Station:   KLZ, 56o AM

Show:      Freedom 560

Guests:    Harvey

Holbert

Baumgardner

Link:        http://freedom560.podomatic.com/

Date:       May 8, 2015

Topics:   Water Resource Review, Republican Whip, Morgan Carroll, Congress, Fees vs. Taxes, TABOR, Angie Pascione, Senate President Bill Cadman, Senate Majority Leader Mark Scheffel, Senator David Balmer, Red Light Cameras, Gun Laws, Legislative Pay Raises, Rain Barrells, Jon Caldara, Dudley Brown, High Capacity Magazine Ban Repeal, Rainwater Harvesting, Transportation Funding, Transportation Projects, Ladder Safety, Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), Testing Opt Out Bill, Testing Reduction Bills, Hospital Provider Fee, Hillary Clinton, Watergate, Senator Vicki Marble, Small Business, Laura Woods, Tim Neville, Beth Martinez Humenik, Mary Hodge, Jefferson County (Jeffco), Open Seats, Nathan Dunlap Decision, Physician Assisted Suicide, Open Primary vs Caucus System, Randy Corporon, Ken Clark, Kris Cook, GOP Presidential Candidates, Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul, Scott Walker, Water Law, Nannyism, Renewable Energy Mandate, Presidential Primary Bill, Stop Hillary PAC, Benghazi,

Click Here for Audio Part 1

Click Here for Audio Part 2

 

[The following represents notes taken during this broadcasted interview.  All portions, except where identified as transcribed sections, are paraphrased from the questions and responses between the host and the guests.]

GUEST HOST, FORMER STATE SENATOR TED HARVEY:

• Last week of the legislative session.  Chat about your thoughts, about how the dirty rotten stinking Democrats.  And how they handled themselves as a minority in the Senate, and as majority in the House

STATE SENATOR RANDY BAUMGARDNER:

• Whole session in general:
  • [Dem] Temper tantrums, temper tantrums, temper tantrums
  • Frowning faces
  • Sometimes they seemed to be crying
  • They were used to being in the majority
    • They are used to driving that bus
    • Even in committees, they thought they could still control committees
    • They found out otherwise
    • At end of session, they began to get it

HARVEY:

• They saw their bills die?

BAUMGARDNER

• Yes
• Especially when the floor votes were 18-17
• You could just see the facial expression
  • Some got mad – red faced
  • The one in the corner with red hair would get seething mad
• We weren’t vindictive or mean – we played it pretty even, all the way through

HARVEY:

• Freshman Chris Holbert, what did you think in your first year

STATE SENATOR CHRIS HOLBERT:

• Similar to coming to House in 2011
• Ray Scott and I joked about coming in to both houses in the same year and getting R majority
• It is different than 2011
  • Credit to you, senator [Baumgardner]
• Reality:
  • Half the number of members in the Senate than in the House
  • A lot more work
  • Tremendous workload – more than House
  • Especially being in the majority
  • It was exhausting
• Grateful for the voters
  • Giving us opportunity to kill bad bills
  • Giving us a chance to lead
  • And a chance to work together
• Some good folks on the other side of the aisle and good ideas
  • But it did take a while for them to get used to the idea of being in the minority

HARVEY:

• Being in the majority is important… one vote or five votes, majority makes all the difference in the world.  Talk about how some things from the Senate, which would have been great for CO families and economy, and the Dems killed outright in House committees

BAUMGARDNER:

• I don’t know where to start

HOLBERT:

