The Colorado Legislature starts to wrap things up for the session - thank goodness! (Photo/manufrakass, Flickr)

As the legislative session starts to wind down, our state legislators are in a frenzy trying to wrap up the ridiculous state budget and churning out all sorts of asinine measures.  Among the highlights:

Colorado House approves measure to eliminate death penalty- Reasoning that it is cheaper to keep a prisoner in prison for life, the House has voted to do away with the state’s death penalty.  Rather than addressing the real issue of needed judicial reform and a system that allows those guilty of the most heinous crimes to remain on death row indefinitely, legislators decided that taxpayers should instead foot the bill to house criminals.  Justice took a back door on this vote.  To their credit, two state representatives that represent areas of Thornton voted against it – Ed Casso and John Soper.  Rather than caving to their party’s record of weak support of law enforcement and justice, these two stood their ground and they should be applauded.  Thornton’s other representative, Judy Solano, chose however to tow the party line and voted to end the death penalty.  The measure now heads to the state Senate.

Cell phone ban advances – Add this one to the litany of useless measures considered in the legislature each year.  The bill would ban handheld cellular phone use while driving and  instead requiring drivers to use a hands-free device.  The measure which already passed the House now has passed a vote in the Senate State, Military and Veterans Committee and moves to the full Senate.  While there is little doubt that talking on a cell phone while driving is a distraction, this unwarranted and wasted intrusion on the public accomplishes absolutely nothing to make the roads safer and is another example of Colorado turning into a nanny state like California.  Study after study has shown that whether you use a cell phone by holding it up to your ear or by using a hands-free device, the distraction is as bad as if you were driving drunk.  The use of a hands-free device does nothing to increase safety.  See here:  Drivers on Cell Phones Are as Bad as Drunks

State budget heads to Ritter’s desk- After deciding that making an illegal raid on Pinnocol Assurances’ assets wasn’t wise, legislators went back to the drawing board to complete a budget.  Of course rather than crafting a real budget that takes into account the financial realities the state faces, legislators chose instead to raise taxes and use accounting gimmicks to fund the already bloated state budget.  Even when it is truly needed, why is it so hard for politicians to cut spending?  Sadly this is all too typical and again illustrates why the public has such little faith in their elected officials.