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Stop_Con_Con_08.txt
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1996-07-08
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110 lines
From the Radio Free Michigan archives
ftp://141.209.3.26/pub/patriot
If you have any other files you'd like to contribute, e-mail them to
bj496@Cleveland.Freenet.Edu.
------------------------------------------------
March 13, 1995
DUKE
(719) 481-9289
(303) 866-4835
By Charles R. Duke
State Senator - District 9
It is sometimes said that watching legislation being made
is like watching sausage being made -- if you ever get a chance
to watch the process up close, you would never want to have
anything to do with it. More often than not, legislation usually
represents the considered opinion of one special interest group
or the other attempting to use the force of government to hammer
its competitors or siphon tax dollars to someone's pocket.
House Bill 1111 was a good example of such a bill. It
would have allowed Colorado to "opt out" of national deregulation
for branch banking. "State sovereignty!" was claimed by the
bill's proponents, hoping to garner votes from those who favor
that national movement. "Local control!" was the chant as the
bill was jockeyed through the legislative hoops by Sen. Dave
Wattenberg and Rep. Bill Martin, the bill's sponsors.
Governor Romer has vetoed the bill and it is unclear
whether the veto will be sustained. It takes a two-thirds vote
of both houses, 24 votes in the Senate and 44 votes in the
House to override a gubernatorial veto. The bill passed with
23 votes in the Senate and 46 votes in the House.
Although a weak case could be made about state sovereignty
and local control, this bill was about neither of these two
primal issues. At its root was a well-organized and well-
financed group of independent bankers, who feared an intrusion
into their territories by out of state banks. This is like
having the piranha warn you about the dangers of sharks.
Almost all states now allow full branch banking by both
resident and non-resident banks. The result is convenience for
the customer, with competition keeping service plentiful and
rates reasonable. The votes are not likely to be as favorable
should a veto override be attempted. It is difficult for
Democrats to vote against a gubernatorial veto.
Another example is House Bill 1198 by Rep. Jack Taylor and
again Sen. Dave Wattenberg. This bill would prohibit a beer
retailer from buying his products from the wholesaler of choice.
Instead, the retailer would be forced to buy from a wholesaler
who has the assigned territory.
Promoted by the alcohol distributors, of course, it's hard
to imagine a bill more anti-competitive than this one. The mere
suggestion that a beer wholesaler should have an assigned
territory is offensive to those of us who favor free-market
solutions. If this should become law, the next step could be a
Certificate of Need being required before a new supplier could
open and then a Public Utilities Commission regulation to set
prices and stamp out competitors. Finally, a large cadre of
regulators to make sure everybody follows the rules. Any
solution here other than an unrestricted free market solution is
a bad one. This bill is not only still alive, but is
astonishingly on its way to the Governor for signature.
On the other hand, a bill I sponsored to suspend the
horrendous auto emission program, as both Pennsylvania and Texas
have done, was killed primarily based on the votes from two
Republicans, Senators Dottie Wham and Sally Hopper. These are
the same two Republicans who have also figured prominently in
the votes killing all concealed-carry bills so far both this
year and last. Sen. Wham was again the deciding vote to kill
my bill to collect federal gas taxes at the state level and keep
it if the feds tried to sanction our highway money for
unconstitutional reasons.
Because Democrats are in the minority on all committees and
in both houses, they can neither pass nor kill a bill without
Republican help. Because Republicans have the leadership in
both houses, the Republicans alone decide whether or not a bill
gets a favorable committee assignment. Specifically, Senate
President Tom Norton makes assignments for the Senate and House
Speaker Chuck Berry makes assignments for the House.
In the Colorado Senate there are 19 Republicans and 16
Democrats, but there are more liberal Republicans than there are
conservative Democrats. This fact alone is responsible for
putting a liberal spin on many bills which pass the Senate.
Similarly, conservative bills, especially bills which push the
envelope of conservatism, have a very difficult time making it.
Bills which fail or pass should never be considered a
measure of a legislator's effectiveness. We consider over 750
new bills every year and wind up passing over 300 new laws for
you to live under. The passage or failure of a legislator's own
bills comprise less than five percent of the total job. Rather,
the success or demise of a bill comes about through the actions
of a few. Any significant change in overall philosophy must
first come about at the ballot box.
End
------------------------------------------------
(This file was found elsewhere on the Internet and uploaded to the
Radio Free Michigan archives by the archive maintainer.
All files are ZIP archives for fast download.
E-mail bj496@Cleveland.Freenet.Edu)