STATE BILL COLORADO
Here’s a rundown on how northern and eastern Colorado news organizations covered a legislative tour by Senate President Brandon Shaffer and Senate Majority Leader John Morse.

Sterling Journal-Advocate: Keys to this year’s session, Shaffer said, include addressing the budget cycle, making changes to the state employee retirement fund (PERA) to ensure its viability, and dealing with hot topics like education, health care and economic development.
Fort Morgan Times: Until now the state has pretty much been able to safeguard K-12 funding, but as revenue figures fall legislators will have to look at cutting school funding, Shaffer said. The state cannot afford to ignore that large 42 percent of the budget pie anymore, even though some of the necessary cuts in other areas have already been done.
Longmont Times-Call: In next year’s legislative session, Colorado Senate Democrats plan to push measures “to create a 21st-century work force and to create jobs,” Senate President Brandon Shaffer said Monday. That will include focusing on the preschool-through-graduate school system’s role in providing Coloradans with the skills and education they’ll need to fill those jobs.
The Greeley Tribune: Budget issues will be at the top of the list when the 2010 session convenes in January. Shaffer said he learned early on in his political career that cutting from one area will not work, but instead the 2010 session will focus on different areas and cut from every aspect of the state budget “but do it in a very deliberate, smart way. That’s what has to be done.”