Post's Greene selectively cited record, minimizing Democrats' legislative accomplishments

Summary: Denver Post columnist Susan Greene asserted that the Democratic-led Colorado legislature "ends its session tomorrow having punted on most of its priorities." But in selectively listing some Democratic initiatives that would not be passed this session, Greene omitted others that were stated priorities of Gov. Bill Ritter and House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, including measures on education, health care, and the economy, and have received or are near final passage.

In her May 6 Denver Post column, Susan Greene misleadingly stated of the Democratic majority in the Colorado General Assembly that it "ends its session tomorrow having punted on most of its priorities" and suggested that "if lawmakers want [media] coverage of weightier issues" than scandals involving members of the legislature "they should think about tackling some." However, Greene omitted legislative passage of a variety of measures that, based on a May 6 article in the Rocky Mountain News, represented priorities in the agendas that Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff (D-Denver) and Gov. Bill Ritter (D) announced at the opening of the session.

After citing some bills she suggested were insubstantial, Greene noted examples of Democratic initiatives that would not be passed in the current session.

From Susan Greene's May 6 Denver Post column "Legislative spin can't hide do-nothing session":

With each dispatch, Colorado Democrats send members a Quote of the Day, including this zinger last Wednesday:

"Getting reporters to write about issues is like getting kids to eat their vegetables."

The source of such media astuteness? None other than the fictional Josh Lyman, the cocky White House adviser from TV's "West Wing."

Ben Marter, press secretary for the Senate Dems, says he dredged up the quote in "a friendly dig" at the Capitol press corps.

[...]

After citing budget reform as a top priority, House Speaker Andrew Romanoff has tabled the issue without even a vote in committee. Better to let voters decide than force lawmakers to get their hands dirty, especially in an election year.

After working to raise severance taxes on oil and gas drilling, the legislature has dropped the effort without explanation.

After a blue-ribbon panel met for eight months on transportation funding, lawmakers passed none of its major recommendations.

And after promising voting reform before November's election, they rubber-stamped a bill to recertify voting machines that the state recently decertified, then called it a day.

The Democratic majority ends its session tomorrow having punted on most of its priorities. Still, it has the nerve to whine about reporters (read Marter's martyrlike rant about the veggies).

If lawmakers want coverage of weightier issues, maybe they should think about tackling some.

In contrast to Greene's suggestion that lawmakers have not "[thought] about tackling" weighty issues, the News reported that this session "Democrats were successful passing the cornerstones" of an agenda that "focused on education, the environment, health care and a 'new energy economy.' " The article, which was headlined "Legislature going out on 'high note,' " was accompanied by a sidebar listing "highlights" of the session:

The highlights

EDUCATION

* SB 218: Reallocates to higher-education construction projects hundreds of millions of dollars from federal mineral leases on land the state owns

* SB 212: Realigns K-12 content standards to better prepare students for college

* HB 1335: Allows the state to loan up to $1 billion to repair Colorado's crumbling schools

ENVIRONMENT

HB 1160: Requires power companies to credit customers for producing their own wind and solar power

HB 1353: Prevents fraud and misuse of the state's conservation easement program

HEALTH CARE

SB 160: Provides coverage to 50,000 of the state's 150,000 uninsured children during the next three years.

HB 1407: Forces insurance companies to pay benefits

HB 1228: Allows commissioner of insurance to collect damages for misled consumers

HB 1389: Allows state Division of Insurance to deny unjustified insurance rate hikes

ECONOMY

HB 1225: Eliminates the business personal property tax for small businesses

HB 1001: Makes $26.5 million available in grants to incubate bioscience technologies and jobs

TRANSPORTATION

Not much accomplished. Two plans to toll Interstate 70 were killed. A vehicle registration and rental car fee-hike proposal died. Democrats acknowledge they must do something about state's "quiet crisis" next session. [boldface in original]

Furthermore, much of the recent legislation the News cited matched the agendas Romanoff and Ritter announced at the beginning of the session:

• Senate Bill 218, which on May 6 was pending final Senate approval after receiving final House approval, followed Ritter's commendation in his January 10 State of the State address of bill sponsors Rep. Bernie Buescher (D-Grand Junction) and Sen. Gail Schwartz (D-Snowmass Village) "for their leadership on a revision of the Federal Mineral Lease formula." Ritter stated that in addition to protecting communities impacted by natural resource development, the measure should "look at whether other capital needs in the state can be met with increasing FML dollars" and noted, "We have a unique opportunity to build for the future, one we cannot miss."

• Senate Bill 212, which on May 6 awaited final approval in the House and Senate after being approved by a conference committee, followed Ritter's announcement of "the 'Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids,' " which he said would "put our education emphasis where it belongs: on helping kids learn, on measuring knowledge and skills, on connecting what is taught in high school with exactly what is expected in college."

• In his speech at the opening of the session, Romanoff previewed House Bill 1335, which on May 6 was awaiting final reconciliation between House and Senate versions. Romanoff stated that his "Build Excellent Schools Today" plan, by directing "nearly $1 billion in state and local resources" to school construction, "will allow us to meet our schools' most critical health and safety needs."

• Ritter highlighted House Bill 1160, enacted March 26, stating: "We also will be working with Representative [Judy] Solano [D-Brighton] and Senator [Brandon] Shaffer [D-Longmont] on a net-metering, or home-grown energy, program. If you have solar panels on your roof and your electric meter runs backwards as you put energy back onto the grid, you should get credit for that."

• House Bill 1353, which on May 6 had passed the Senate and was awaiting final passage in the House, followed Ritter's thanks to Rep. Alice Madden (D-Boulder) for her work "to address abuses of the state's conservation easement program" and his statement that "I look forward to additional legislation that will stem fraud and protect this important conservation tool."

The health care bills the News cited were not specifically mentioned in either Ritter or Romanoff's speeches at the opening of the session, but Ritter did express support in his address for the goal of Senate Bill 160, sponsored in the Senate by Bob Hagedorn (D-Aurora) and in the House by Anne McGihon (D-Denver), to increase insurance coverage for children. In the speech Ritter said, "My Fiscal Year 08-09 budget request calls for enrolling 17,000 more eligible children into CHP+, and we'll be undertaking major efforts to enroll more eligible families in Medicaid by simplifying, streamlining and modernizing the application and administrative processes." The other bills the News cited in the "health care" category -- House Bill 1407, House Bill 1228, and House Bill 1389 -- were sponsored by Democrats.

Both Ritter and Romanoff in their opening-of-session speeches also called for the elimination of the personal property tax for small business and for investments in bioscience industries, which are the goals of House Bill 1225 and House Bill 1001, respectively. Ritter signed HB 1001 into law on April 24, and the Senate has given third reading approval to HB 1225, which the House passed on April 14. In his address, Ritter spoke of "an economic-development package" that "will exempt 30,000 companies from the Business Personal Property Tax over time, and it will increase state investments in bioscience and clean energy projects." Romanoff declared in his address that "we should support homegrown industries like aerospace, bioscience and renewable energy -- industries in which Colorado is already gaining a competitive edge." He also stated, "And as for our smallest employers -- the 45,000 entrepreneurs who form the backbone of Colorado's economy -- we should spare them the burden of the business personal property tax once and for all."

— E.B.

Posted to the web on Tuesday May 6, 2008 at 8:05 PM EST