology and
education, more Americans are realizing that there is a viable, growing baby inside of the mother. The baby
deserves nourishment and protection at all stages of growth.

Next Week:

Representative Dave Schultheis (R), Colorado Springs, is continuing to educate and convince as many people
as possible that our massive illegal immigration problem is very serious. Dave was on national FOX News last
week (Hannity & Colmes) and did a great job. There is so much to do in this area because our federal
government has a very weak border control system on our southern border, the Mexican government publishes
free booklets to tell their citizens how to immigrate to America as "illegals," our INS offices ignore the problem,
our state law enforcement is throwing up its hands and are doing nothing unless a crime is committed, and
many of the citizens of Colorado and the United States are apathetic and ignorant about the seriousness of this
problem. I am willing to help Rep. Schultheis as much as I can to educate and convince voters that we cannot
ignore this problem.

We will be on the House floor most of Monday and Tuesday to work on the bills that are up for "second
readings" and "third readings." Deadlines are here for the bills to be cleared out of the House and on to the
Senate. Now Senate bills are coming to the House committees.

I appreciate your support and am honored to be able to serve in the House for the citizens of Loveland. Please
continue to pray for our nation, our soldiers, our police officers, and all elected officials.

Please note, if you would like to read about the major "Bills In The News," for this past week, open the file
attached.

Four Notable Quotes

"I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift
himself up by the handle." - Winston Churchill

"A Government which robs Peter to pay for Paul can always depend on the support of Paul." - George Bernard
Shaw

"If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free." - P.J. O'Rourke

"Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
- Frederic Bastiat

God's blessings to you,
Rep. Jim Welker
House District 51