Colorado Senate

Colorado State Senate
Colorado General Assembly

Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	2 terms (8 years)
History
New session started	January 7, 2015
Leadership
President of the Senate	Bill Cadman (R)^[1] Since January 7, 2015
President pro Tempore	Ellen Roberts (R) Since January 7, 2015
Majority Leader	Mark Scheffel (R) Since January 7, 2015
Minority Leader	Lucia Guzman (D) Since September 1, 2015
Structure
Seats	35

Political groups	Governing party Republican (18) Opposition party Democratic (17)
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Article V, Colorado Constitution
Salary	$30,000/year + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 4, 2014 (17 seats)
Next election	November 8, 2016 (18 seats)
Redistricting	Colorado Reapportionment Commission
Meeting place

State Senate Chamber Colorado State Capitol Denver, Colorado
Website
Colorado General Assembly

The Colorado Senate is the upper house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Colorado. It is composed of 35 members elected from single-member districts, with each district having a population of about 123,000 as of the 2000 census. Senators are elected to four-year terms, and are limited to two consecutive terms in office.

The Colorado Senate convenes at the State Capitol in Denver.

History

The first meeting of the Colorado General Assembly took place from November 1, 1876, through March 20, 1877.^[2] Lafayette Head was the first state senate president.^[2]

The lieutenant governor served as Senate President until 1974 when Article V, Section 10 of the state constitution was amended, granting the Colorado Senate the right to elect one of its own members as President.^[2] Fred Anderson was the first state senate president elected after the amendment.^[2]

Terms and qualifications

The Colorado Senate has 35 members, elected to four-year terms. State senators are term-limited to two consecutive terms. Term-limited former members can run again after a four-year break. Vacancies in legislative offices are generally filled by political party vacancy committees, rather than by-elections. Vacancy appointees who fill the first half of a state senators term must stand for election at the next even year November election for the remainder of the state senate term for the seat to which the state senator was appointed.

Procedure and powers

With the notable exceptions listed below, the Colorado Senate operates in a manner quite similar to the United States Senate.^[3]

Regular sessions are held annually and begin no later than the second Wednesday in January. Regular sessions last no more than 120 days. Special sessions may be called at any time by the governor of Colorado or upon written request of two-thirds of the members of each house, but are infrequent. Some committees of the General Assembly work between sessions and have limited power to take action without General Assembly approval between legislative sessions.

Joint procedural rules of the two chambers require most legislation to be introduced very early in the legislative session each year, and to meet strict deadlines for completion of each step of the legislative process. Joint procedural rules also limit each legislator to introducing five bills per year, subject to certain exceptions for non-binding resolutions, uniform acts, interim committee bills and appropriations bills. Most members of the General Assembly decide which bills they will introduce during the legislative session (or most of them) prior to its commencement, limiting the ability of members to introduce new bills at constituent request once the legislative session has begun.

Most bills adopted by the General Assembly include a "safety clause" (i.e. a legislative declaration that the bill concerns an urgent matter) and take effect on July 1 following the legislative session unless otherwise provided. Some bills are enacted without a "safety clause" which makes it possible to petition to subject those bills to a referendum before they take effect, and have an effective date in August following the legislative session unless otherwise provided.^[3]

Colorado's legislature does not have an analog to the filibuster in the United States Senate requiring a supermajority for approval of any matter. The state lieutenant governor does not have the power to preside or break tie votes in either house of the General Assembly.^[2] New executive branch rules are reviewed annually by the legislature and the legislature routinely invalidates some of them each year.

The General Assembly does not have a role in the appointment or retention of state judges, although it must authorize the creation of each judgeship.

Many state agencies and programs are subject to "sunset review" and are automatically abolished if the General Assembly does not reauthorize them.

In 1885, the Colorado Senate appointed its first chaplain, Methodist circuit riding missionary, "Father" John Lewis Dyer.^[4]

The state budget process

The governor submits a proposed budget to the Joint Budget Committee each year in advance of the year's legislative session. Colorado's fiscal year is from July 1 to June 30.

Bills introduced in the General Assembly are evaluated by the non-partisan state legislative services body for their fiscal impact and must be provided for in appropriations legislation if there is a fiscal impact.

