Friday, April 28, 2006

Immigration Denver Post: "Proponents of an initiative to deny state services to undocumented immigrants launched a petition drive today to get the measure on the ballot. A crowd of around 250 gathered on the west steps of the Capitol for the announcement.Fred Elbel, of Defend Colorado Now which is backing the initiative, said the group has more than 1,000 volunteers to gather 100,000 signatures. The initiative would prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving state services and allows citizens to sue institutions they feel are serving undocumented immigrants. But the kick-off comes before the State Supreme Court has ruled on the legality of the initiative under the single subject rule. It was approved by the Secretary of State for the November ballot but challenged in court." Category: Denver November 2006 Election 6:55:51 AM    comment []

HB 1344 The Denver Post editorial staff is urging lawmakers to approve HB 1344, The Colorado Domestic Partnership Benefits and Responsibilities Act, for the fall ballot. They write, "This year's session of the Colorado legislature has mostly been devoted to repairing the damage that the recent state budget crisis caused to education and other programs. But lawmakers have also found the time and vision to craft a major human-rights bill that would give same-sex couples some - though far from all - of the rights and responsibilities that married couples already enjoy in Colorado... "House Bill 1344, by Rep. Tom Plant, D-Nederland, and Sen. Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Jefferson County, would not change the state's current ban on same-sex marriages. But it would give gay and lesbian couples the right to make medical decisions for incapacitated partners, provide access to health-care and family-leave benefits, and protect inheritance rights. More important, the bill breaks new legal ground by clarifying both the rights and responsibilities of both partners when a gay couple breaks up - especially in regard to any children in their care. In so doing, the bill simply recognizes that same-sex couples do exist in Colorado and some of them have children, either by a previous marriage, adoption or because one or both partners in a lesbian couple has given birth. "Same-sex relationships are subject to the same strains as heterosexual partnerships, but one that shatters now does not enjoy the same legal guidelines to determine child custody, visitation rights and child support that cover heterosexual couples - even unmarried ones. By providing clear rules for such breakups, the domestic partnership bill will give important new protections to children of same-sex couples. Providing such rights to children is so important that even the sponsors of an initiated constitutional amendment limiting marriage to a union of a man and woman in Colorado specifically drafted it to co-exist with a domestic partnership law." Category: Denver November 2006 Election 6:51:52 AM    comment []

Holtzman for governor? It seems controversy stalks Marc Holtzman. According to the Rocky Mountain News Holtzman's campaign staff may have helped with the anti-Referendum C efforts last fall, in violation of Colorado campaign law. From the article, "A former employee of an issue committee that ran TV ads opposing Referendum C last fall testified Wednesday that staffers from Marc Holtzman's gubernatorial campaign were directly involved in running the group, which would be a violation of Colorado campaign finance law. Andy George appeared before Administrative Law Judge Robert Spencer in a case that highlights the bitter division in the Colorado Republican Party over Ref C and the ongoing battle between Holtzman and U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez for the party's nomination for governor. George testified that he was one of two full-time staffers hired to work for the 'If C wins, you lose' committee. That group sponsored an ad blitz that featured Holtzman criticizing the referendum, but made no mention that he was running for governor. "Under provisions of Colorado's campaign finance law, which was approved by voters in 2002, issue committees are required to be independent of other political campaigns. Holtzman could appear in an ad for the group, but his campaign would not be allowed to be involved in the day-to-day operations of the committee. The Holtzman campaign insists it followed the law and calls the case a politically motivated vendetta. But George said that Holtzman campaign staffers were intimately involved in every aspect of the committee's work. He said Holtzman campaign manager Dick Leggitt hired him last summer and made it clear the committee was a part of the campaign." More coverage from the Denver Post here and here. Category: Denver November 2006 Election 6:43:57 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2006 John Orr. Last update: 5/2/06; 6:52:31 AM.