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DENVER \u2013 Southwest Colorado lawmakers spent the legislative session advancing bills on water, wildfires and response efforts in the wake of the Gold King Mine spill.<\/p>\n
The three Republican lawmakers \u2013 Reps. J. Paul Brown of Ignacio, Don Coram of Montrose and Sen. Ellen Roberts of Durango \u2013 saw several successes during a session mired in failure on most major policy issues.<\/p>\n
Brown found his voice on several key issues that he failed to advance during previous legislative sessions.<\/p>\n
\u201cJ. Paul definitely stepped up,\u201d said House Minority Leader Brian DelGrosso, R-Loveland. \u201cHe learned some things in his little vacation for a couple years and came back, and I think that he learned about some more things that he was passionate about in his district.\u201d<\/p>\n
DelGrosso was referring to Brown\u2019s departure from the Legislature in 2012 after losing a re-election bid. He won his seat back in 2014.<\/p>\n
Brown said a bill that creates a study of the amount of water delivered over 20 years to Nebraska from the South Platte River was his greatest accomplishment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s historic because we\u2019re actually looking at water storage and not depending on the federal government to do it for us \u2026\u201d Brown said. \u201cWe\u2019re wasting that water out of the state, we\u2019re not storing it, we\u2019re not managing it efficiently.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown also shined in discussions on changing the structure of a hospital provider fee to free money for state services.<\/p>\n
The idea \u2013 which would have restructured the fee as an enterprise fund, or government-owned business \u2013 was strongly opposed by many Republicans. But Brown bucked the majority of his party in supporting the effort, which ultimately failed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were other Republicans that came to me in confidence and said, \u2018I think you\u2019re right, and I would like to vote with you, but I can\u2019t,\u2019\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n
He did, however, draw the ire of progressives for backtracking on funding for a program that provides intrauterine birth control to low-income teens.<\/p>\n
Brown supported the effort last year but reversed course when it came up during debate on the state budget this year.<\/p>\n
His reversal won left-leaning ProgressNow Colorado\u2019s award as \u201cworst flip-flopper,\u201d which came in the shape of flip-flop footwear.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had really been hammering hard on K-12 education and transportation funding, and I still think that needs to be a priority, and when that (IUD funding) came up, I guess I was thinking more in the line of prioritizing transportation and K-12 funding. That had more to do with my vote than where I am on IUDs,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n
The funding ultimately passed, including $2.5 million for the program.<\/p>\n
Coram led the charge to secure money for the program over the past two years. Roberts also helped to garner support in the Republican-controlled Senate.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re thankful that we got it through,\u201d Coram said.<\/p>\n
He also worked on issues related to the Gold King Mine spill, passing a bill that would authorize emergency funds any time hazardous circumstances exist at a legacy mine site. The bill is awaiting the governor\u2019s signature.<\/p>\n
But Coram was less successful with another Gold King Mine bill that would have allowed the state to file lawsuits against the federal government on behalf of individuals impacted by the spill.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would give them an F,\u201d Coram said of his colleagues on Gold King issues. \u201cThat was a huge failure on the part of the Legislature. \u2026 Had that happened on the Platte River on the Front Range, it would have been taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts said that while the Legislature can address certain issues related to draining inactive mines \u2013 such as Gold King, which polluted the Animas River on Aug. 5 last year \u2013 many of the solutions fall on the federal level.<\/p>\n
The Legislature passed a measure encouraging Congress to act on Good Samaritan legislation, which would eliminate liability concerns related to restoring abandoned mines.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve, as a Legislature, spoken to Congress, saying we want them to deal with that,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n
She said her greatest success this year was securing funding for wildfire mitigation efforts. Gov. John Hickenlooper\u2019s budget proposal would have slashed funding for the Department of Natural Resources\u2019 Wildfire Risk Reduction Grant Program.<\/p>\n
But Roberts was able to find $1 million to fund the program for a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI fought tooth and nail to get any funding for that program,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just the dollars, it signifies an awareness that we need to move from reacting to wildfires to getting proactive.\u201d<\/p>\n