A state budget, called the "LONG Bill" (Legislation on Operations and Normal Governance) is prepared each year by the Joint Budget Committee of the General Assembly. The House and the Senate alternate the job of introducing the long bill and making a first committee review of it. Colorado's state legislature is required to obtain voter approval in order to incur significant debt, to raise taxes, or to increase state constitutional spending limitations. It is also required to comply with a state constitutional spending mandate for K-12 education. The governor has line item veto power over appropriations.

Current makeup

Based on the 2010 census, each state senator represents 143,691 constituents. The 2014 Colorado elections resulted in the Republican Party winning their first majority in a decade. Republicans hold a one-seat majority in the 70th General Assembly (18 Republicans; 17 Democrats).

John Morse was President of the Senate until he and fellow Democrat Angela Giron were recalled from office on September 10, 2013. They are the first legislators to be recalled in Colorado history. On October 9, 2013, Morgan Carroll replaced Morse as Colorado State Senate President.^[5]

With the new Republican Majority, Bill Cadman serves as President of the Senate and Mark Scheffel is the Majority Leader. President Cadman is in his fifteenth year in the legislature. Prior to the Senate, he served 7 years in the House.

Composition of the Senate

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total

	Democratic	Republican		Vacant
End of 68th General Assembly	20	15	35	0

Beginning of 69th General Assembly	20	15	35	0
September 10, 2013^[6]	18	17	35	0
November 27, 2013^[7]	17		34	1
December 10, 2013^[8]	18		35	0
End of 69th General Assembly	18		35	0

Beginning of 70th General Assembly	17	18	35	0
End of 70th General Assembly	17	18	35	0
Beginning of 71st General Assembly	17	18	35	0
Latest voting share	7001486000000000000♠48.6%	7001514000000000000♠51.4%

Leadership

Position	Senator	Party	District
President	Bill Cadman	Republican	12
President pro Tempore	Ellen Roberts	Republican	6
Majority Leader	Mark Scheffel	Republican	4
Assistant Majority Leader	Kevin Lundberg	Republican	15
Majority Whip	Randy Baumgardner	Republican	8
Majority Caucus Chair	Vicki Marble	Republican	23
Minority Leader	Lucia Guzman	Democratic	34
Assistant Minority Leader	Rollie Heath	Democratic	18
Minority Caucus Chair	Jessie Ulibarri	Democratic	21
Minority Whip	Matt Jones	Democratic	17

Members of the Colorado Senate

District	Senator	Party	Residence	Term Up
1	Jerry Sonnenberg	Republican	Sterling	2018
2	Kevin Grantham	Republican	Canon City	2018
3	Leroy Garcia	Democratic	Pueblo	2018
4	Mark Scheffel	Republican	Sedalia	2016
5	Kerry Donovan	Democratic	Vail	2018
6	Ellen Roberts	Republican	Durango	2018
7	Ray Scott	Republican	Grand Junction	2018
8	Randy Baumgardner	Republican	Steamboat Springs	2016
9	Kent Lambert	Republican	Colorado Springs	2018
10	Owen Hill	Republican	Colorado Springs	2016
11	Michael Merrifield	Democratic	Colorado Springs	2018
12	Bill Cadman	Republican	Colorado Springs	2016
13	John Cooke	Republican	Greeley	2018
14	John Kefalas	Democratic	Fort Collins	2016
15	Kevin Lundberg	Republican	Fort Collins	2018
16	Tim Neville	Republican	Golden	2018
17	Matt Jones	Democratic	Longmont	2016
18	Rollie Heath	Democratic	Boulder	2016
19	Laura Woods	Republican	Arvada	2016
20	Cheri Jahn	Democratic	Wheat Ridge	2018
21	Jessie Ulibarri	Democratic	Commerce City	2016
22	Andy Kerr	Democratic	Lakewood	2018
23	Vicki Marble	Republican	Fort Collins	2016
24	Beth Martinez Humenik	Republican	Thornton	2018
25	Mary Hodge	Democratic	Aurora	2016
26	Linda Newell	Democratic	Littleton	2016
27	David Balmer	Republican	Centennial	2016
28	Nancy Todd	Democratic	Aurora	2016
29	Morgan Carroll	Democratic	Aurora	2016
30	Chris Holbert	Republican	Parker	2018
31	Pat Steadman	Democratic	Denver	2016
32	Irene Aguilar	Democratic	Denver	2018
33	Michael Johnston	Democratic	Denver	2016
34	Lucía Guzmán	Democratic	Denver	2018
35	Larry Crowder	Republican	Alamosa	2016

