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Colorado State Senate

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Colorado State Senate


General Information
Type:   Upper house
Term limits:   8 years
2012 session start:   January 11, 2012
Website:   Official Senate Page
Leadership
Senate President:   Brandon Shaffer, (D)
Majority Leader:   John Morse, (D)
Minority leader:   Mike Kopp, (R)
Structure
Members:  35
   Democratic Party (20) Republican Party (15)
Length of term:   4 years
Authority:   Art V, Colorado Constitution
Salary:   $30,000/year + per diem
Elections
Last Election:  November 2, 2010 (19 seats)
Next election:  November 6, 2012 (16 seats)
Redistricting:  Colorado Reapportionment Commission
Meeting place:

Contents

The Colorado State Senate is the upper house of the Colorado General Assembly, which is the state legislature of Colorado. The senate includes 35 state senators elected from single-member districts. Each of the 35 districts had an average of 143,691 residents, as of the 2010 Census.[1] After the 2000 Census, each member represented 122,893 residents.[2]

State senators are elected to four-year terms with term limits.[3]

The Colorado Senate convenes at the State Capitol in Denver. In 2010, the Senate convened its regular session on January 13th and adjourned on May 12th.[4]

Sessions

Article V of the Colorado Constitution establishes when the Colorado General Assembly, of which the Senate is a part, is to be in session. Section 7 of Article V states that the Assembly is to convene its regular session no later than the second Wednesday of January of each year. Regular sessions are not to exceed one hundred twenty calendar days.

Section 7 also states that the Governor of Colorado can convene special sessions of the General Assembly. Special sessions can also be convened by a two-thirds vote of the members of both legislative houses.

2012

See also: Dates of 2012 state legislative sessions

In 2012, the Senate was in session from January 11 to May 9. A special session began May 14.[5]

Major issues

Republicans and Democrats have both stressed that job creation and improving the economy are at the top of their agendas. Meanwhile, they will have to deal with an estimated $500 million budget deficit. Additional issues include fracking rules for oil and gas drilling and addressing a voter-approved constitutional amendment giving tax breaks to seniors that includes a provision allowing the legislature to suspend it.[6]

2011

See also: Dates of 2011 state legislative sessions

In 2011, the Senate was in session from January 12 through May 11.

2010

See also: Dates of 2010 state legislative sessions

In 2010, the Senate was in session from January 13th to May 12th.

Elections

2012

See also: Colorado State Senate elections, 2012

Elections for the office of Colorado State Senate will be held in Colorado on November 6, 2012. A total of 16 seats will be up for election. The signature filing deadline was April 2, 2012 and the primary date is June 26, 2012.

Colorado state senators are subject to term limits and may serve no more than eight years. In 2012, six senators will be termed out.

2010

See also: Colorado State Senate elections, 2010

Elections for the office of Colorado State Senator were held in Colorado on November 2, 2010. State senate seats in 19 of Colorado's 35 districts were on the ballot in 2010. Districts on the ballot are 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 20, 22, 24, 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34.

The signature-filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was May 27, 2010, and the primary election day was August 10, 2010.

In the 2010 elections, the candidates running for senate raised $2,331,554 in campaign funds. The top 10 overall contributors were: [7]

Donor Amount
Odom, John $96,134
Colorado Education Association $31,625
Colorado Professional Fire Fighters $29,000
Shuler, Derec $28,684
Copic Insurance Small Donor Committee $28,400
Eckstein, Torsten $25,491
Colorado State Conference of Electrical Workers Small Donor Committee (CSCEW) $22,000
State Democratic Senate Campaign Fund $21,488
Colorado Association of Realtors Small Donor Committee $20,000
Colorado American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations Nonpartisan Small Donor $19,750


Qualifications

Article 5, Section 4 of the Colorado Constitution states: No person shall be a representative or senator who shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years, who shall not be a citizen of the United States, who shall not for at least twelve months next preceding his election, have resided within the territory included in the limits of the county or district in which he shall be chosen; provided, that any person who at the time of the adoption of this constitution, was a qualified elector under the territorial laws, shall be eligible to the first general assembly.

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures
How Vacancies are filled in State Legislatures
NevadaMassachusettsColoradoNew MexicoWyomingArizonaMontanaCaliforniaOregonWashingtonIdahoTexasOklahomaKansasNebraskaSouth DakotaNorth DakotaMinnesotaIowaMissouriArkansasLouisianaMississippiAlabamaGeorgiaFloridaSouth CarolinaIllinoisWisconsinTennesseeNorth CarolinaIndianaOhioKentuckyPennsylvaniaNew JerseyNew YorkVermontVermontNew HampshireMaineWest VirginiaVirginiaMarylandMarylandConnecticutConnecticutDelawareDelawareRhode IslandRhode IslandMassachusettsNew HampshireMichiganMichiganAlaska

In the event of any vacancy in the Senate, the political party that holds the vacant seat is responsible for deciding a replacement[8]. A vacancy committee consisting of members of the political party holding the vacant seat must conduct an election when deciding an appointee. A simple majority vote of members in the vacancy committee is needed to approve any appointment. The person selected to fill the vacancy serves until the next scheduled general election[9].

