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Something important happened this week in the State House — and it’s worth pointing out. In fact, history was made. In all of Colorado’s history, the “Long Bill” (the state budget) had never been read at length on the House floor — until last week. This year’s Long Bill is 661 pages long and details the spending of your tax dollars — $46.8 billion. A little transparency can go a long way. Yet this procedural maneuver is rarely used, and we can’t help but wonder why. Article V, Section 22 “Every bill shall be read by title when introduced, and at length on two different days in each house; provided, however, any reading at length may be dispensed with upon unanimous consent of the members present.” About a decade ago, the Democrat majority tried to circumvent this rule by having multiple computers read a major bill at high speed. Thankfully, that tactic was ruled impermissible — restoring some sanity to House and Senate procedures. Last week, 15 hours of floor time were dedicated to the full reading of this bloated 661-page bill. It shined a spotlight on the spending and gave us valuable time to organize opposition. When you’re in the minority, you don’t control the votes. But you can control the pace. That’s why we believe Colorado’s Republican legislators should demand a full reading of every bill they oppose — and then slow things down even further with extended speeches during second reading (when rules are more relaxed) and by using their full 10 minutes each on third reading. This week’s call to action doesn’t apply to everyone, but if you have a Republican senator in Colorado, please call their office today and demand a full reading of the Long Bill in the Senate! With less than a month left in the legislative session, the more time we can force the majority to spend on these critical bills, the less time they’ll have for their pet projects — projects that could cost you dearly. For Freedom, |
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