Dems point to successes during session

Republican says GOP killed bad bills, pushed on immigration

Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News

Friday, May 5, 2006

Speaker Andrew Romanoff boasted Thursday that the Democratic-controlled legislature has passed more bills to stem illegal immigration this year than any previous legislature.

The immigration bills were among the achievements Romanoff and Majority Leader Alice Madden touted during a news conference reviewing the almost-concluded 2006 session.

With a huge "Promises Made, Promises Kept" banner hanging on his office wall, Romanoff and Madden talked about successes in education, the economy, public safety, health care, accountability and renewable energy sources.

"The real test of our success is not how many press conferences do we hold, or how much noise do we make or even how many bills we introduce," said Romanoff, of Denver.

"It's how many problems we solve. . . . I'm proud of our record," he said.

But afterward, House Minority Leader Mike May, of Parker, said if Democrats kept their promises, it was because Republicans forced them by killing bad business bills and pushing for immigration measures.

Romanoff said that outside the Capitol what business leaders talk about is the need for a skilled work force, quality infrastructure and the cost of health care.

"They're thrilled that we have rescued higher education from the brink of financial extinction. They're happy that we're going to put 40 percent more money into transportation over the next five years because of the passage of Referendum C," he said, and added they're glad that adding health care measures will help with costs.

"I think this is the most pro-business session, to coin a phrase, in a long time," the speaker said.

During the news conference, Romanoff and Madden, of Boulder, were upbeat and informal as they candidly talked about mistakes made (not consulting enough with Republican Gov. Bill Owens last year on legislation that he ended up vetoing) and why some of this year's proposals, such as helping preschoolers, were scaled back ("We lived within our means," Madden said.)

May said it was too early to discuss achievements with important issues, like public pension reform, still on the table.

"It's kind of like having Christmas before you've even bought the presents," he said.

By law, the session must end by midnight Wednesday, but it could end as early as late Monday or Tuesday morning, Madden said.

"I don't want to be here until midnight Wednesday," she said, laughing.