The Forgotten Stakeholders: “Green” Transportation Will Be Funded by Underpaid Workers
By Tegan Truitt Fourth blog in our series on the Colorado Green New Deal The indirect, and in some cases the direct consequences of the Colorado Green New Deal will not be pretty. Among the bills comprising this stream of environmental legislation is Senate Bill 239, which Governor Jared Polis signed into law on May 31, […]
Are More Government Regulations Really Necessary?
Third blog in our series on the Colorado Green New Deal After reading House Bill 1231, one cannot help but wonder, do the members of our state Legislature really have enough time to micromanage businesses and individuals? The stated intent of 1231 is to “protect consumers and businesses against manufacturers who would otherwise sell, in […]
Democrats Demand More Electric Vehicles
Second blog in our series on the Colorado Green New Deal Colorado’s Democrat party-controlled government has decided to manufacture, or at least play a part in generating the demand for zero emission vehicles, known also as electric vehicles (EV). Increasing the number of EVs on the road is a vital component of the Colorado Green […]
Majority Rules
The introduction to our mini-series on the Colorado Green New Deal In America’s two-party system, when both legislative chambers and the executive branch are controlled by one party, the minority’s opinions are, or in the very least seem like nothing more than an inconvenience to the majority. Need proof? Just ask Colorado’s Republican residents and […]
Amidst Growing Budget Concerns, State Democrats Hope to Extend EV Tax Credits
If you haven’t watched Reason TV’s Remy, just play one of his music videos. Besides being both clever and hilariously entertaining, each video drops what 30 Rock called a truth bomb: “A fact or piece of knowledge that, when told to a listener, is devastating to the listener’s argument or world view.” A favorite Remy […]
Two little but costly words
How the words “SHALL” and “MAY” are used in a bill can make all the difference. And, so it is with HB18-1270 “Public Utilities Commission Evaluation of Energy Storage Systems.” According to the summary on the Colorado General Assembly Web site: The bill directs the public utilities commission to adopt rules establishing mechanisms for the procurement […]
A Colorado Bill Uses “Levels of Scrutiny” to Protect Competition
Judicial protection from most economic regulations — even grossly unfair and anti-competitive ones — is so weak as to be nearly non-existent.
New draft bill to put nail in coffin of coal, make impacted communities dependent on state
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Warning to the rural Colorado, remember Ronald Reagan’s nine most terrifying words in the English language, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” According to sources, industrial wind supporters and Xcel Energy are floating another Colorado version of the Clean Power Plan (CPP) titled “Colorado Energy Impact Assistance Act.” A better working title […]
The Progressive Case for HB 1240
Progressives in the General Assembly will have a rare opportunity to eliminate a corporate subsidy to Xcel Energy this Monday, when the House Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to take up Representative Spencer Swalm’s HB 1240. HB 1240 would eliminate the Public Utilities Commission’s authority to allow Xcel to incorporate a $20/ton […]
Energy legislation to watch in 2011
The 2011 legislative session began in earnest last week in Colorado. Below are several bills we are watching. SB11-058 Electric Utilities Employ Least-Cost Planning for New Resource Acquisition Senator Scott Renfroe (R-SD13) is the prime sponsor. The Public Utilities Commission must consider “cost” when deciding on new energy facilities and resource acquisition. Cost to ratepayers […]
A Colorado Constitutional Paradox: Initiatives, Referenda, and the Eclipse of Original Intent in County Governance
• County governments are the only legislative bodies in Colorado which are not subject to the people’s right of initiative and referendum.
• The people’s right of initiative and referendum was placed in Colorado’s Constitution in 1910 by a contentious Extraordinary Session of the Colorado General Assembly, followed by a popular vote of the people.
• Examination of the ratification history shows that application of the initiative and referendum powers to county governments seems not even to have been a subject of discussion.
• The taken-for-granted omission of county governments from the explicit reservation of the powers of initiative and referendum made sense in 1910, when counties were seen as purely administrative arms of the state government with no independent legislative powers or functions of their own.
• The nature and functions of county governments in Colorado have evolved a great deal since 1910; now, county governments manifestly exercise extensive independent legislative powers.
• In our state constitution’s structure, the only source of the county governments’ new and evolving legislative powers is the explicit or implicit delegation of power from the General Assembly; the General Assembly is, of course, subject to the people’s powers of initiative and referendum.
• The result is that if the General Assembly’s power is exercised directly, by the General Assembly itself, the exercise of that power is subject of the checks and balances of initiative and referendum. But strangely, if that same power is exercised secondhand, as when a county government exercises power delegated from the General Assembly, the exercise of the same power is not subject to the constitutional checks of balances of initiative and referendum.
• Thus, in terms of the original meaning of the constitutional amendment which created the initiative and referendum process, county governments are today operating without the appropriate opportunity for direct democracy to remedy legislative abuses or mistakes.
