The Unaffiliated | Colorado Capitol personnel shake-ups

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College presidents this week told the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee they’d be happy to keep tuition increases to 2% next school year for Colorado residents, as Gov. Jared Polis has proposed.

There’s just one catch: They want four times the $41 million funding bump for public higher education institutions that Polis initially offered.

“We know you don’t have unlimited amounts of money,” said Joe Garcia, the chancellor of the Colorado Community College System. “I think it’s fair to ask us to tighten our belt. It’s not enough.”

In their annual letter to the JBC, leaders of Colorado’s 15 public college and university systems in December requested an operating budget increase of $161 million, up 11% from the current fiscal year. The request is in line with a JBC staff analysis, which found that the governor’s November budget proposal wouldn’t provide enough money for many schools to cover required increases in personnel costs under the state’s collective bargaining agreement and the rising cost of health care.

This month, the governor’s office came back with a new proposal of its own: a $47 million operating budget increase, and a 2.5% tuition hike for in-state students that they said should cover the cost of implementing a new pay plan for higher education employees.

The amendment, however, did little to mollify lawmakers or college leaders. Garcia said the additional money would still cover less than half of what his schools need to keep up with mandated cost increases.

In budget hearings this week, Democrats and Republicans were united in blasting Polis’ proposal, saying it relied on unrealistic tuition hikes on out-of-state students to make up for a lack of state support. Some schools, like the community colleges, don’t have many out-of-state students to lean on for funding. He also told the JBC the 6.4% out-of-state tuition hike Polis has proposed could backfire, prompting fewer students to enroll.

“We’re going to withhold money and then expect (tuition) to cover the gap, and then magically expect more students to start attending,” said Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, an Arvada Democrat and vice chair of the JBC. “Students are choosing not to go because of the cost. If we keep on in this vicious loop, we’re never going to break out of it.”

In early discussions on the 2024-25 budget, higher education represents the biggest rift between budget writers in the legislature and the Polis administration.

Lawmakers are pushing for the state to take higher education seriously as a spending priority after decades of disinvestment, while the governor’s office insists colleges must cut spending at a time of declining enrollment.

“We believe the institutions must adapt to modernize their operations and find efficiencies,” administration officials wrote to the JBC.

  MORE:   Lawmakers fear Colorado’s underinvestment in higher education could cause problems down the road for the state’s economy.

Three out of every four jobs that pay a livable wage and are expected to have strong growth over the next decade require skills beyond a high school education, according to the state’s annual job pipeline report. But lawmakers believe the price of tuition is dissuading more and more Coloradans from attending.

“I am sick and tired of having to have this conversation on this committee,” Zenzinger said. “I’m tired of years and years and years of having to struggle, because this is the most convenient place within our budget to cut from. It can’t be convenient anymore. (Higher education) needs to be a priority.”

Under the barrage of criticism from the Joint Budget Committee, the governor’s budget director, Mark Ferrandino, acknowledged colleges had drawn the “short straw” where state funding is concerned.

But he stopped short of saying higher ed should be a priority going forward.

“This has been a longstanding issue with funding higher education in a constrained environment,” Ferrandino said. “I don’t see that changing, unfortunately.”

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Hanks may have lost to O’Dea by a wide margin in the statewide primary race, but he won in 3rd District counties by about 4,200 votes, according to a Colorado Sun analysis.

The one asterisk is that only a portion of Eagle County, which we included in our analysis, is in the 3rd District. Hanks received 1,596 primary votes in Eagle County in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in 2022 while O’Dea picked up 2,456 votes. If you take the county out of the equation, Hanks won in the 3rd District by an even larger margin.

If you were counting Hanks out in the Republican primary this year for the 3rd Congressional District, you may want to reconsider that position. And if Hanks, an election conspiracy theorist, is the GOP nominee, the 3rd District may be in play for Democrats in November.

  COLORADO POLITICS:   Scott McInnis, Scott Tipton endorse Jeff Hurd in 3rd Congressional District

  MORE  : Stephen Varela, a Pueblo Republican who sits on the state Board of Education, on Thursday said he’s running to represent Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District. Varela ran unsuccessfully for a state Senate seat in 2022. He was formerly a Democrat, switching his registration to Republican in February 2021. (He had gone back and forth more than a dozen times prior.)

