Peter Marcus

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet on Tuesday accepted a position to lead the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, bringing to an end several weeks of speculation as to whether the moderate Coloradan would thrust himself into such a partisan spotlight.

Bennet’s role — which he was asked to take on by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada shortly after the November election — earns Colorado a Senatorial leadership position for the first time in more than 20 years. The last time was in the mid-1980s when Sen. Bill Armstrong chaired the then-Republican Policy Committee.

A group of gun control activists have been working with the governor’s office and lawmakers on a package of bills for the upcoming legislative session. The measures take aim at curbing firearm possession by the mentally ill, statewide bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips purchased online, and prohibiting handguns on college campuses.

A University of Denver panel that is attempting to provide recommendations for campaign finance reform heard from Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler, prominent Democratic election law attorney Mark Grueskin and Colorado Republican Party Chairman Ryan Call on Wednesday. The four-hour circuitous presentation by the three experts left panel members walking away shaking their heads at the overwhelmingly complex system that regulates campaign donations and spending.

Leadership made one thing very clear to new lawmakers on Tuesday at a welcome luncheon at the Brown Palace Hotel where they received a briefing on the tone of the legislature: “The battle here… is between the House and the Senate.”

The tongue-in-cheek remark from Senate President-designee John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, came as new legislators were told that there is much more of a bipartisan atmosphere at the Capitol than the general public believes. But while Republicans and Democrats may sing “Kumbaya” together more than they bicker over policy proposals, the war between the House and the Senate wages on, joked Morse.

Those who support offering reduced tuition rates to undocumented students are gearing up for the 2013 legislative session, optimistic that with Democrats controlling both chambers, so-called Colorado ASSET legislation will finally pass this year.

On six separate occasions the legislature has denied Colorado Advancing Students for a Stronger Economy Tomorrow (ASSET). The proposal has taken many different forms over the years, including offering in-state tuition rates to undocumented students, as well as simply creating a new reduced tuition rate category. The latter was the version introduced in the last legislative session.

Medical marijuana advocates are considering pushing their own bill to establish penalties for driving while under the influence of cannabis in an attempt to fight off a proposal by Sen. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, which would establish much stricter guidelines.

Michael Elliott, executive director of the Medical Marijuana Industry Group, told The Colorado Statesman that if King goes through with his driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) bill, then the trade association might find sympathetic lawmakers to introduce their own version, although they did not identify specific lawmakers to work with in the upcoming legislative session that begins Jan. 9.

Republican state and federal lawmakers are concerned that a federally backed intergovernmental program, EAGLE-Net Alliance, which is aimed at delivering broadband to rural parts of the state, is overbuilding infrastructure and taking customers away from existing smaller providers.

One week after voters in Longmont banned the controversial energy drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, Colorado business and industry leaders gathered Tuesday on the west steps of the Capitol with hundreds of supporters to boisterously declare their support for the practice.

A set of recommendations released Wednesday by Gov. John Hickenlooper’s blue ribbon commission TBD Colorado includes reforming the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, and finding revenue increases through tax increases and other reforms. The presentation has set off a heated debate over how the state should finance its “wish list” of services for the future.

Gov. John Hickenlooper was blunt in addressing the Joint Budget Committee on Wednesday during a presentation of his budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year, telling state lawmakers that if Congress does not act on the looming so-called “fiscal cliff,” the result would be unpleasant for Colorado.

“Let’s hope we don’t get there, but certainly… when you look at sequestration, the choices that will be before you are not pleasant, and dwarf the kinds of decisions we’ve had to make in the last two years,” the governor, a Democrat, responded to a question by JBC member Rep. Cheri Gerou, R-Evergreen.