<\/p>\n
DENVER \u2013 The Senate was thrown into chaos briefly Friday as rule books and copies of the Colorado Revised Statutes were thrown open to check procedures because of a ruling by a committee chairman.<\/p>\n
The dispute arose because of a ruling on amendments to Senate Bill 296, which establishes the per pupil funding for school districts.<\/p>\n
The amendments included one that would require school districts to equally fund charter schools on a per pupil basis instead of allowing the districts to distribute funding based on the needs of the schools in their jurisdiction.<\/p>\n
The amendment was a carbon copy of SB 61, which has languished on the calendar in the House after passing the Senate.<\/p>\n
Another amendment would have appropriated $16 million from a housing program for homeless people for schools.<\/p>\n
In opposition, a division vote, which is an unrecorded head count, was called for by Sen. Michael Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs. The entire Democratic Caucus stood against taking away local control from districts and were joined by Sen. Don Coram, R-Montrose.<\/p>\n
Committee Chairman Sen. John Cooke, R-Greeley, however, declared he was \u201cnot in doubt\u201d of the vote and passed the amendments.<\/p>\n
That caused an uproar from those who knew they had the votes to kill the insertion of SB 61 into the finance act.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers from both sides rushed the front of the room to debate the ruling, and after several minutes Cooke withdrew it and took a roll call vote, which resulted in an 18-17 vote to defeat the amendments. Coram was the lone Republican voting against the amendments.<\/p>\n
That was not the first time Coram has decisively voted against his party on legislation, and it has earned him increased regard from Democrats.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have the greatest amount of respect for Senator Coram,\u201d Merrifield said.<\/p>\n
The episode was only the beginning of debate on SB 296 as a number of other amendments were proposed, including one that renamed the K-12 \u201cnegative factor\u201d as a \u201cbudget adjustment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The amendment was adopted but not before a debate on the merits and timing of the change.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just have three days left and we\u2019re talking about a word\u2026 let\u2019s get to the reality of the work that needs to be done,\u201d said Sen. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora.<\/p>\n
Sen. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Spring, proposed an amendment to make it easier for new schools and schools that undergo rapid growth to claim funding for new students.<\/p>\n
Although it was adopted, the effort came under fire from Democrats because the only school affected would be Las Animas in Southeast Colorado, which Gardner represents a subsidiary of in his professional career as a lawyer.<\/p>\n
Merrifield said it was a conflict of interest and Gardner should have recused himself.<\/p>\n
Gardner disagreed and said the code of conduct supports him as the amendment does not single out his client, but aims to help any districts.<\/p>\n
He attributed it to an incidental situation where his non-legislative life brushed against his senatorial one, which he said is not uncommon.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we have a citizen legislature, we\u2019re all going to have an occupation outside of that,\u201d Gardner said.<\/p>\n
SB 296 will receive a final vote on Monday before heading to the House where it must speed through the chamber in the waning days of the session.<\/p>\n