No breakthroughs on growth control

By Julia C. Martinez and Fred Brown
Friday, May 18, 2001

Colorado lawmakers ended the first full week of a special session Thursday and headed into a long weekend without making any breakthroughs on how to manage Colorado's growing population.

The House finished its work before 10 a.m., giving final approval to nine bills. The Senate dragged its feet on a Democrat-sponsored comprehensive growth bill, SB 12, delaying debate until Monday.

The bill's sponsor, Sen. Ed Perlmutter, D-Jefferson County, said changes needed to be made to prevent the measure from being killed in the House. An identical measure sponsored by Rep. Dan Grossman, D-Denver, died on a party-line vote Tuesday in the House State Affairs Committee.

Perlmutter said sending SB 12 to the House in its current form would be a waste of time. But he continued to express optimism that a group of negotiators working behind the scenes would hammer out changes that everyone could agree upon.

He planned to spend some of his time off going through a letter from that diverse group, responding point by point to issues raised by rural, county and developer interests. Perlmutter said he was "encouraged" simply by the fact the issues had been reduced to writing.

But Republican lawmakers said they still were annoyed with the Democrats' handling of the special session.

"I'm tired of the way the process is being dragged out," said Sen. Norma Anderson, R-Lakewood. "All the talks behind the scenes involve people with Gucci loafers, Rolex watches and Jaguars, not Joe and Josie out there on Elm Street. That's why I'm frustrated. It's legislation by exclusion."

Lobbyists wandering the Capitol corridors said the closed-door talks didn't look promising. A group representing agricultural interests recommended a plan that would protect private property rights for farmers and ranchers, while still allowing Democrats to draw their urban service boundaries. But several sources said it met with resistance from real-estate interests.

Nevertheless, Grossman said he, too, remained cautiously optimistic. "At least they're still talking," he said late in the day.

All of the House-passed bills were heard by the Senate Public Policy and Planning Committee, which postponed action until next week.

Rep. Joe Stengel, R-Littleton, criticized Senate Democrats for not taking immediate action on the bills. "They're playing games," said Stengel, sponsor of two of the major House bills.

Judging from the final House votes, Stengel's comprehensive bill, HB 1015, has slightly less bipartisan support than another, pared-down bill, HB 1017. Stengel's bill passed on a 41-16 final vote. HB 1017, introduced by Rep. Glenn Scott, R-Westminster, got three more votes, passing 44-13.

Under the original special session deadline, each chamber was to have given final consideration to all bills that originated in its chamber by Thursday.

Deadlines for a special session, however, aren't set in constitutional concrete like the 120-day deadline for the regular session that ended May 9. Each day is costing taxpayers about $14,000.