Colorado: House

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday resoundingly rejected an effort to spend $80 million to close the Guantanamo Bay prison and relocate the terrorism suspects, possibly to U.S. prisons.

Considered a setback for President Barack Obama and his pledge to close the prison by January, the vote ended a day of crossed signals and Democratic infighting, including a dust-up between California Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Colorado lawmakers.

The future of the detention facility at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has Democrats increasingly on the defensive over the fates of the 240 terrorism suspects detained there.

In a floor speech before Wednesday's 90-7 Senate vote, Feinstein said she knew of one federal facility

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that would be a perfect fit — Supermax prison in Florence, Colo.

Gov. Bill Ritter on Tuesday issued a late-in-the-day veto of legislation that would have favored grocery store workers in ongoing negotiations over their union contracts with Colorado's major supermarket chains.

In his veto message, Ritter criticized the timing of House Bill 1170.

Grocery store chains and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 7 are trying to hammer out a contract by May 30, although negotiations could be extended. The legislation would have taken effect July 1.

"The parties to these negotiations have been working hard for several months to try to reach an agreement," Ritter wrote. "I believe it is ill-advised and counterproductive to enact legislation that materially impacts the relative bargaining position of parties in the midst of ongoing negotiations.

Without fanfare or even a mention, Gov. Bill Ritter sometime on Monday “quietly” signed into law Senate Bill 88, which extends health insurance benefits to gay and lesbian domestic partners of state employees, The Denver Post’s John Ingold reports. It’s the same way Ritter, a Democrat, has signed two other gay-rights bills in the last two years, Ingold points out, on a Monday “with scant public notice.”

Ritter said earlier this month he would probably sign the bill, but the gay-rights bill wasn’t listed on numerous recent press releases announcing the governor’s plans to sign everything from a bill “to help kids with food allergies” to a bill that “clarifies the existing statute concerning aggregating multiple charges of theft.

Responding to news of the veiled chancellor search being conducted by Colorado State University, House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann and Senate Majority Leader Brandon Shaffer introduced legislation yesterday demanding greater transparency in the way the state’s public universities select leaders.

“For Colorado to pick the right leaders for our colleges, we need the right process. We need a process that is open, transparent, accountable and inclusive,” Sen. Shaffer said in a press release announcing introduction of the bill, HB 1369.

Under the proposed law, public universities would be required to assemble search committees that reflect the full range of the university community. Search committees would openly agree on the job qualifications they are seeking, publicly advertise positions and take at least six months to thoroughly vet the candidates.