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Colorado Senate

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Colorado State Senate
Colorado General Assembly
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Term limits
2 terms (8 years)
History
New session started
January 9, 2013
Leadership
John P. Morse (D)
since January 9, 2013
President pro Tempore
Lucia Guzman (D)
since January 9, 2013
Majority Leader
Morgan Carroll (D)
since January 9, 2013
Minority Leader
Bill Cadman (R)
since January 11, 2012
Structure
Seats35
Political groups
Democratic Party (20)
Republican Party (15)
Length of term
4 years
AuthorityArticle V, Colorado Constitution
Salary$30,000/year + per diem
Elections
Last election
November 6, 2012
(18 seats)
Last election
September 10, 2013
(2 seats in recall election)
Next election
November 4, 2014
(17 seats)
RedistrictingColorado Reapportionment Commission
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber
Colorado State Capitol
Denver, Colorado
Website
Colorado General Assembly

The Colorado Senate is the upper house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Colorado. It is composed of 35 members elected from single-member districts, with each district having a population of about 123,000 as of the 2000 census. Senators are elected to four-year terms, and are limited to two consecutive terms in office.

The Colorado Senate convenes at the State Capitol in Denver.

History

The first meeting of the Colorado General Assembly took place from November 1, 1876, through March 20, 1877.[1] Lafayette Head was the first state senate president.[1]

The lieutenant governor served as Senate President until 1974 when Article V, Section 10 of the state constitution was amended, granting the Colorado Senate the right to elect one of its own members as President.[1] Fred Anderson was the first state senate president elected after the amendment.[1]

Terms and qualifications

The Colorado Senate has 35 members, elected to four-year terms. State senators are term-limited to two consecutive terms. Term-limited former members can run again after a four-year break. Vacancies in legislative offices are generally filled by political party vacancy committees, rather than by-elections. Vacancy appointees who fill the first half of a state senators term must stand for election at the next even year November election for the remainder of the state senate term for the seat to which the state senator was appointed.

Procedure and powers

With the notable exceptions listed below, the Colorado Senate operates in a manner quite similar to the United States Senate.[2]

Regular sessions are held annually and begin no later than the second Wednesday in January. Regular sessions last no more than 120 days. Special sessions may be called at any time by the governor of Colorado or upon written request of two-thirds of the members of each house, but are infrequent. Some committees of the General Assembly work between sessions and have limited power to take action without General Assembly approval between legislative sessions.

Joint procedural rules of the two chambers require most legislation to be introduced very early in the legislative session each year, and to meet strict deadlines for completion of each step of the legislative process. Joint procedural rules also limit each legislator to introducing five bills per year, subject to certain exceptions for non-binding resolutions, uniform acts, interim committee bills and appropriations bills. Most members of the General Assembly decide which bills they will introduce during the legislative session (or most of them) prior to its commencement, limiting the ability of members to introduce new bills at constituent request once the legislative session has begun.

Most bills adopted by the General Assembly include a "safety clause" (i.e. a legislative declaration that the bill concerns an urgent matter) and take effect on July 1 following the legislative session unless otherwise provided. Some bills are enacted without a "safety clause" which makes it possible to petition to subject those bills to a referendum before they take effect, and have an effective date in August following the legislative session unless otherwise provided.[2]

Colorado's legislature does not have an analog to the filibuster in the United States Senate requiring a supermajority for approval of any matter. The state lieutenant governor does not have the power to preside or break tie votes in either house of the General Assembly.[1] New executive branch rules are reviewed annually by the legislature and the legislature routinely invalidates some of them each year.

The General Assembly does not have a role in the appointment or retention of state judges, although it must authorize the creation of each judgeship.

Many state agencies and programs are subject to "sunset review" and are automatically abolished if the General Assembly does not reauthorize them.

The state budget process

The governor submits a proposed budget to the Joint Budget Committee each year in advance of the year's legislative session. Colorado's fiscal year is from July 1 to June 30.

Bills introduced in the General Assembly are evaluated by the non-partisan state legislative services body for their fiscal impact and must be provided for in appropriations legislation if there is a fiscal impact.

