Pols eye uptick in fiscal forecast with caution

Brandon Shaffer

“We are by no means out of the woods. Unemployment is still far too high…”

Legislation would give edge to Coloradans on state projects

Brandon Shaffer

“When I knock on doors and speak with my constituents, they tell me they want us to work together to create jobs and improve the economy.”

Higher-office seekers darned if they don’t resign—maybe doomed if they do

Brandon Shaffer

You say that all those candidates who resigned early ended up losing? So they did!

Senate prez calls for audit of online schools; eyebrows raised

Brandon Shaffer

“An eleventh-hour emergency audit request—and there is no such thing as an emergency audit—by someone, who is running for Congress, and who already has access to the information he is seeking, amounts to political grandstanding.”

Dems, GOP jockey over just how ‘SMART’ government should be

Brandon Shaffer

Republicans say they want to dig deeper in scrutinizing the bureaucracy; Democrats say they’re just grandstanding.

Lawmakers trade tit for tat over TABOR

Brandon Shaffer

Republicans say Coloradans want to vote on taxes; Democrats say state is tired of “petty ideological differences”

Redistricting: If all else fails, turn to baseball

Brandon Shaffer

Is there a better way? …42 states authorize the legislature to do the job; seven use independent commissions and one, Iowa, uses its legislative staffers.

Clock ran out before bills were heard; some now miffed

Brandon Shaffer

“….the issue here is not the substance of these bills but the principle that they deserved a fair hearing in this body. Not affording them a hearing and floor consideration was an act of disrespect…”

As Mom’s Day looms, lawmaker eyes online flower sales

Brandon Shaffer

Critic counters: “Why … impose the full power of the legislature upon the sale of flowers?”

Senators check the couch cushions for spare school funding

Brandon Shaffer

Some worry the newfound funding sources might not be reliable.