References

↑ http://www.coloradosenaterepublicans.com/roberts_named_pro_tem_leader
1 2 3 4 5 Presidents and Speakers of the Colorado General Assembly: A Biographical Portrait from 1876, Colorado.gov, 2013 Revised Edition. (accessed May 27, 2013)
1 2 How a Bill Becomes Colorado Law, Office of Legislative Legal Services, October 2001 (accessed May 27, 2013)
↑ "Verifiable Oddities in Colorado's History-The Snowshoe Chaplain of the State Senatehttp://www.snowshoemag.com/2004/12/20/snowshoes-saloons-and-salvation-the-life-and-times-of-a-19th-century-colorado-pioneer-preacher/". legisource.net. Retrieved January 19, 2014. External link in |title= (help)
↑ Kurtis Lee (October 9, 2013). "Colorado Senate Democrats tap Morgan Carroll next president". Denver Post. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
↑ Democrats Angela Giron (District 3) and John P. Morse (District 11) recalled.
↑ Democrat Evie Hudak (District 19) resigned to avoid a recall election.Hudak resigns seat to end recall threat, hold Democrats’ Senate majority
↑ Democrat Rachel Zenzinger appointed to succeed Hudak

External links

Members of the Colorado State Senate

70th General Assembly (2015–2016) President of the Senate: Bill Cadman (R) President pro Tempore: Ellen Roberts (R) Majority Leader: Mark Scheffel (R) Minority Leader: Lucía Guzmán (D)

Jerry Sonnenberg (R) Kevin Grantham (R) Leroy Garcia (D) Mark Scheffel (R) Kerry Donovan (D) Ellen Roberts (R) Ray Scott (R) Randy Baumgardner (R) Kent Lambert (R) Owen Hill (R) Michael Merrifield (D) Bill Cadman (R) John Cooke (R) John Kefalas (D) Kevin Lundberg (R) Tim Neville (R) Matt Jones (D) Rollie Heath (D) Laura J. Woods (R) Cheri Jahn (D) Jessie Ulibarri (D) Andy Kerr (D) Vicki Marble (R) Beth Martinez Humenik (R) Mary Hodge (D) Linda Newell (D) Jack Tate (R) Nancy Todd (D) Morgan Carroll (D) Chris Holbert (R) Pat Steadman (D) Irene Aguilar (D) Michael Johnston (D) Lucía Guzmán (D) Larry Crowder (R)

Republican (18) Democratic (17) Colorado General Assembly Colorado House of Representatives Colorado State Senate

Legislatures of the United States

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State of Colorado

Denver (capital)

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Society	Crime Culture Demographics Economy Education Politics Sports

Regions	Central Colorado Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area Eastern Plains Front Range Grand Valley High Plains High Rockies Mineral Belt Northern Colorado Northwestern Colorado Piedmont Plateau Roan Plateau Roaring Fork Valley San Luis Valley Sangre de Cristo Mountains South-Central Colorado Southwest Colorado Uinta Mountains Uintah Basin Western Slope

Municipalities	Akron Alamosa Arvada Aspen Aurora Boulder Breckenridge Brighton Broomfield Cañon City Castle Rock Centennial Colorado Springs Commerce City Cortez Craig Delta Denver Durango Englewood Erie Evans Fairplay Federal Heights Fort Collins Fort Morgan Fountain Golden Glenwood Springs Grand Junction Greeley Greenwood Village Gunnison La Junta Lafayette Lakewood Lamar Leadville Littleton Longmont Louisville Loveland Montrose Northglenn Parker Platteville Pueblo Salida Steamboat Springs Sterling Superior Thornton Trinidad Vail Westminster Wheat Ridge Windsor

Counties	Adams Alamosa Arapahoe Archuleta Baca Bent Boulder Broomfield Chaffee Cheyenne Clear Creek Conejos Costilla Crowley Custer Delta Denver Dolores Douglas Eagle El Paso Elbert Fremont Garfield Gilpin Grand Gunnison Hinsdale Huerfano Jackson Jefferson Kiowa Kit Carson La Plata Lake Larimer Las Animas Lincoln Logan Mesa Mineral Moffat Montezuma Montrose Morgan Otero Ouray Park Phillips Pitkin Prowers Pueblo Rio Blanco Rio Grande Routt Saguache San Juan San Miguel Sedgwick Summit Teller Washington Weld Yuma

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 143178916 LCCN: n88222427 GND: 128117-3

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