Colorado: Doug Lamborn

U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman on Monday unveiled a proposal to give tax breaks to people who buy water-saving toilets, sprinkler systems and other items for their houses.

Coffman said he hopes the proposed credit, which was formally introduced earlier this month and has bipartisan support in Congress, will spur a greater culture of conservation in Colorado. He noted the state faces an estimated 630,000-acre-foot water-supply shortfall by 2030. One acre-foot could serve the needs of about eight people for a year.

"This legislation will help conserve one of our most precious resources," said Coffman, an Aurora Republican. "Conservation has got to be our first line of defense in our ability to meet our future water demand.

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.

Three Grand Junction Republican state lawmakers are standing their ground with a vow to fight to the end against meth, except Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry may want to reconsider the Alamo-inspired drug war battle cry. The 33-year-old politician could be collecting government retirement benefits before ever holding a victory parade — Colorado ranks eighth in the nation in per-capita methamphetamine use.

SB 231, which passed the Senate today, extends the Colorado Methamphetamine Task Force through 2014 from its planned sunset next year. Penry’s fellow co-sponsors state Reps. Steve King and Laura Bradford and Democratic Rep. Judy Solano from Aurora were touted in the press release this afternoon to promote the bill’s bipartisan sponsor bona fides.

Fellow Democrat Rep. John Salazar won't be hosting a retreat this year, nor will Republican Congressmen Mike Coffman and Doug Lamborn. Similarly, U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and Mark Udall have no plans for retreats this year.

“We’re too busy to schedule one right now,” said Tyler Houlton, Coffman’s press secretary.

The remaining three Democrat members of Colorado's House delegation, including Diana DeGette, Ed Perlmutter, and Betsy Markey, say they don’t plan to have their retreats until August when Congress is out of session.

“We are still hiring all of our staff,” said Markey’s district director Ken Bennett, who added that the last time Markey was in town she did bring three staffers with her.