Viewpoint: SB21-244 Creates Professional Politicians
Imagine you have a part-time job that pays you $15/hr. Along comes Senate President Leroy Garcia and Boulder Senator Steve Fenberg, who is the majority leader. They are joined by House Speaker Alec Garnett of Denver and House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar of Pueblo.
Now, before we go any further, there is one more thing you need to know. By law, since 1988 the legislature is in session 120 calendar days. That is less than a third of a year if your calculator runs the same way mine does.
Well, Mr. Garcia, Mr. Fenberg, Mr. Garnett, and Ms. Esgar decided they would like to give their staff aides full health benefits and Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) benefits. PERA provides retirement and other benefits to the employees of more than 500 government agencies and public entities in the state of Colorado.
Yeah, I know, you don’t have a 120-day work year or full health insurance paid for by others or a retirement plan that is also paid for by others. It’s really nice to take these entry level politicians and groom them to live off the taxpayers. This particular lesson will only cost taxpayers an extra $617,348, almost all of it in general fund dollars that could be used for things other than creating full-time employment status for part-time political employees.
Senate Bill 21-244 is (as we have discovered over the last two weeks) the third consecutive piece of really bad legislation we have talked about. Not only is it costly, but it is the biggest expansion of full-time employment in the history of the State Capital.
Members currently get a bank of hours they can use for aides. They can hire up to two people to split the hours. Under SB-244 only one aide would be eligible for health benefits.
Senate Minority leader Chris Holbert, Douglas County, was so unhappy with the bill, which he has called the largest single expansion of legislative personnel in state history, that he refused to sponsor the annual spending bill (SB-196) for the legislative department which the majority and minority leaders traditionally carry to the House and Senate.
One Senator, Brittany Pettersen of Lakewood, also wants the lawmakers to raise the wages of the part-time, work 120 days a year aide, to $22/hr. Guess what part of that $7/hr. raise you and I pay for.
When will government get tired of spending your money? When you get tired enough of letting them. If you feel SB 21-244 is a bad idea it might be a good idea to let our representatives know it. Especially since both Garcia and Esgar, very, very local, are sponsors of this bill.
Another good reason to spend some time protesting this bill is that the measure is in the very, early stages of the political process. Unlike a lot of bills that we don’t hear much about until they are almost ready to be signed into law, this bill is a long way from being approved.
To contact Esgar, call her at (719)822-2046. Garcia can be contacted at (303)866-4878. Neither of the two have a local number listed on the internet.
Jon Caldera, in an article he wrote, probably summed it up best, “The design of our republican form of government is unique, made to prevent a ruling class. This was particularly true in Colorado. Was."
"We want the person who represents us at the State Capitol to actually be one of us and deal with the same day-to-day issues and challenges as us: the whole point of a citizen government."
"Legislators, and those who work for them, are regular people who give a portion of their time to public service, but it’s not a full-time gig.”
Senate Bill 21-244 would help create professional politicians.