Colorado: Frank Mcnulty

IDENTITY THEFT

When freshman Rep. Mark Waller couldn't find his name tag Tuesday, he accused a couple of his GOP cohorts of taking it as a prank.

He got nowhere in finding it.

However, when the Colorado Springs Republican came back from lunch, he found the name tags of 10 of the accused sitting on his desk. He promptly put all of them on, prompting plenty of comments from his colleagues.

PAY UP, PLEASE

During a debate on a transportation bill, Rep. Frank McNulty, of Highlands Ranch, fought against allowing tolling on already existing roads. He lost.

When he returned to the office he shares with a number of fellow Republicans, he burst out laughing.

Colorado's economy is still bad, and the state's budget — which faces a $1 billion shortfall over the next 16 months — won't be much better off even two years from now.

That was the grim assessment lawmakers heard Monday as they were briefed on the budget in an unusual joint House and Senate session. The purpose was to help all lawmakers understand how the six-member Joint Budget Committee crafted a plan to balance the budget in the current fiscal year, which ends in June.

The plan relies on transferring $230.9 million from cash funds, spending down $148.6 million in reserves and cutting a variety of programs.

House Bill 1255, legislation intended to clarify regulations for oil and gas companies, was laid over until at least next week after nearly two days and close to ten hours of testimony from dozens of witnesses.

If the legislation passes, oil and gas companies could opt out of a process requiring review by the the state's Division of Wildlife for a drilling permit. The companies would still have to comply with existing rules and regulations, but would be able to internally evaluate potential impact to wildlife. The bill summary reads, "...an oil and gas operator is not required to consult with the division of wildlife in the department of natural resources to determine whether wildlife mitigation requirements are reasonably practicable, and requires the Colorado oil and gas conservation commission to make that determination.

WHAT NEXT? HIS SHOES?

Rep. Frank McNulty's booming laugh could be heard throughout the House chambers Thursday morning when he looked at Rep. Mark Waller's tie.

McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, was hanging out at Waller's apartment Wednesday night and left his tie. So Waller, R-Colorado Springs, decided to wear the green-and-blue-striped neckwear Thursday morning to see if McNulty noticed.

McNulty saw the tie and started to compliment Waller and tell him he had one exactly like that. Then it hit McNulty, who became helpless with laughter.

GIMME AN L-O-V-E

150 miles is how far the state Capitol is to Rep. Cory Gardner's home in Yuma. The Republican lawmaker presented a bill in committee Thursday afternoon then took off for home so he could see his daughter, Alyson, and other 5-year-olds perform their cheerleading routine during a halftime performance at Yuma High School's basketball game.