  EVEN MORE:   Democrat Adam Frisch announced Thursday that his 3rd Congressional District campaign raised more than $2.9 million between Oct. 31 and the end of December. The former Aspen City councilman, who nearly unseated Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in 2022, said he had more than $5 million in cash at the end of 2023.

Frisch’s reelection chances diminished when Boebert announced last month that she was ditching her 3rd District reelection bid to run instead in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District. The 3rd District leans heavily in Republicans’ favor.

Comings and goings —and returnings — at the Colorado Capitol

The Colorado House of Representatives convenes on the first day of Colorado’s 2024 legislative session Wednesday at the state Capitol. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)

Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez, D-Denver, on Monday quietly removed Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Boulder County, from her post as chair of the Senate Local Government and Housing Committee after one year in the position.

Sen. Tony Exum, D-Colorado Springs, will be the new chair of the committee after previously serving as vice chair. Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, will be vice chair.

Jaquez Lewis will remain on the committee.

The Senate Local Government and Housing Committee is going to play a big role in the legislature this year as Democrats take another stab at boosting the state’s housing inventory and increasing density.

Jaquez Lewis, in a brief interview with The Sun on Thursday, described the change as a mutual decision made by her and Democratic leadership in the Senate that will give her more time to focus on a voter initiative in Boulder and Weld counties that she’s a part of. Our understanding, however, is that the shuffle was not entirely mutual.

Another big Democratic change on the panel from 2023: Sen. Faith Winter of Broomfield has replaced Sen. Dylan Roberts of Frisco. That shift was made late last year as part of Rodriguez’s broader rearrangement of Senate committees as he replaced former senator Dominick Moreno in the chamber’s No. 2 role.

In the House, State Rep. Rod Bockenfeld, a Watkins Republican who is battling cancer, is being replaced on the Joint Budget Committee by Rep. Rick Taggart, R-Grand Junction, until Jan. 16.

There are some big staff shake-ups in the legislature, too.

Last year’s legislative session was supposed to be the last for Senate Secretary Cindy Markwell, but she’s back shepherding the chamber in 2024 after a replacement tapped in the interim fell through.

You’d be hard pressed to find someone with as much institutional knowledge as Markwell, who has worked on and off at the Capitol since 1980. She came out of retirement in 2018 to serve as secretary for a second time after her first retirement from the role, which she also held from 2011 to 2015.

Senate President Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder, needled Markwell in his opening day speech Wednesday, saying she couldn’t stay away. “Eventually we’re going to need to figure out how to exist without you,” Fenberg said, who called Markwell “the best secretary this chamber has ever had.”

While reading clerk George Schiebel remains in the House, his mullet, tragically, is gone. The Senate has a new reading clerk in Eric Hubler, a former Denver Post reporter.

In the House, Deputy Chief of Staff Roger Hudson has left his role. He started working in the House minority office under the late House Minority Leader Hugh McKean. Hudson is departing to work on House Minority Leader Mike Lynch’s congressional campaign.

“While I’m sad to leave the Capitol,” Hudson said, “it’s the hardest I ever worked.”

  MORE  : Add state Sen. Bob Gardner to the list of lawmakers serving at the Capitol this year who will simultaneously be running for Congress. He wants to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, in the 5th Congressional District.

Gardner faces Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams and Jeff Crank, a longtime Republican operative and conservative radio host, in the Republican primary for the seat. Others are expected to jump into the race.

  THE DENVER POST  : Two more Republicans enter race for Congressman Doug Lamborn’s seat, challenging state GOP chair

  ADDENDUM:   Two bills introduced Wednesday would change how the legislature operates.

House Bill 1059, sponsored by Democratic Reps. Regina English and Naquetta Ricks and Democratic Sen. Chris Hansen, would boost the per diem pay for lawmakers and create a commission that would set lawmaker and statewide officer pay.

For representatives and senators who live in the Denver metro area, the per diem would increase to 25% of the federal per diem rate for the city of Denver starting in July 2025, up from a flat rate of $45. The federal per diem in Denver for the current fiscal year is $280, 25% of which would be $70.