• Baumgardner and I worked together on the Mag ban repeal
  • Worked really hard to get all Republicans on board
  • [recaps history of that bill]
  • Caldara vs. Brown – controversy & discussion
  • In the legislature, it was painful to watch that conversation go on.
    • We had all 18 Rs on board
    • Plus 3 dems
    • Plus a Dem in the house (Vigil from Alamosa -who voted ‘no’ in 2013)
    • Passed Senate with bipartisan support
  • I understand folks calling for the 30-round compromise
    • But it’s difficult because it overlooks the reality of Jahn, Garcia, and Donovan voting for it because it’s right, despite criticism
    • Even if you know it’s going to get killed
  • In the House, 34-31
    • The Democrats, to get it out of the House you’d need 2 Dem votes
    • But the hard part is getting it out of committee
    • State affairs is the Kill committee
• K-12 opt out policy
  • The moms out there were so active
  • I got a text one day suggesting I talk to Morgan Carroll
    • She was interested in being a sponsor
    • Nancy Todd and I brought that bill
    • We had Scheffel, Tim Neville, Merrifield, and Carroll
    • Despite bipartisan support, the House would kill it (House Education committee)– bipartisan opposition, failed by one vote

HARVEY:

• It speaks to the power of the majority.
• I was in the leg for 13 years, 10 of those in minority – and that was hell.  It was so exciting to see you guys in majority and lead on issues
• [commercial break]
• Randy was sponsor of an interesting proposal to fix roads.  Thought he had CDOT and gov support, and all of a sudden it was thrown to the side, out the window

BAUMGARDNER:

• The future is uncertain on how to move this forward, or bring it back
• The bill
  • Back in 1999: trans-bonds – transportation review anticipation notes
    • That bonded 50% of federal tax money to fund CO highway projects
      • It built TREX [I-25 expansion]
    • Already in place since 1999
  • This bill would have extended this for the next 20 years to fix 58 projects
    • I-70 west
    • I-25
    • Highway 550
    • Highway 287
  • Would have brought jobs – people to work
  • Projects Would have benefitted every corner of the state

HOLBERT:

• You’re chairman of Senate Transportation.  People get frustrated, they want to fix roads and bridges, but don’t want new taxes.  How much of general funds go to roads and bridges

BAUMGARDNER:

• Zero
  • The new CDOT and governor’s staff – I tried to explain it would bring in $3.5B
    • No new taxes
    • The bond buyer is on the hook if the money doesn’t come in

HARVEY:

• But it’s a fairly safe bet…. because the federal funds come from gas tax – they’re highly rated bonds

BAUMGARDNER:

• The U.S. Government has NEVER cut transportation funds – EVER!
  • New Director of Transportation said “Sign me up!”
    • And a week later he said, “Can’t do this”

HARVEY:

• Why?

BAUMGARDNER

• Well, he said not sure the funds would be there to do that
• They’re going to take half their savings and put it into that bridge replacement

HARVEY:

• That’s their current Plan?

BAUMGARDNER

• They have no plan
• I asked the liaison from CDOT, if this doesn’t pass, what will happen – now when rates are low
• And he said we’ll bond against that $170M when it comes in
• But we should do it now when interest rates are low

HARVEY:

• Would it have been a referendum?

BAUMGARDNER

• It would have gone to the ballot
• And they would have voted to fix these highways or not

HARVEY:

• Because that’s what TABOR stipulates – if going into debt, you have to get voter approval

BAUMGARDNER:

• That’s right
• All those projects would have been listed
  • This money would have gone to specific projects
  • No way to move the money around
  • And that was the problem – they didn’t want to be locked in. They wanted flexibility, to be able to move the money around

HARVEY:

• It got out of Senate

BAUMGARDNER:

• It did
• Went to State affairs in the House

HARVEY:

• Not transportation?

BAUMGARDNER

• No,
• It did go to transportation in the senate
• The speaker assigned it to kill committee
• But we thought we had a Dem in that kill committee that would support it.
• But he didn’t
• So it died in that committee.

HARVEY:

• That’s infuriating to me.  The Dems have done nothing.   Ritter’s administration raised taxes using fees – which are taxes, without going to a vote of the people

BAUMGARDER

• And FASTR fees
• And late fees on registration
• And then the penalties – people hate this… if I don’t get my plates on time… up to $100

HARVEY:

• Dems didn’t go to voters.  And they change SB1 formula so no money would go into transportation.

