Dear Friends and Supporters,

This week, we spent much more time than usual on the House floor for the purpose of passing bills out of the House or
killing them. Bills that pass go on to Senate committees. Both the Senate and the House are working hard to keep the
legislature on schedule.

Below are a few of the highlights of this past week at the Colorado State Capitol:

Victories:

HB 1284 - McCluskey (R) -- Concerning the repeal of the prohibition on mandatory health insurance for students
enrolling in state institutions of higher education. This bill would require college students to have mandatory health
insurance.

This bill was defeated by a 32 YES, 32 NO and 1 excused vote. It takes 33 votes for a bill to pass in the House. A
Representative switched his or her mind right on the last second before the machine tallying the votes was closed. For a
few seconds, there were 33 votes as YES - then it changed to 32. I voted NO on this bill and went to the "well" in the
front of the House floor a few times to explain my position. I was quoted in the Rocky Mountain News: "I don't want to
mandate health insurance for college students. For the most part, it will increase their cost of going to college."
Government does not require any of us to have health insurance, so why should it only be required for students at
universities and colleges? People need to be responsible for their own lives - not the government. This is a core
Republican principle.

Defeats

HB 1266 - Stengel (R) -- Concerning wildlife fee increases and a new fee for viewing wildlife areas.

This bill passed by a 39 to 25 vote. I voted NO because our wildlife budget is already almost $80 million dollars, about
$25 million more than neighboring states and it institutes a NEW fee for the viewing of wildlife. Right now, there are
about 300 wildlife viewing areas in our state where a family can watch wildlife at "no charge." This bill will require every
member of the family to have an annual $10.00 wildlife viewing permit. Elk licenses will go up from $30 to $45. I went to
the "well" and asked sarcastically, "When we are going to have individual fees for using our city parks?" I certainly don't
mind "user fees," but we have to draw the line somewhere. This new fee will affect poor people the most, and it will be a
nuisance to purchase and enforce it. Be careful, government might tax the air we breathe next. Just don't tax the air
that politicians exhale!

HB 1239 - Cerbo (D) -- Concerning the provision of unemployment benefits for employees engaged in a lockout.

This bill passed by a 35 - 29 vote, exactly along party lines. All Democrats voted YES and all Republicans voted NO.
Currently, if a business initiates a "lockout" of employees during a union dispute, the employer must pay unemployment
during the time of the lockout. This bill allows a union to initiate a lockout and still have unemployment benefits. In my
opinion this is not right. This gives unions too much power and is unfair to the employer and his or her customers.

HB 1179 - Carrol T (D) -- Concerning an increase in the amount of damages for which an
employee after written demand for payment of a determinable amount of vested wages.

This bill requires the employer to pay approximately twice the amount of the wages if the employee is not paid within an
agreed upon time. The bill passed by a 34 to 30 vote, along party lines. I voted NO.

HB 1293 - Pommer (D) -- Concerning a voluntary clean air program.

This bill passed out of the Transportation and Energy Committee by a 6 - 5 vote, mainly along party lines. I voted NO.

This bill would authorize Excel Energy, a Minnesota Company, to raise the utility rates of all of the non-REA residential
customers by about $7.50 per year. Excel would also raise the rates for businesses and government buildings. The
money raised would be used to put clean air scrubbers on the coal fired plant called Pawnee in Brush. The Rocky
Mountain News had a long editorial on this subject on March 4 and explained how rate-payers could be saddled with
dubious costs; this expensive fix hasn't been mandated by any state or federal agency. The plant is in compliance with
all current federal and state air regulations. I offered an amendment that would take a significant amount of money from
the six highest executives of Excel and use that money for these purposes. In the past three years, the President and
CEO of Excel has been paid over $5.6 million. This is too much for Excel since it is a monopoly. It does not concern me
what executives are paid in a free marketplace, but Excel is truly a monopoly. The Chairman ruled that my amendment
does not fit under the title of the bill. The bill was then routed to the House Appropriations Committee, where it could
face a sudden death because of the economic impact it would have on the utility costs of state government buildings.

Some Good News:,/b>

According to a new study, Colorado auto insurance rates have declined by up to 27.1 percent in the 1 1/2 years since
legislators ended the state's no-fault system. Before this change, Colorado auto rates were the eight-highest in the
nation in 2002.

Read about Wall Street Journal's excellent article on TABOR in their 2/28/05 edition. The article is called the "Rocky
Mountain Revenue Grab," and it is attached.

A NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business) poll finds that nearly 55 percent of Colorado owners of small
businesses are pleased with the current economic climate.

Dennis Prager gave an excellent speech before the Republican House and Senate Caucus on Thursday. Dennis is a
nationally known radio talk show host and has written several books. He is Jewish by birth. He was born in Brooklyn,
NY and has been a Democrat most of his life. However, about 10 years ago he changed parties; he is now a
Republican. He came to believe that our U.S. Constitution is God-given, and that our founding fathers based our great
country on very strong "Judeo-Christian" values. Dennis explained how current "diversity and multiculturalism"
applications actually divide our country rather than unite us. Visit his web site at www.dennisprager.com to
learn more about him.

CU - Ward Churchill

Review the attachment for comments by former President of the Senate, John Andrews.

Thank you for your support and prayers. God bless every one of you!

Representative Jim Welker
House District 51 - Loveland