Colorado: Transparency goes down in flames

Colorado SB 57, sponsored by Republican state senator Ted Harvey, would have required schools to post their spending reports online in a searchable database. Revolutionary? No. A good idea? You bet.

Unfortunately, Democrats didn’t think so, and it went down in the House Education committee in a party-line vote, 8-5. According to the Independence Institute, education associations contributed the following amounts to the committee members:

*Name of Rep – Total Amount from Education Lobby Organizations – Vote on SB 57
*Randy Baumgardner – $0 – Yes
*Debbie Benefield – $6,975 – No
*Tom Massey – $500 – Yes
*Michael Merrifield – $5,250 – No
*Karen Middleton – $3,125 – No
*Carole Murray – $0 – Yes
*Cherylin Peniston – $4750 – No
*Kevin Priola – $0 – Yes
*Christine Scanlan – $5,000 – No
*Sue Schafer – $5,750 – No
*Ken Summers – $0 – Yes
*Nancy Todd – $4,650 – No
*Judy Solano – $5,750- No

So do you think those contributions made a difference?

This is an embarrassment to Colorado. Shame, shame, shame on the reps that didn’t vote for open government during SUNSHINE WEEK of all times. I am guessing the voters in your districts may reward you with a similar “no” vote in your next election.

You can read all of the twists and turns at Sunshine Review.

More on the education lobby’s strategy against SB 57 at the COST blog.