Ross Kaminsky Show, Laura Woods, January 18, 2016
Station: KHOW, 630 AM
Show: Ross Kaminsky Show
Guests: Woods, Laura
Link: http://www.khow.com/media/
Date: January 18, 2016
Topics: State of the State Address, Rural Colorado Economy, EPA, Mining, Senator Vicki Marble, Testing in the Ninth Grade, Veto, Bipartisan
HOST ROSS KAMINSKY: What do you make, Laura, of this idea of a divide in the Republican Party, which is probably a big dream of the liberal media?
COLORADO STATE SENATOR (SD-19) LAURA WOODS: It is the dream of the liberal media. And I was asked last week about who is the most conservative in our caucuses, and I hadn’t even had caffeine that morning, and I tried to name names, and I failed miserably at who is conservative. But the one thing I can tell you is everyone on the Republican side of the legislature than our colleagues on the Democrat side. It’s like Reagan said, it’s not that they are wrong. He called them his liberal friends, remember? He said it’s just that they know so much about that which isn’t so. The Republicans are all conservative. And our leadership doesn’t require us to march in lockstep with our party or with an agenda. We have that freedom to vote our consciences and our districts. And that’s what the people want. That’s what the constituents are hungry for, is people who will go up there and represent them, do what they said they would do, buck party leadership if it’s necessary, buck your caucus if it’s necessary, but the opposing side whenever it’s necessary. We have the freedom to do that and that’s what makes us Republicans. We’re free-thinking people. We’re not marching in lockstep with our party.
KAMINSKY: …how was it even worth mentioning that one out of 7 times against Cadman.
WOODS: The spin that was put on that article. He told us he was writing that article. He quoted me exactly what I said to him. So give credit. He at least quoted me right. But the spin he put on it was just as you said. Look at these Republicans. They are divided. Nobody is controlling them. It’s like herding cats. Oh my gosh. This is going to be their downfall in the Senate. And we see it just the opposite. He has painted the perfect comparison between Republicans and Democrats. And, yeah, who cares if I vote different than leadership one out of seven times. In fact, my constituents like that.
KAMINSKY: …what do you do as a principled conservative republican in a purple district to win over soccer moms…and people who may be susceptible.
WOODS: I do the same thing this election as I did the last one. I go out and knock on doors and I meet people face-to-face. I have a conversation with them about, you know, about the taxes they’re paying. What are the issues right now facing your family, your business, that could be impacted by the state legislature. And then we have that conversation. It’s about educating people about a) what I have control over, because there is a lot of flyers coming out saying I’m going to single-handedly cost every job in the state, that, you know, it’s just ridiculous the stuff that comes up on these mailers. But we have a conversation to debunk some of the myth and to educate them a little bit about what a vote for me could do for their family, their business in the senate.
KAMINSKY: ..roads?
WOODS: We have seen worsening roads, and it’s the democrats who’ve robbed all the transportation money out of the transportation fund over the past several years. We’ve got new money. He wants to take the hospital-provider fee money. We’ve got a legal opinion from legal services at the capitol saying that would be unconstitutional. So the governor is asking the legislature to do something that is unconstitutional. And he’s promised that money not only to transportation, but to education. He’s got all these different groups who’ve heard him say, find some new money to fix Colorado’s problems. And they are all coming with their hand out saying, I want some of that fix. But we as a legislature have to budget to the current law. For two out of the last three years the Democrats have been in control and they have expanded Medicaid. They have used FASTER dollars for all kinds of projects other than what they were supposed to be used for, speaking of transportation money. And we have to budget to current law. So that’s what we’re charged with. And until we change the laws, we have to budget to them.
KAMINSKY: [Can we expand/modernize CO road system to respond to influx without having to raise tax rates.]
WOODS: I think if the transportation money we receive wereused for road projects, that’s a starting point. It’s a very complicated issue. There’s not an easy answer to I70 west out of Denver, to I25 south between Monument and Castle Rock. We’ve been thinking a three-lane highway there since Hickenlooper got elected. That was his promise. It hasn’t happened yet. I25 north to Ft. Collins. No easy answers to some of this. But starting with putting transportation dollars to transportation projects is a good start. We don’t need more money. Let’s prioritize the money we are bringing in now.