For lawmakers who live outside of the metro area, the per diem would increase to 90% of federal per diem in Denver, up from 85%.

Additionally, the bill would create a nine-member panel to set the pay for state lawmakers, as well as the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state and state treasurer. It would meet starting in 2025 and every four years thereafter.

The pay levels would eventually be increased between meetings of the commission based on inflation.

The measure comes amid debate about whether Colorado lawmakers, who earn about $42,000, are paid adequately.

The second bill, introduced by Republican Rep. Stephanie Luck, would create a process and establish a website where lawmakers could publish drafts or titles of bills they are considering introducing.

New Era Colorado plans greater political involvement

New Era Colorado Executive Director Nicole Hensel, right, introduces state Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, at an event Wednesday. (Sandra Fish, Special to The Colorado Sun)

The New Era Colorado Action Fund on Wednesday announced the creation of a small donor committee and a state-level super PAC as the nearly two-decade-old liberal nonprofit shifts to be more political.

The group also plans to expand its reach by hiring field coordinators in Fort Collins, Pueblo and Durango. They will work to get more college-aged students around the state involved in political advocacy.

This year will be the first since endorsing President Barack Obama in 2012 that New Era will vet and endorse candidates, Executive Director Nicole Hensel said.

“We weren’t doing enough to find, recruit, uplift and support real youth-agenda champions,” she said. “People who are really willing to throw down for young people — who are willing to use their political power and their political capital to fight hard for the issues that young people care about.”

The small donor committee can accept contributions of up to $50 per donor, but can donate up to $6,200 to candidates for state legislature.

State Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, spoke at a New Era event Wednesday about how issues that matter to young people, especially housing costs, are influenced by special interests that can afford to pay lobbyists and fund super PACs that influence lawmakers.

“Our legislators are often pressured to say, ‘Yeah, but you know, I don’t want to piss off that donor. I don’t want to piss off that industry. Because, you know, I’m gonna have a tough reelection next cycle,’” Gonzales said.

She said the small-donor committee will help New Era try to match that influence.

State Rep. Javier Mabrey, D-Denver, listed several measures he’s sponsoring this session to help renters, who are often young people. But he said not everything he desires will be on the agenda.

“We’re not bringing back rent stabilization this year, even though I think we should,” he said.

New Era was founded on the University of Colorado Boulder campus 18 years ago by a group of students that included U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Lafayette, state Senate President Steve Fenberg, state Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver, and Lisa Kaufmann, formerly Gov. Jared Polis’ chief of staff.

  ELECTIONS:   The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office this week ordered county clerks to inspect ballot envelopes for holes that may reveal how a voter voted. The emergency rule announced Wednesday comes after questions were raised about holes in ballot envelopes used in Pueblo County for the November election.

  CONGRESS:   U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, is trying to gather signatures to force a House floor vote on her bill that would ban gun magazines that hold more than 15 rounds. She needs 218 signatures to force the vote. Separately, U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, D-Centennial, introduced a bill requiring super PACs supporting or opposing candidates to report any donations greater than $999 within 48 hours when they are received in the 20 days preceding an election. Both measures are likely dead on arrival in the Republican-controlled House.

  STORY  : Jared Polis delivered his sixth State of the State address. We explain what he said.

  STORY  : First year of optional Keep Colorado Wild Pass sees drivers deliver $41.1 million in revenue for parks and wildlife

  STORY  : Colorado Capitol leaders focus their message on legislative civility more than policy in kicking off 2024 lawmaking term

  STORY  : Jayson Boebert allegedly armed himself after son called 911 during a fight, court records show

  STORY  : Colorado lawmakers will push even harder in 2024 to replace lawns. Here are the other water bills on tap.

  STORY  : Colorado’s 2024 legislative session begins today. Here’s your guide to get involved.