BAUMGARDNER

• Dems want to make tolls
• It is frustrating
• We had Dems on other committees where bills should go to voters and the Dems kill it, despite saying they want the input of the voters
• SB-228  — anything over the 6% was supposed to go into transportation, but because of growth, TABOR refunds kicked in, and so only $100M is going to transportation

HOLBERT:

• Same thing with Hospital Provider Fee – before I got there – but it’s a tax, that didn’t go to voters, and patients pay that…. Putting revenue into general fund – that’s A TAX!!!

BAUMGARDNER:

• It’s changing the state into a business
• Where they get to set their own rules, set the rates, change the fees – or tax

HARVEY:

• I believe voters will vote for a good investment—if you tell people what the money’s for.  The Dems though, they float 66 ($1B) and it’s a Santa Claus fund – they can spend it how they want to.
• [commercial break]
• Winners and losers in the session:  The biggest winner in the session is Hickenlooper– he could have been on vacation!  He showed no leadership in the legislative process.  And then the controversial bills passed out of the Senate, and all of the kooky crazy stuff the House sent over were killed in Senate and Hickenlooper didn’t have to do anything

BAUMGARDNER:

• Not only that
• There were a lot of decisions he had to make that he punted on
  • Nathan Dunlap decision
  • He signed then gun bills into law, then backtracked

HARVEY:

• My favorite example:  the rural energy mandate and increased rates…. And Hick did nothing to stop it.  At signing ceremony, he said this is terrible – he wanted to have a committee review it after it was law!!!

HOLBERT:

• On mag ban and SB252 – he had to have the AG bail him out
• Opt out bill – Rep. Lebsock took the prime co-sponsor with Kim Ransom – it was so fun to watch Lebsock calling out the Governor after it passed in Senate overwhelmingly
  • Then it sits in house.  Laid over on the Calendar
  • They didn’t want the senate to overturn it if he vetoed it
  • Lebsock was calling out the governor.
  • The twitter feed was amazing –
  • Good for him

HARVEY:

• Governor has two Red Light camera bills on his desk.   What a great compromise!  And on one of them, voters get to decide.  What is the Governor going to do?  It’s him against the legislature!! The former mayor of Denver is going to veto both those bills – it brought $8M to the revenue strange in Denver

BAUMGARDNER & HOLBERT:

• I think you’re right

BAUMGARDNER:

• They always say, “I’m for local control”
• Well, let’s see if you are…
• That bill went to Business and commerce
• [Chairman Senator David] Balmer had it

HOLBERT:

• TIFF and urban renewal were there with Balmar chairing also…He made some municipal leaders uncomfortable,  and he made the point, why argue with voters?

HARVEY:

• Not many bills have that much support!  Incredibly popular!

HOLBERT:

• Governor is term limited – maybe he’s looking at the end of his political career – I don’t know if he’d lose sleep over vetoing those bills or not

HARVEY:

• Randy, what’s an example of another ugly bill?

BAUMGARDNER:

• Ladder Safety bill – they asked me to sponsor
• They said you’ll love it when you read it…. And it took me two seconds to determine it was the most stupid thing I’d ever seen….
• Required securing the ladder to a building or fixed structure if erected on a slope or at an elevation
• That was postponed indefinitely or killed

HARVEY:

• Morgan Carroll is thinking about running for CD-6 against Coffman.  What do you think?

HOLBERT:

• I remember in the House she was determined to follow a line of questioning in committee, and she was getting whipped by Pascione, and Morgan blew right by it… she’s unafraid
• I think sometimes all of us get stubborn
• I appreciate that about her
• She’s a lion

HARVEY:

• She’s a libertarian too… used to be with us on guns.  But now she’s caved to the liberal agenda and that’s not going to fly against Coffman
• [CALLER Rob]  Rain Barrels ban?
  • [laughter]

HARVEY:

• We do have a ban on rain barrels –

HOLBERT:

• Harvey knows water law.  The rooftop rainwater harvesting bill was very similar

HARVEY:

• Every drop of water that falls in CO is owned by someone.
• No matter how someone might take that water – they’re stealing it
  • That’s unique to CO
  • No other state has privatized water rights like Co
  • Interesting dilemma
  • My bill said in rural Colorado, and you’re able to prove that collecting water will not hurt downstream water users, you’d be allowed to do that
  • But we can’t get it to pass with rainwater
  • Serious droughts in our history
  • Sen. Sonnenberg did a very good job of representing his constituents downstream
  • RB:  yes he did

[Caller greg from Bailey]  – frustrated by sausage making

• It works when Rs are in charge
• Dems are about nannyism.

