Colorado Senate Bill 57 (2009)
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On February 19, SB 57 passed the state senate Senate on its third reading by a vote of 26-8. But on March 19, after a marathon hearing that lasted more than four hours, the bill was killed by the Democrat-controlled House Education Committee on an 8-5 party-line vote.[2] Before killing SB 57, the committee narrowly agreed to adopt an amendment proposed by House sponsor Republican Rep. Amy Stephens to make the bill's provisions less burdensome for school districts.
In a rare move, the committee report was quickly filed with the House clerk's office to prevent a joint attempt by the Democrat House Speaker and Republican Minority Leader to re-introduce the bill.[3]
Eight of the state's 35 senators voted "no" on final passage of SB 57. All the no votes came from Democrats, including Senators Bob Bacon and Evie Hudak.[4]
[edit] Reasons for SB 57
Reasons that were cited in favor of SB 57 include:
- Spending transparency leads to more responsible spending.[5]
- Citizens are more engaged when they have more information.
- Activists have cited a nearly $10,000 Starbucks tab in Jefferson County. Natalie Menten of Lakewood discovered the spending after she paid $75 for a CD containing Jefferson County schools' credit card spending records from January 2007 to August 2008.[6]
[edit] Democratic amendments
| Colorado SB 57 |
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| "If you can't defend it, don't spend it" |
The Colorado State Senate Committee on Education, which is controlled by Democrats, who are in the majority in the Colorado State Senate, engineered a watered-down version of SB 57 on January 29, 2009.
Committee Chairman Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, offered an amendment that changed SB 57 from a bill that mandates transparency, to a resolution which would have made it optional.[7]
Legislative staff working for the Democratic committee said that getting all of Colorado's school districts to publish their spending and funding sources online would cost about $3.5 million.[8]
[edit] Hudak amendment
On Monday, February 9 Democratic Sen. Evie Hudak proposed an amendment to SB 57 to the effect that the financial information currently sent from school districts to the Colorado Department of Education be used as an acceptable substitute for Colorado school districts putting their checkbook register online.
Hudak is a new state senator, having first won election in 2008. She raised and spent more money than any other candidate for the Colorado Senate in 2008. Contributions to her 2008 election campaign included significant funding from education-related unions:[9]
- Colorado Education Association: $4,250
- Jefferson County Education Association: $4,250
- Boulder Valley Education Association: $3,000
- Poudre Education Association: $2,125
- SVV Education Association: $2,125
- PEA Fund for Children and Public Education: $2,100
- Denver Classroom Teachers Association: $2,000
[edit] Objections to Hudak amendment
- Natalie Menten, a pro-spending transparency advocate and supporter of SB 57, strongly opposed the Hudak amendment. In an email to supporters on the afternoon of February 9, she said that the financial information sent to the state by school districts is not detailed enough to allow adequate scrutiny of school district spending.
- Colorado Spending Transparency said, in objecting to the Hudak amendment, "Posting the state-reported information - as opposed to the check register, individual invoices, or purchase records - doesn’t tell Colorado taxpayers what they want to know. That might be interesting to a handful of accountants and researchers, but leaves our schools no more accountable to citizens like you and me for how they spend public funds."[10]
[edit] February 3
On Tuesday, February 3, a group of about thirty people came to the State Capitol to protest the watering-down of SB 57, beginning an unexpected movement in favor of SB 57 that until that time was expected to die in committee.[7]
Sen. Harvey, SB 57's sponsor, spoke to the group, saying If you can't defend it, don't spend it.
[edit] Opposition lobbyist strategy exposed
A source inside a March 10 legislative strategy meeting for the Colorado Association of School Executives reported a series of proposed tactics to kill SB 57. Ideas included loading the bill with appropriation-heavy amendments, introducing a more comprehensive transparency bill that would expand the organized opposition, and (if necessary) lobbying Governor Bill Ritter to veto the bill.[11] In the end, opponents on the House Education Committee opted instead to vote the bill down as amended by the House sponsor.
[edit] Education agency contributions to the House Ed. Committee
According to the Independence Institute the following contributions were made to the Colorado House Education Committee by education associations.[12] On March 19th, when the results of the vote fell on party lines. Democrats believe the use of resource to place spending on line was "ill advised" while Republicans supported passing the bill.[13][14][15][16]
In the chart below
-
is a vote in support of passing SB 57
-
is a vote cast in opposition to passing SB 57
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Activists want school spending details online
- Republican effort to boost school budget transparency diluted by Dems
- Bob Bacon tries to make transparency disappear
- Ted Harvey, Colorado state senator
- Another Landmark Day for Colorado Citizens Fighting for Open Government
[edit] Additional reading
[edit] References
- ↑ Denver Post, "School transparency bill gains foothold in Senate", February 6, 2009
- ↑ Senate Bill 57 dies on party-line committee vote
- ↑ House Dems in a hurry to bury education transparency bill
- ↑ Education News Colorado, "Final Senate OK for “check stubs” bill", February 19, 2009
- ↑ Denver Post editorial, Shine a light on school budgets, February 13, 2009
- ↑ Natalie Menten's website
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 CBS 4 Denver, "Activists Want School Spending Details Online", February 3, 2009
- ↑ Denver Post, "School transparency bill gains foothold in Senate", February 6, 2009
- ↑ Follow the Money
- ↑ Show us the spending, please, not the coded accounts"
- ↑ Exposed: Ed lobby strategy to oppose transparency
- ↑ Independence Institute blog, The House Education Committee, March 18, 2009
- ↑ Denver Daily News, Transparency cloaked?, March 20, 2009
- ↑ Your Hub, Bureaucrats Snuff Out School Transparency Bill, March 20, 2009
- ↑ Denver Post, Panel kills online school district records, March 19, 2009
- ↑ Face the State, Lobbyists kill school transparency bill, March 20, 2009
