DENVER – With 60 days down and 60 days to go, state legislators from Southwest Colorado are either finally getting up to speed or easing into a well-developed rhythm.
Rep. Marc Catlin, R-Montrose, said he falls into the latter category due to his last-minute appointment to the Colorado House of Representatives.
“Having gotten here so late, having to run so hard to keep up, I now feel kind of like I’m on level ground again,” Catlin said.
Rep. Barbara McLachlan, D-Durango, compared her initial experience in the House to drinking from a fire hydrant, a metaphor with which Catlin agreed.
“Oh yeah, and the big problem is they prop you up after it knocks you down,” he said.
Since the opening days of the session, McLachlan said she has learned a lot about “the art of the compromise,” and is excited about what the next 60 days will bring.
One bill in particular stands out from the first half of the session that McLachlan was proud to be involved with: House Bill 1181, which passed the House unanimously and would repeal a requirement for English and math tests for 9th-graders and replace it with one test that is focused on preparing students for pre-college and college entrance exams taken in 10th and 11th grade.
“That’s a big one for me because it accomplished so much,” McLachlan said. “It saves a lot of money from the other tests that were being given, (and) it saves the teachers a lot of time.”
Going forward, McLachlan said she is excited about her pending legislation, which would require the Colorado departments of Education and Higher Education to complete a study on why enrollment in teacher education programs has fallen off significantly in recent years.
The bill has garnered substantial feedback from constituents in the field of education, McLachlan said. “I’ve been getting lots and lots of emails from teachers to say ‘thank you for finally somebody talking about education and talking about what’s wrong with education.’”
Sen. Don Coram, R-Montrose, who Catlin replaced in the House after he was appointed to fill former Sen. Ellen Roberts’ Senate seat, falls into the group of lawmakers easing into a rhythm.
But even though he is used to the up and downs of the session, Coram said 2017 is a little different due to his shift from being in the Republican minority in the House to the majority in the Senate.
Going into the second half of the session, Coram and Catlin said there was one issue that stands front and center for them: transportation funding.
“That’s the 2,000-pound gorilla in the room,” Coram said.
Catlin said it is a particularly important issue for his district due to the mountainous terrain of the counties he represents.
“In our district, we haul everything in that we buy and we haul everything out that we sell, so transportation is a big deal,” he said.
Coram said the announcement of HB 1242, which was introduced Wednesday evening and uses a combination of increased sales taxes and existing revenue to fund transportation over the next 20 years, ruffled his feathers and not necessarily because of its funding mechanisms.
“Frankly, we’ve been told that there are no deals and now we have a deal. I mean 48 hours ago, there was no deal and now it’s drafted,” Coram said Friday. “Obviously, I’m disappointed we weren’t told something was being worked on. I would like to be a part of that.”
Coram and Caitlin intend to take a close look at HB 1242 and how it would affect Southwest Colorado before deciding how they will vote.
But there are portions of the bill Coram said he could get on board with. “I’ve got to look at that (HB 1242) because I think it does give a lot more local control, and I’m certainly in favor of that. We’re just going to have to weigh it out and get down on the ground and wrestle around and see what comes out.”
lperkins@durangoherald.com
