Q&A with Representative Terrance Carroll

We are pleased to have Representative Terrance Carroll (D-Denver) with us today for another Q&A to close out our week of Carrolls.

Rep. Carroll was elected to his first full term in 2004 after being appointed to finish the term of Peter Groff in 2003 when Groff left the House to finish the term of Penfield Tate (whew!). Rep. Carroll is the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee and made headlines in the 2005 legislative session with his sponsorship of the Parental Leave Act.

Rep. Carroll has graciously agreed to check in throughout the day to answer your questions. We ask only that you are respectful in your questions and comments; you don't have to agree with Rep. Carroll, but you can certainly disagree in a respectful manner.

If you have a question, click on the COMMENTS link under the post and ask away. If you wish to discuss something said in the Q&A in-depth, please use the Thursday Open Thread post above for that discussion. We would like to reserve the COMMENTS section of this post for questions and answers only.

With that out of the way, on with the show...

Q&A With Representative Terrance Carroll (D-Denver)

1.   How do you feel about how the Democrats finished the session?

I feel we finished the session well. The last few days were rather hectic with the rush to finish the session early. That made for some very long days. The entire session was a learning experience for the House Democrats because we had not been in power for about thirty years. There were many who expected us to fall flat on our faces, but I believe generally we defied expectations and governed well.

2.  What surprised you about being in the majority?

As a committee chair, I was initially surprised by the amount of work required if you want to chair a good committee. It was not simply about reading the bills beforehand. As committee chair, I tried my best to minimize surprises in committee and to make the committee work as efficiently as possible. Since GAVEL, committee chairs do not have the power of the pocket veto so the most important tools at the chair's disposal is the ability to influence committee members before the hearing; controlling debate in committee; influencing legislation before it arrives in committee; control of the committee calendar; and knowledge of the rules.

3.  What do you think the Republicans did right and wrong in their first time in the minority in years?

I will start with the good. The Republicans found a message early (tagging us as anti-business) and stuck with it throughout the entire session. I don't believe it was a legitimate attack, but they stayed message focus. Initially, I thought the election of Joe Stengel as minority leader was an excellent choice. Prior to this session, Joe had a reputation has a moderate, reasonable, and pragmatic voice on the Republican side. In fact, I served on the Judiciary committee with Joe for two-years and count him as a friend.

However, his role as minority leader required him to be an attack dog and sometimes he went over-the-top and appeared to seem unreasonable. I believe this was a mistake. The Republican far-right continued to spend too much time focusing on narrow social issues. At times, the Republicans risked appearing obstructionist. For example, at the beginning of the session they spent precious time arguing against a change to House rules so that student could lead the Pledge of Allegiance prior to the beginning of each legislative day.

4. Your most publicized battle was over the Parental Leave Act, which was ultimately killed in the House. What happened to it? Will you try it again?

The Parental Leave Act is a case study in how, at times, mass hysteria rules the Capitol. By the time the Parental Leave made its way over from the Senate the anti-business mantra had taken root in the House. The business lobby used Democratic fears of being labeled as anti-business to create an aura that this bill would effectively kill business in Colorado. In fact, one business lobbyist said my bill would stall Colorado's economic recovery. This is an example of the hysteria surrounding the opposition to this bill. The idea that one bill, which would only give parents 15 hours off per year to attend parent-teacher conferences could stall Colorado's economic recovery is absolutely incredulous and without merit. Yet, some found it persuasive.

Interestingly, the some arguments were used against the Family Medical Leave Act in Congress in 1993. However, any independent and honest assessment of FMLA's impact has shown it to have had a positive impact on business. The legislature had an opportunity to actually show itself to be family friendly in a meaningful way that impacts the every day lives' of families, but passed on that opportunity. I have not decided if I will introduce the Parental Leave Act next year.

5. Democrats seem to be making a conscious effort to be seen as more pro-business, which critics would say comes at the expense of other ideals? Do you agree with this shift?

I reject the false dichotomy that you can't be pro-business and pro-consumer (pro-family, pro-worker, etc.) at the same time. This whole dichotomy is the result of a political dynamic which wrongly tries to pit business, employers, and consumers against each other. The real debate should be about creating an economic environment in Colorado which benefits all of us. I think that we can accomplish this by ensuring that our regulatory environment is not unduly burdensome. Consumers also need to be protected against the worst instincts of some businesses as they seek to expand their profit margin. Democrats, like Mayor Hickenlooper, have shown that this pro-business versus anti-business dichotomy is false.

