State Legislators say NO to transparency in government

Both the Governor and Treasurer of Colorado have promised Transparency in government spending to the voters of Colorado; both have failed to do so- yet. And last week, members of the House Education Committee defied the intentions of the Governor, the Treasurer, their bipartisan counterparts in the Senate, and the voters and taxpayers of Colorado, when they voted to kill a transparency bill in the House Education Committee.

Senate Bill 57 was going to fulfill a small part of transparency. The Senate Education Committee approved of the bill, as did a bi-partisan majority in the Senate.

But the bill was railroaded when it got to the House. Here's what happened, as reported by lead transparency activist Natalie Menten:

"30 of us took advantage of our political civil right to address our State Representatives face to face today, taking 8 hours away from work, income and family. That's on top of the 75 -100 emails and phone calls each legislator got from concerned citizens who support transparency.

"Today clearly proved that some legislators listen to lobbyists and pay their dues for campaign contributions.

"After 3 hours of testimony, the House Education Committee voted 8-5 down party lines and killed SB 57.

"All five republicans voted in favor of school transparency. All eight democrats voted against it.

State Representatives who voted no:

Michael Merrifield
Nancy Todd
Karen Middleton
Christine Scanlan
Sue Schafer
Judy Solano
Debbie Benefield
Cherylin Peniston

Please publicize this list to your friends, family and groups. Most people vote in elections without knowing anything about the candidates. PLEASE help share this anti-transparency

voting record far and wide. We need to put this list on 30 different Colorado blogs and news websites, can you help or know someone with a blog?

For more information about transparency efforts in Colorado, and the potential savings to tax dollars as a result of full transparency, please visit:
www.nataliementen.com