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Week 8, 2006
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Dear Friends and Supporters,
We had another exciting week at your Capitol! New leadership was chosen for our Republican minority party. We had two special caucus meetings. Five hundred and sixty five bills have been introduced so far and we have only 67 days until the end of the session.
On Monday, the leadership of the Republican Party in the House asked for a special caucus meeting to discuss a requirement in Colorado's Constitution. It states that a bill title must be one subject and nothing can be added to the title, like what is done in Washington, D.C. There, legislators can add defense, education, and all kinds of things under an agriculture bill. It is like a big bowl of soup; minestrone, perhaps? This is wrong and it needs to be corrected. I hope that Washington will do this someday.
Here in Colorado, we are very tight as to what fits under a bill title. Sometimes, on the House floor, a member will amend a bill and the person that has the gavel the majority partycan rule that the amendment does not fit under the title. For example, I tried to amend the smoking bill on private property by stating that the state government must reimburse any business for the past 10 years if the business has spent money in remodeling their business for the purpose of separating the smokers from the non-smokers. But, the chairperson with the gavel ruled that my amendment did not fit under the title. This ruling was arbitrary; it was not done with any consultation. I felt that I had been wronged, but there was really nothing I could do.
On Monday, February 27, this kept happening to many Republican bills, so the caucus was called. Republican Rep. Mark Larson said, "We did it to the Democrats for many years and now they are doing it to us." I do not know if this was true or not. This situation illustrates that we all need to abide by a standard of fairness. The chairpersonwhether Democrat or Republicanis supposed to give very careful consideration to how an amendment can fit under the bill title without being prejudiced by their own bias for or against the amendment or the bill.
Change in Leadership:
This week Rep. Joe Stengel resigned his leadership duties. He has been under scrutiny for using more $99 per diem days than his leadership position allows. In my opinion, the concerns that led to Rep. Stengel stepping down were legitimate.
On Friday, March 3, Rep. Mike May, R-Parker, was chosen to be the Republican Minority Leader and Rep. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, was chosen to be the Republican Assistant Minority Leader. May and Harvey are both members of the Republican Study Committee of Colorado (RSCC).
I believe that Representatives May and Harvey will do a good job for the Republican caucus. Because we do not have enough Republican votes in the committees or on the House or Senate floor, there will be plenty of bills for the Governor to veto again in 2006. Last year, Governor Owens vetoed 47 bills.
Comment on Education:
A student from Overland High School in the Cherry Creek School District recorded his geography teacher, Jay Bennish, making a number of extreme statements from a liberal perspective. This teacher did not present any opposing viewpoints. Bennish described capitalism as a system "at odds with human rights" and he stated that the U.S. was "probably the single most violent nation on planet Earth." He made several other extreme statements about President Bush, from a liberal perspective.
Certainly, this teacher has freedom of speech, but are these appropriate comments to be made before a geography class of high school students, especially without the other side being mentioned? Many people have different views on a teacher's rights and responsibilities. There is evidence which shows that this liberal bias occurs regularly in secondary schools all over America, just as it occurs in our universities.
With that said, this only confirms my resolve to continue to speak out for parents and their children to have the right to choose a school of their choice. We have the freedom of choice in almost everything we buy except for K-12 educationand this costs us about $9,000 per child per year.
Competition, as long as it is on a level playing field, is good for America. Competition in our K-12 public schools would be good for the students, good for the parents, and good for teachers who are willing to live up to higher standards in education.
I heard recently that in the Denver public K-12 school system, the drop out rate is 65%! The causes are complex, but school choice is one of the remedies. School choice and the freedom for the children and the parents' rights to choose are only right and fair. The ones that will be helped the most are those who are in the lower part of the economic scale. Americans who are middle and upper-middle class can afford to send their children to private schools. The poor are forced to accept substandard schools. This is totally unfair to them.
I would like to know your views on school choice, academic freedom, legislative ethics and any other issues that we deal with at your Capitol. Please contact me on issues that are important to you.
