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Amid worries that the state economy is tanking, our legislature convened last week. While I would cheerfully support a constitutional amendment that would require the General Assembly to repeal two laws for every bill it passes, and require a legislator to be able to recite from memory every bill that she votes for, that prudent reform does not appear likely.
So as usual, we'll have to monitor them carefully, or we could see laws like these:
Bully Protection Act. While it's pretty hard to find a politician who supports schoolyard bullies, it's different when you go off-campus, where you have bullies who use the court system to silence their critics.
For example, if you and your neighbors don't like a proposed zoning change that would put a big apartment house on your street, you might choose to exercise your constitutional right to petition the government.
And the developer might respond by suing you and anyone else who had anything to do with the petition. These suits typically get dismissed at some point, but getting to that point can take years, and your resources go toward fighting the lawsuit, not the developer.
This happens so often that developers have a word for it: SLAPP, an acronym for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. It's bullying. It's a way to use the court system, which is supposed to protect our rights, to deprive us of our rights.
Last year, after passing it on first reading, the House killed a bill that would have discouraged SLAPP litigation. But merely preserving the status quo probably isn't enough to satisfy the developers and speculators, and so we might well see a bill that makes it a felony to interfere with development at any level.
That way, the developer won't have to hire his own
lawyers. He can just report it to the local District
Attorney, who will take over prosecution of the opposition.
This might even be justified as homeland security,
since it's a way to improve business as usual
in
Colorado.
Water Conservancy District Stability Law. Granted, water conservancy districts may be the most arcane aspect of Colorado's political system. They levy property taxes, but their directors are almost always appointed by district judges.
It is possible, though difficult, to petition for a one-time election for each seat.
When there is an election (Colorado has about 50 conservancy districts, but only two have held elections since the current law took effect in 1985), it doesn't fall on a regular election day, but on a date based on when the conservancy district's organization papers were filed with the court. Plus, no one seems to know whether the usual campaign rules, such as reporting contributions, apply in these rare elections.
My spies tell me that one state senator plans to introduce a bill that would make water conservancy districts operate like other special districts -- school, hospital, fire-protection, etc. -- and hold regular elections.
This will not set well with Colorado's water establishment, which apparently prefers to operate without direct accountability to the taxpaying public.
And so we should be on the lookout for a bill that provides for the governor to appoint water conservancy district directors for life, thereby eliminating those rare, but expensive and time-consuming elections and thus providing for more efficiency in government.
Enron Contribution Equity Measure. While our Washington delegation was collecting contributions from Enron (Rep. Scott McInnis got $6,250, Sen. Ben Campbell $2,300, etc.), state legislators apparently missed this gravy train -- and now Enron is filing for bankruptcy.
But the legislature could hold some hearings, featuring testimony from residents of our oldest town, San Luis. They could talk about how they believe it is unfair that they lost their old rights to graze and get firewood from La Sierra -- otherwise known as the 77,000-acre Taylor Ranch astride the Sangre de Cristo range just this side of the New Mexico line.
The Taylor family doesn't own it any more, though. It changed hands a couple of years ago -- the current owner is Lou Pai, chairman of Enron Energy Services. According to a lawsuit filed last month in Houston, Pai has made $353 million since 1997 from selling his Enron stock.
So, he's got some money. The legislature should hold
some hearings that imply that the state might pass some
historic right of access
law that would condone
trespass on his big ranch.
I've never met Mr. Pai, but I'm sure he's smart enough to know that if he makes the proper campaign contributions, the threat of such a law would go away. And thus our legislature could share in the bounty that went to politicians higher up the food chain.
Those are things to watch for, with the hope that citizen pressure might make a difference. No matter what we say or do, though, we know one measure that will pass, albeit under a different name: the Lawyers and Accountants Full Employment Act of 2002.
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