What's the frequency, Colorado?

[Stephen Maturin]

In which we discuss happenings -- looney, shitty, funny, sickening, heartwarming or otherwise -- in the Grand and Glorious Sovereign State of Colorado.

This one might actually work out OK. Probably not, but maybe.

Back in 2006, the voters decided to bar same-sex marriage as a matter of state constitutional law. Unlike many other states, though, our gay marriage ban didn't go the extra mile by prohibiting any legal recognition of marriage-like arrangements for same-sex couples.

A civil unions bill is now making its way through the Colorado General Assembly. The bill is a little bit close to my heart since a gay homosexual lawyer from our office is part of a committee that revised the bill. Our guy was assigned to review and recommend changes to the section of the bill governing testimonial privileges for civil union members. But hey, the man's an estate planner,1 which basically means he can't find his own ass with both hands when it comes to statutory drafting and/or interpretation. Thus, his comments and suggested revisions were largely my comments and suggested revisions. Don't tell anybody, though.

The bill breezed through the Democrat-controlled state senate (23-12) on Wednesday, with three Republicans jumping ship and voting in favor.

Now, though, it's on to the Colorado House of Representatives, where Republicans rode the wave of anti-incumbent hysteria to a 33-32 majority during the 2010 election. A one-vote majority doesn't look like much, but it is. That slender majority means that Republicans run the show in all the legislative committees. Bills are, of course, assigned to a committee upon introduction. If the committee decides against sending the bill to the full House for a vote, it dies.

A similar civil union bill got killed in a House committee last year. Apparently, no one seriously expects a different result this time around.

Anyhoo, here's some of the senate hijinks. First up is Sen. Nancy Spence (R-Centennial) speaking for the bill. By way of lulzy contrast, here's some excerpts from the opposing comments of Sens. Scott Renfroe and Kevin Lundberg.

Sen. Lundberg apparently feels that Jesus is a better answer than Senate Bill 2. No word yet on whether Jesus has a better chance of getting voted out of committee than S.B. 2.

1lol estate planners.