God's blessings to you and our country,
Rep. Jim Welker
HD 51 - Loveland
303 866 2947
970 667 5227
We had another exciting week at your Capitol! New leadership was chosen for our Republican minority party. We had two special caucus meetings. Five hundred and sixty five bills have been introduced so far and we have only 67 days until the end of the session.
On Monday, the leadership of the Republican Party in the House asked for a special caucus meeting to discuss a requirement in Colorado's Constitution. It states that a bill title must be one subject and nothing can be added to the title, like what is done in Washington, D.C. There, legislators can add defense, education, and all kinds of things under an agriculture bill. It is like a big bowl of soup; minestrone, perhaps? This is wrong and it needs to be corrected. I hope that Washington will do this someday.
Here in Colorado, we are very tight as to what fits under a bill title. Sometimes, on the House floor, a member will amend a bill and the person that has the gavel the majority partycan rule that the amendment does not fit under the title. For example, I tried to amend the smoking bill on private property by stating that the state government must reimburse any business for the past 10 years if the business has spent money in remodeling their business for the purpose of separating the smokers from the non-smokers. But, the chairperson with the gavel ruled that my amendment did not fit under the title. This ruling was arbitrary; it was not done with any consultation. I felt that I had been wronged, but there was really nothing I could do.
On Monday, February 27, this kept happening to many Republican bills, so the caucus was called. Republican Rep. Mark Larson said, "We did it to the Democrats for many years and now they are doing it to us." I do not know if this was true or not. This situation illustrates that we all need to abide by a standard of fairness. The chairpersonwhether Democrat or Republicanis supposed to give very careful consideration to how an amendment can fit under the bill title without being prejudiced by their own bias for or against the amendment or the bill.
Change in Leadership:
This week Rep. Joe Stengel resigned his leadership duties. He has been under scrutiny for using more $99 per diem days than his leadership position allows. In my opinion, the concerns that led to Rep. Stengel stepping down were legitimate.
On Friday, March 3, Rep. Mike May, R-Parker, was chosen to be the Republican Minority Leader and Rep. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, was chosen to be the Republican Assistant Minority Leader. May and Harvey are both members of the Republican Study Committee of Colorado (RSCC).
I believe that Representatives May and Harvey will do a good job for the Republican caucus. Because we do not have enough Republican votes in the committees or on the House or Senate floor, there will be plenty of bills for the Governor to veto again in 2006. Last year, Governor Owens vetoed 47 bills.
Comment on Education:
A student from Overland High School in the Cherry Creek School District recorded his geography teacher, Jay Bennish, making a number of extreme statements from a liberal perspective. This teacher did not present any opposing viewpoints. Bennish described capitalism as a system "at odds with human rights" and he stated that the U.S. was "probably the single most violent nation on planet Earth." He made several other extreme statements about President Bush, from a liberal perspective.
Certainly, this teacher has freedom of speech, but are these appropriate comments to be made before a geography class of high school students, especially without the other side being mentioned? Many people have different views on a teacher's rights and responsibilities. There is evidence which shows that this liberal bias occurs regularly in secondary schools all over America, just as it occurs in our universities.
With that said, this only confirms my resolve to continue to speak out for parents and their children to have the right to choose a school of their choice. We have the freedom of choice in almost everything we buy except for K-12 educationand this costs us about $9,000 per child per year.
Competition, as long as it is on a level playing field, is good for America. Competition in our K-12 public schools would be good for the students, good for the parents, and good for teachers who are willing to live up to higher standards in education.
I heard recently that in the Denver public K-12 school system, the drop out rate is 65%! The causes are complex, but school choice is one of the remedies. School choice and the freedom for the children and the parents' rights to choose are only right and fair. The ones that will be helped the most are those who are in the lower part of the economic scale. Americans who are middle and upper-middle class can afford to send their children to private schools. The poor are forced to accept substandard schools. This is totally unfair to them.
I would like to know your views on school choice, academic freedom, legislative ethics and any other issues that we deal with at your Capitol. Please contact me on issues that are important to you.
God's blessings to you and our country,
Rep. Jim Welker
HD 51 - Loveland
303 866 2947
970 667 5227
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