Colorado: D-colorado Springs

Freshman state Rep. Dennis Apuan, D-Colorado Springs, is coming face-to-face with his 2003 arrest for trespassing on Peterson Air Force Base during a protest against nuclear weapons.

Radio talk show host Jeff Crank, a Republican, learned of the offense last week and invited Apuan to appear on his show. Apuan declined the invitation and soon afterward House Democratic communications director Katie Reinisch sent out the following:

Statement from Rep. Dennis Apuan (D-El Paso)

Date: Fri, Mar 6, 2009

"Six years ago, long before I was an elected official, I participated in a peaceful prayer vigil at Peterson Air Force Base.

Colorado Senate Minority Office (Photo/Bob Spencer, The Colorado Independent)

Republican senators in Colorado are going all out today to stop a bill that would end automatic tax-revenue allocations for roads and capital construction.

Colorado Senate Minority Office (Photo/Bob Spencer, The Colorado Independent)

Threatening a long debate in the Capitol tonight and a “barrage of amendments” to cripple the bill, the senators have now turned to Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter to join them in defeating legislation they say will “gut” both highways and the constitution.

“Republican lawmakers called on the governor to commit publicly… [today] to veto another pending proposal that would amount to the largest cut ever in transportation funding,” read the Senate GOP release e-mailed to the press this afternoon.

State Sen. John Morse, D-Colorado Springs. (Photo/Bob Spencer, The Colorado Independent)

On Wednesday, the Colorado Senate Finance Committee approved Senate Bill 228 — legislation that seeks to provide greater flexibility to lawmakers in deciding where to spend the state’s shrinking revenues.

State Sen. John Morse, D-Colorado Springs. (Photo/Bob Spencer, The Colorado Independent)

Sponsored by Democratic Sen. John Morse, the bill would eliminate the so-called Arveschoug-Bird provision, which restricts the state’s General Fund to 6 percent growth per year and allocates any surplus specifically to transportation and construction projects. Morse’s bill and the problem it seeks to address are tongue-twisting and arcane, yet the small corner room of the Capitol where the hearing took place was filled with laptop jockeys, community leaders, a webcast crew and a buzz that hung in the air when it became clear that SB228 was going to clear its first public hurdle.

Saying it would save lives and lots of heartbreak, a woman whose daughter was murdered urged legislators Wednesday to pass a law that would require DNA be taken when adults are arrested on felony charges.

Jayann Sepich said that when New Mexico passed "Katie's Law" - named after her slain daughter - a sample taken an hour and forty minutes after the law went into effect in 2007 matched evidence left at a homicide scene.

"We do know that if this law passes in all 50 states, thousands of lives could be saved," she said.

Sepich, of Carlsbad, N.M., and Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, hosted a lunch presentation on why Colorado needs its own Katie's Law.