Term limits

See also: State legislatures with term limits

The Colorado legislature is one of 15 state legislatures with term limits. Voters enacted the Colorado Term Limits Act in 1990. That initiative said that Colorado senators are subject to term limits of no more than two four-year terms.

The first year that the term limits enacted in 1990 impacted the ability of incumbents to run for office was in 1998.[10]

Senators

Partisan composition

See also: Partisan composition of state senates
Party As of May 2012
     Democratic Party 20
     Republican Party 15
Total 35


Leadership

Current leadership

Office Representative Party
President of the Senate Brandon Shaffer Democratic
President Pro Tempore Betty Boyd Democratic
State Senate Majority Leader John Morse Democratic
State Senate Assistant Majority Leader Lois Tochtrop Democratic
State Senate Majority Caucus Leader Morgan Carroll Democratic
State Senate Minority Leader Mike Kopp Republican
State Senate Assistant Minority Leader Bill Cadman Republican
[11]

Salaries

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

As of 2010, members of the Colorado legislature are paid $30,000 per year. They are also given per diem of $45 per day for members living in the Denver metro area, and $99 per day for all others.[12]

The $30,000 that Colorado legislators are paid as of 2010 is the same that they were paid during legislative sessions in 2007. The per diem is also the same.[13]

When sworn in

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

Colorado legislators assume office on first day of the first legislative session following the election (example January 12 of next year for the upcoming elections.)

List of current members

Colorado State Capitol
District Representative Party Residence Term expires
1 Greg Brophy Republican Wray 2014
2 Kevin J. Grantham Republican 2014
3 Angela Giron Democratic 2014
4 Mark Scheffel Republican Parker 2012
5 Gail Schwartz Democratic Snowmass Village 2014
6 Ellen Roberts Republican 2014
7 Steve King Republican 2014
8 Jean White Republican Hayden 2012
9 Kent Lambert Republican 2014
10 Bill Cadman Republican Colorado Springs 2012
11 John Morse Democratic Colorado Springs 2014
12 Keith King Republican Colorado Springs 2012
13 Scott Renfroe Republican Greeley 2014
14 Bob Bacon Democratic Fort Collins 2012
15 Kevin Lundberg Republican Berthoud 2014
16 Jeanne Nicholson Democratic 2014
17 Brandon Shaffer Democratic Longmont 2012
18 Rollie Heath Democratic Boulder 2012
19 Evie Hudak Democratic Arvada 2012
20 Cheri Jahn Democratic 2014
21 Betty Boyd Democratic Lakewood 2012
22 Tim Neville Republican Littleton 2014
23 Shawn Mitchell Republican Broomfield 2012
24 Lois Tochtrop Democratic Thornton 2014
25 Mary Hodge Democratic Aurora 2012
26 Linda Newell Democratic Littleton 2012
27 Nancy Spence Republican Centennial 2012
28 Suzanne Williams Democratic Aurora 2012
29 Morgan Carroll Democratic Aurora 2012
30 Ted Harvey Republican Highlands Ranch 2014
31 Pat Steadman Democratic Denver 2012
32 Irene Aguilar Democratic Denver 2014
33 Michael Johnston Democratic Denver 2012
34 Lucia Guzman Democratic Denver 2014
35 Joyce Foster Democratic Denver 2012

Standing committees

Colorado has 10 standing committees:

External links

References

  1. ↑ Population in 2010 of the American states
  2. ↑ Population in 2000 of the American states
  3. ↑ Term limits
  4. ↑ Session dates for Colorado legislature, 2010
  5. ↑ Pueblo Chieftain, "Civil Union supporters rally prior to special session," May 14, 2012
  6. ↑ Denver Post, "Colorado legislature faces key issues," January 8, 2012
  7. ↑ Follow the Money: "Colorado Senate 2010 Campaign Contributions"
  8. ↑ Michie "Colorado Constitution"(Referenced Section Article V, Section II, Subsection 3)
  9. ↑ Michie "Colorado Revised Statutes"(Referenced Statute 1-12-203, (1)-(3))
  10. ↑ State legislative term limits
  11. ↑ Colorado State Senate Leadership Positions
  12. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "2010 Legislator Compensation Data"
  13. ↑ Empire Center, "Legislative Salaries Per State as of 2007"
v • d • e
Democrat majority Current members of the Colorado State Senate
Senate President: Brandon Shaffer (D) • Majority Leader: John Morse (D) • Minority Leader: Bill Cadman (R)
Democratic (20) • Republican (15) • Colorado State Senate • Colorado House of Representatives
v • d • e
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