A state budget, called the "LONG Bill" (Legislation on Operations and Normal Governance) is prepared each year by the Joint Budget Committee of the General Assembly. The House and the Senate alternate the job of introducing the long bill and making a first committee review of it. Colorado's state legislature is required to obtain voter approval in order to incur significant debt, to raise taxes, or to increase state constitutional spending limitations. It is also required to comply with a state constitutional spending mandate for K-12 education. The governor has line item veto power over appropriations.

Current makeup

Based on the 2010 census, each state senator represents 143,691 constituents. The 2012 Colorado elections resulted in a the Democratic Party retaining a majority of seats (20 Democrats; 15 Republicans).

John P. Morse is the current President of the Senate.

2013 Recall

On September 10, 2013 John P. Morse and Angela Giron were recalled in a historic recall election.[3]


Composition of the Senate

Affiliation Party
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
 Total
Template:American politics/party colors/Democratic| Template:American politics/party colors/Republican|
Democratic Republican Vacant
End of 68th Assembly 20 15 35 0
Beginning of 69th Assembly 19 16 35 0
Post Recall Election of 69th Assembly 17 18 35 0
Latest voting share 57.1% 42.9%

Leadership

Position Senator Party District
President John P. Morse Recalled 9/10/13[4] Democratic 11
President pro Tempore Lucia Guzman Democratic 34
Majority Leader Morgan Carroll Democratic 29
Assistant Majority Leader Irene Aguilar Democratic 32
Majority Caucus Chair Jeanne Nicholson Democratic 16
Minority Leader Bill Cadman Republican 12
Assistant Minority Leader Mark Scheffel Republican 4
Minority Caucus Chair Scott Renfroe Republican 13
Minority Whip Kevin Grantham Republican 2

Members of the Colorado Senate

District Senator Party Residence Term Up
1 Greg Brophy Republican Wray 2014
2 Kevin Grantham Republican Canon City 2014
3 Angela Giron Recalled 9/10/2013 Democratic Pueblo 2014
4 Mark Scheffel Republican Sedalia 2016
5 Gail Schwartz Democratic Snowmass Village 2014
6 Ellen Roberts Republican Durango 2014
7 Steve King Republican Grand Junction 2014
8 Randy Baumgardner Republican Steamboat Springs 2016
9 Kent Lambert Republican Colorado Springs 2014
10 Owen Hill Republican Colorado Springs 2016
11 John Morse Democratic Colorado Springs 2014
12 Bill Cadman Republican Colorado Springs 2016
13 Scott Renfroe Republican Greeley 2014
14 John Kefalas Democratic Fort Collins 2016
15 Kevin Lundberg Republican Fort Collins 2014
16 Jeanne Nicholson Democratic Golden 2014
17 Matt Jones Democratic Longmont 2016
18 Rollie Heath Democratic Boulder 2016
19 Evie Hudak Democratic Westminster 2016
20 Cheri Jahn Democratic Wheat Ridge 2014
21 Jessie Ulibarri Democratic Commerce City 2016
22 Andy Kerr Democratic Lakewood 2014
23 Vicki Marble Republican Fort Collins 2016
24 Lois Tochtrop Democratic Thornton 2014
25 Mary Hodge Democratic Aurora 2016
26 Linda Newell Democratic Littleton 2016
27 David Balmer Republican Centennial 2016
28 Nancy Todd Democratic Aurora 2016
29 Morgan Carroll Democratic Aurora 2016
30 Ted Harvey Republican Parker 2014
31 Pat Steadman Democratic Denver 2016
32 Irene Aguilar Democratic Denver 2014
33 Michael Johnston Democratic Denver 2016
34 Lucía Guzmán Democratic Denver 2014
35 Larry Crowder Republican Alamosa 2016

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Presidents and Speakers of the Colorado General Assembly: A Biographical Portrait from 1876, Colorado.gov, 2013 Revised Edition. (accessed May 27, 2013)
  2. ^ a b How a Bill Becomes Colorado Law, Office of Legislative Legal Services, October 2001 (accessed May 27, 2013)
  3. ^ "Colorado recall election results". The Denver Post. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
  4. ^ "Colorado recall election results". The Denver Post. Retrieved September 11, 2013.

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