  COLORADO POLITICS:   IRS won’t tax Colorado’s TABOR refunds this year, Michael Bennet confirms

  THE DURANGO HERALD:   La Plata County GOP Chair Shelli Shaw moving, refuses to step down

  THE DENVER POST  : Colorado lawmakers unveil priority bills on employment, housing and other issues as leaders call for civility

  COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO  : What to know about Pueblo’s upcoming mayoral runoff election

Meet John Padora, one of the Democrats running in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District

Democrat John Padora in his campaign launch video from last year. (Screenshot)

Lauren Boebert’s entrance into the 4th Congressional District race to replace U.S. Rep. Ken Buck has prompted a question no one was really asking before: Could a Democrat win in the state’s most Republican-favorable district?

Conventional wisdom says the answer is almost certainly “no,” but Boebert’s candidacy — and the intense public scrutiny and Democratic attacks that follow her everywhere she goes — has thrust the handful of Democrats running in the 4th District into the national spotlight. One, John Padora, is quickly emerging as the most likely to be the party’s nominee.

The Sun spoke at length with Padora to learn more about his past and why he’s running.

Padora, 35, and his family moved to Severance about three years ago from Pennsylvania. Born in Allentown, Penn., Padora said he started spending summers and winter breaks in Colorado visiting his aunt and uncle, who have a cabin in Estes Park and a townhome in Boulder, when he was 5. He said during those family trips he “traveled all over the state.”

Padora said his wife began considering a move to Colorado in 2018. “My family and I for quite some time have tried to relocate out here,” he said. “My wife has a lot of family in the Denver area. When the remote work happened, it kind of presented us with an opportunity to relocate to Colorado.”

In the middle of considering that move, however, Padora ran for the Pennsylvania statehouse. He lost to Republican Melinda Fee in the Lancaster County district by a whopping 46 percentage points.

“I didn’t want to run for that seat,” Padora said. “I was actually recruited to run. I knew from the beginning of that campaign that we were never going to have the steam that we needed to win. That was really just a way for me to activate myself and my team and get out there and make a difference.”

Padora, who launched his congressional campaign May 1, long before Boebert got in the race, says he is “committed to remaining in Colorado.” He said his family decided to buy a home in Severance because it was affordable.

“To be honest, I would say that the housing market drove us out a little further into Weld County than we anticipated,” he said. “I did want to be more central to the Loveland, Fort Collins, Longmont area where a lot of the jobs were available for me in my industry.”

Padora said he works as a manufacturing engineer at a company that makes medical devices, surgical implants and aerospace components. He said he also has a degree in environmental science, “but with a large family I’ve just found that saving the planet doesn’t pay as much as precision manufacturing.”

When asked which Democratic politician is most similar to him in terms of his policy positions, Padora said there’s no perfect match. He said he voted for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2020 presidential primary. “I know that he’s incredibly progressive, and so kind of my vote was just to urge the Democratic Party to pursue more progressive policies and candidates than Joe Biden.”

Padora said he knows running in the 4th District, which Buck won by 24 percentage points in 2022, is “a huge uphill battle.” But he feels he has a “good ability to communicate with conservative folks” and that with help from the Democratic Party he can make it close in 2024.

Padora believes gun regulations are one area where he can connect conservative voters. He said he supports “common sense” laws, like raising the age to purchase any weapon to 21, universal background checks and red flag laws — three things Republican politicians in Colorado have been almost uniformly opposed to. Padora said he doesn’t support an assault weapons ban.

“I would just kind of encourage everyone not to quite write this district off,” he said.

  MORE  : Padora struggled with substance abuse after a car crash when he was 19 years old. He said his head went through the vehicle’s windshield and that things “spiraled out of control” after he was prescribed opioids during his recovery.

“I almost lost my marriage, my family, my home, my career — everything,” Padora said. “I was arrested for drug possession multiple times for opioids with expired prescriptions, for small amounts of marijuana that I was also using for pain management at the time. I ended up in county prison for a few months and that is really what kind of changed my whole life.”

Padora now describes himself as a recovery advocate.

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— The New York Times Republicans are making “dark money” even darker for 2024
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— CityLab GOP holdouts ousted Kevin McCarthy. Now Mike Johnson feels the heat.
— The Wall Street Journal After year of culture wars, states to take up AI, housing and workforce
— The Washington Post

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