Colorado: Coffman

The state's independent ethics commission ruled this morning that there was "insufficient evidence" that former Secretary of State Mike Coffman violated state ethics rules.

Coffman, now a U.S. congressman, repeatedly denied wrongdoing throughout the proceedings, which lasted more than a year.

The complaint against him alleged that he allowed a staffer to run a partisan side business and that he recertified electronic voting machines owned by a client of the consulting firm that also ran his congressional campaign.

While the authors of the complaint said the decision points to serious flaws within the commission, Coffman called it a clear and overdue victory, while blasting the group that brought the complaint against him.

The U.S. House of Representatives — on its second try — passed a bill to preserve 2 million acres as wilderness in nine states, including 315,000 acres in Colorado.

On March 11, the bill failed, by two votes, to get a necessary two-thirds approval for a procedural vote.

Republican Reps. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs and Mike Coffman of Aurora voted against the bill then and voted against it Wednesday.

The two lawmakers said they objected to the sweeping nature of the legislation — a collection of 170 different bills — and its estimated $10 billion price tag.

"When there is a $9 billion maintenance backlog on the Park Service land that we already have, why are we spending $10 billion that we will have to borrow to acquire even more land?" Coffman said in a statement.

Here's how some major bills fared recently in Congress and how Colorado's congressional members voted, as provided by Thomas' Roll Call Report Syndicate.

HOUSE

The Colorado delegation District 1: Diana DeGette (D) District 2: Jared Polis (D) District 3: John Salazar (D) District 4: Betsy Markey (D) District 5: Doug Lamborn (R) District 6: Mike Coffman (R) District 7: Ed Perlmutter (D)

CONSERVATION

For: 282/Against: 144 Members failed to reach a two-thirds majority for passing a bill to give wilderness protection to 2.1 million acres in California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia and protect federal land in other states.

Here's how some major bills fared recently in Congress and how Colorado's congressional members voted, as provided by Thomas' Roll Call Report Syndicate.

HOUSE

The Colorado delegation District 1: Diana DeGette (D) District 2: Jared Polis (D) District 3: John Salazar (D) District 4: Betsy Markey (D) District 5: Doug Lamborn (R) District 6: Mike Coffman (R) District 7: Ed Perlmutter (D)

BANKRUPTCY AND MORTGAGES

For: 234/Against: 191 Members voted to allow bankruptcy courts to rewrite loans on primary homes in Chapter 13 actions if borrowers have exhausted other options. A yes vote backed a bill that would permanently hike FDIC insurance to $250,000 per depositor.