HARVEY:

• Presidential primary bill

HOLBERT:

• wasn’t’ for open primary – which is good.
• I got one amendment through on Same Day Voter Registration – unafilliateds can declare same day as election

[Caller from Pueblo]  worried about the Helm thing in texas

• TH puts fears at ease
• Pay raises
  • CH promised his constituents he would NOT Vote himself a pay raise
  • RB:  there hasn’t been a pay raise for 16 years
    • Who would take a job and stay with it with no raise?
    • We’re not in it for the money
    • But must have competitive salary to bring good people in
    • Salary was based on county increases were going to be
• CH:  county treasurers make 20,000 more than state treasurer
• RB:  this is nothing new… working through all the mazes and walls you hit.
• [commercial break]
• TH: where do we go from here?  Next session?  Next election cycle?  Can we retain the Senate?  Can we take the House?  How can we put Hick in a position where he has to take a position and lead?
  • RB:  gun legislation from 2013 that infringe on Constitutional rights
    • I think you see legislation to affirm COans like their guns
    • Protecting our right to self-defense
    • There will be more legislation restoring gun rights
• Small business promotion
  • More deregulation bills
• CH:  one of the most controversial bills from beginning of session
  • Oregon style physician assisted suicide
  • Had a lot of media attention
  • This bill died in the House – never made it to the Senate and so we didn’t have to make a strategic decision on how to deal with it to defeat it
  • It’s a divisive issue
  • And similar bills will come back
  • It’s interesting to see how our Libertarian friends weigh in on that
  • Should government leave that completely alone
  • All 3 of us are against it
• RB:  we’ve done really well this year – the Senate GOP majority – first time our leadership has held those positions
  • We had a huge learning curve—but we learned a lot
  • People settle into their positions
  • We work as a team
    • Recognizing individual strengths
    • Cooperating to help our caucus understand the issues
    • Next session, we’ll grow that
  • In CO People don’t want government interference – telling them what cakes they can or must bake
    • So there will be opportunities in the next election cycle
    • We have strong candidates ,
    • Some seats will be vulnerable
    • The “strategery” – how you position yourself electorally
    • TH:   I think you’ll see more and more how legislators will frame and prepare their legislation looking at their next election – how the parties will be framed in the next elect
      • RG:  we all know about “putting people in a box”  and getting legislators on record
      • CH: Presidential election will impact the caucus campaigns
        • 2018 will be interesting in setting up the future of the Assembly  majorities
          • 2020 redistricting
          • 2020 governor’s race
  • And that’s what leadership is working toward – thanks Sen. Harvey for your work in bringing great people to run and win great victories
    • Laura Woods
    • Tim Neville
    • Beth Martinez Humenik
    • Hodge seat will be open – changes in Jeffco
  • Presidential politics will steer state politics
    • I hope there will be negative pushback by Dems for Hillary based on GOP experience with the “anointed” candidate – “it’s her turn” “heir apparent”
    • I like:
      • Ted Cruz
      • Rand Paul
      • Scott Walker has been good on education
      • Bobby Jindal has been good on education also
• RB:  I nominate Ted Harvey for President!  Whaddya think?
• CH:  I think you’re going to make ColoradoPols, with that statement
• TH:  every message from every candidate in the presidential race – because CO will be a swing state and millions will be spent.  CU will host one of the debates – we have some exceptional candidates who will draw distinct contrasts.  We have to make sure we define who Hillary candidate is.  Her positives are at 25% and her negatives are at 75% — haven’t seen that since Nixon.  And the Dems are going to nominate her????
  • RB:  because it is “her turn”
  • CH:  My dad was in the Nixon administration
  • Hillary made an appearance then in the Watergate stuff
    • And she was fired by the Dem Council
    • For lying and manipulating the Dem Watergate committee
