{"id":112585,"date":"2015-05-11T15:15:23","date_gmt":"2015-05-11T21:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mixed-results-for-governor-at-the-end-of-the-session\/"},"modified":"2015-05-11T15:15:23","modified_gmt":"2015-05-11T21:15:23","slug":"mixed-results-for-governor-at-the-end-of-the-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mixed-results-for-governor-at-the-end-of-the-session\/","title":{"rendered":"Mixed results for governor at the end of the session"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Colorado
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper arrives for a news conference inside his office at the state Capitol on Thursday in Denver. Hickenlooper answered questions about the state legislative session, which ended the previous day.<\/span>Brennan Linsley\/Associated Press<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

DENVER \u2013 Gov. John Hickenlooper ended the legislative session with only a handful of controversial bills, thanks to a split Legislature in which radical legislation simply did not advance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey proved that having a split Legislature doesn\u2019t mean you have a divided Colorado,\u201d the governor said Thursday, a day after the session ended.<\/p>\n

But some of those collaborative efforts will require the Democrat to make tough decisions. Here\u2019s an overview of what he faces:<\/p>\n

A stop light?<\/p>\n

The governor will have to grapple with two bills that aim at limiting the use of red-light cameras and photo radar by local jurisdictions.<\/p>\n

Hickenlooper stopped short of saying that he would veto those bills, but he maintained his public concerns with the legislation, leading many to believe that vetoes are likely.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho likes photo radar?\u201d asked the governor, acknowledging widespread displeasure with the technology and adding that he himself was frustrated once to receive that particular brand of ticket.<\/p>\n

But the governor quickly followed by asking, \u201cIs it part of our safety net?\u201d<\/p>\n

Budget reform<\/p>\n

Hickenlooper\u2019s presence at the Capitol this year signaled that his priority is budget reform.<\/p>\n

Late in the legislative session, Hickenlooper asked lawmakers to take on an enormous challenge of solving what he calls a \u201cfiscal thicket,\u201d resulting from conflicting constitutional mandates that tie the hands of government. He asked lawmakers to restructure a hospital fee to exempt it from revenue that goes toward taxpayer refunds.<\/p>\n

The fund is expected to grow past $689 million annually, but if it\u2019s restructured, that money could be spent on critical needs such as education and transportation, which may be seriously constrained in the years ahead.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for Hickenlooper, lawmakers were unable to advance the proposal quickly, though they expect the discussion to continue next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur citizens want us to take a good look at how we can invest in Colorado now that the economy is booming here for some,\u201d said House Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, D-Boulder.<\/p>\n

Republicans, however, have a different take.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ones that are complaining the most about the hospital-provider fee and everything else in the budget are the ones that prioritize the budget that we live under,\u201d said Senate President Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs. \u201cIsn\u2019t that strange?\u201d<\/p>\n

Will student testing receive a passing grade?<\/p>\n

Earlier in the session, Hickenlooper put emphasis on student testing. He warned lawmakers not to pass sweeping reductions. His notice seemed to resonate, causing lawmakers to compromise on a bill that likely will earn his signature.<\/p>\n

But some were angry with Hickenlooper, as Rep. Patrick Neville, R-Castle Rock, highlighted, stating, \u201cI was not elected to beg for table scraps from the governor\u2019s office.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hickenlooper responded, \u201cI was not elected to throw any scraps anywhere \u2026 What we delivered to parents was a pretty well-cooked meal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agenda reflections<\/p>\n

Hickenlooper also thanked lawmakers for backing a felony DUI penalty and setting aside money to implement modest recommendations from a task force he convened on oil and gas issues.<\/p>\n

The governor, however, was disappointed to see bills fail that would have limited construction-defect lawsuits and provide state support for a contraception program that offers intrauterine devices to low-income women.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re talking about 600 bills, there\u2019s many of those that the governor has a major priority in, and a lot that they don\u2019t,\u201d Cadman said. \u201cEvery year, there\u2019s an ebb and flow.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A divided Legislature helps on favored bills<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":112586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[94,13,481],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-112585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-colorado-state-government","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-gov-john-hickenlooper"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112585"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=112585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}