    • TH: talking about the upcoming election, and some of the important races.  The international perspective:  Bennie won, depite predictions, and Cameron won overwhelmingly, the mainstream media is doing everything to pass a narrative that the left liberal agenda is surging… but they’re not. The Rs won a huge majority here, unprecedented since the 1920s and I think we’re going to see a wave election in 2016—in CO and nationally..  I think we’ll hold both houses in the Assembly and make significant impacts with Cadman and Scheffel, with seasoning and experience – what do you think of the current leadership team in the Senate?  Having had worked with them…
      • CH:  since I’m not in leadership, I want to thank Sen. Randy Baumgardner for being the whip, from Northwest Douglas County [joke]
        • The best moustache in the legislature, right there.
        • [with accent] “I told you to wait in the truck”
• RB:  [laughter]    Yes, you did!
• CH:  we thow that line back at each other – we mess with each other
  • Randy is our whip and he’s always early
  • He’s there every day, doing his job
    and there’s not extra pay for his extra responsibilities and efforts
• CH:  As you said, having Mark Scheffel in the position of Majority leader—in the Senate, that’s a very powerful position – maybe THE more powerful position
  • He assigns all the committees
  • Controls the floor
  • Incredible number of hours that he put in
  • And herding the cats of the GOP caucus  (RB:  no kidding)
  • And then also having to deal with the Minority leader Morgan Carroll and the Assistant Minority leader Rollie Heath – it’s a huge lift!  Huge amount of work
  • I’m so grateful for him
• CH:  President Cadman and Scheffel as our leadership – they’ve led a successful election process in winning a majority
  • And they’ll be able to manage that and lead our effort going into 2016
  • But they’re term limited
  • So, if we’re successful in holding the Senate and picking up the House, that’s going to have a significance
  • And we come back in January 2017 after electing a new president, be it Republican or Democrat —
• RB:  That should be a Republican
• CH:  Amen, Brother!
  • And also, majority leader
  • So, looking down the line
    • Kevin Lundberg is the Assistant majority leader
    • And Vicki Marble as our caucus chair
    • And Randy Baumgardner as our whip
• RB:  Remember:  if it weren’t for the rest of those members, we couldn’t do our jobs, either
• TH:  Look at the committee chairs!  They were new, no experience and they had to walk right in and run those committees and that’s not easy
  • RB:  and vice chairs, too!  Becaise the vice chairs have to step up and fill in.
  • CALLER Randy Corporon:  I got out of court early, it was so fun to turn on the radio and hear you three talking about the session… and I wanted to call in and personally thank the three of you.  I’m loving what I’m hearing about the Stop Hillary PAC
    • CH:  Thank you, Randy – you’re one of the pillars here at KLZ – thanks for all you do
    • CORPORON:  it’s definitely an honor.  God bless all three of you
    • TH:  Thanks for calling in!  I appreciate all these guys at KLZ holding these stinking, rotten politicians accountable, cuz that’s what these voices on KLZ do.  Iron sharpens iron.  But we must have good conservative members in the private sector that hold politicians accountable, even if they’re friends.
      • CH:  what’s your summer going to look like? Back on the ranch?
      • RB:  Irrigating the hay meadows, about 400 head of cattle coming in on the first of June, and I serve on 3 small committees
        • Water resource  review – we’ll have 9 water juror (?) this summer
        • TLRC – where I’m sure we’ll be talking about tire chains
        • Capital development committee –looking at all the state facilities where we’ve got to put money
        • I think I spent about 60 days at the Ranch last year and the rest went into this part-time legislative position
        • I’ve got a pretty busy summer
• CH:  for $30,000
• RB:  thanks for reminding me, I was the sponsor of that salary bill, but I won’t ever see it personally.
  • I did it for the future legislators that will be there
  • Won’t see a dime – all the way through 2020
  • The raise doesn’t start until 2017-2018