The problem with the pro-business versus anti-business dichotomy for the Democrats is that we ceded some ground on the messaging battleground early on and struggled to regain footing. Taken as a whole the group of proposals labeled as anti-business were reasonable, measured, and sensible. It just makes good sense to allow parents time to invest in the lives of their children. There was never a reasonable or fact-based argument against Morgan Carroll's workers' compensation bill. The business lobby saw any legislation which they perceived as increasing regulation as anti-business and recited that line and avoided debating the issues on their substance.

6. You also sponsored legislation (which was killed) that would allow the state to seize the vehicle of a person driving with a suspended license for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. What was your rationale behind that bill, and why did it fail?

This bill was an attempt to increase the consequences for repeat drunk drivers. Unfortunately, the method we choose raised some constitutional concerns and represented a momentary lapse of judgment on my behalf. After more thought, I decided to kill the bill myself. The State still needs to address the problem of repeat drunk drivers. I will be looking at some options for next year to stiffen penalties for repeat drunk drivers.

7.  What other bills did you either sponsor or take a particularly strong stand behind?

I was most involved in issues related to criminal justice, civil justice, and homeland security. I was intimately involved in legislation to add hate crimes to Colorado's criminal codes. I am an ardent supporter of charter schools. I was the House sponsor of a bill that will standardize how high school graduation rates are calculated. I was very involved in most of the sex offender registry legislation this year. I tend to also be very involved in any legislation that has implication impacting the separation of church and state. Since my arrival at the Capitol, I have been quite involved in tort reform debates.

8.  What will be different when Democrats approach the 2006 legislative session? What are you already thinking about in terms of your own legislation for the next session?

The Democrats will go into the 2006 session more confident than we were this year. We have a year under our belts and have shown that we can lead and govern effectively. So far for next year I am focusing on specialized health and business courts. I also want to do some work on the use of performance enhancing drugs by youth athletes.

9. You were outspoken in regards to the recently announced Republican initiative to require a certain percentage of school budgets to go to the classroom. What is your opposition to this initiative plan, and how would you change it?

This proposal is completely disingenuous for the Republicans to even contemplate. The Republicans had control of the legislature for the past 30 years and never showed any inclination to assist classroom teachers. In fact, they went out of their way to oppose reasonable and pragmatic legislation which would have improved the quality of our children's educational experience. For example, they opposed efforts to decrease classroom size, increase the availability of before and after school programs, and to assist schools with purchasing new textbooks.

The proposal also takes flexibility away from local school districts to make funding decisions in the best interests of their school districts. Even more incredulous is that under this proposal coaches are counted as academic personnel and school counselors are not. The proposal also ignores the complexity of many or our urban and rural school districts charged with educating some of our most educationally challenged students. These students require support services that assist them with becoming academically successful but are not covered by the Republican proposal.

10. What's next for you in the 2006 election cycle and beyond?

I am not telling.

11. You just graduated from DU law school and are preparing to take the bar exam. Who has a worse reputation: politicians or lawyers?

I refuse to answer on grounds that it may incriminate me!

Do you have a question for Rep. Carroll? Click on the COMMENTS link and ask away...

Comments

[Terrance Carroll]

Phoenix Rising,

I am really proud of the work we did in the Secretary of State's Blue Ribbon Panel. The sum of work is articulated in SB 206 which I expect the governor will sign into law.

Historically, third parties and third party candidates have injected a great of excitement and anxiety into the electoral process (depending on your perspective). Some mistakenly believe our system was created to be exclusively a two party system. I think the two party system is a historical accident.

There should not be any structural impediments which restrict the ability of third parties in the electoral system. Sadly, in 2004, our legislatures passed a bill which creates some impediments for third party access. This week the United States Supreme Court, in Clingman v. Beaver, upheld an Oklahoma law limiting the activities of third parties. I believe this is a bad decision because we should encouraging greater electoral participation not limiting it. Hopefully, the legislature will look beyond our two party myopia to ensure third parties are treated as step children.

Recently, I have been doing some reading on IRV. IRV has shown some promise in places like San Francisco and several smaller communities. I certainly support the concept because I think helps to expand the franchise. I will be reviewing the recently passed North Carolina IRV legislation which establishes a pilot IRV in certain local elections.

[Terrance Carroll]

Freshman15,

I think our freshmen class did an excellent job. They had a much tougher job than I did my freshman year. Not only were they learning the legislative ropes; they also had to learn how to govern in the majority. They handle this task with grace and dignity.

My advice to our freshmen is to always govern and lead with dignity, grace, and compassion. I know this sounds naive, but I truly beleive politics can be done this way. I am not telling our freshmen to be pushovers rather to pursue legislative and policy goals in a manner that reflects the status the office we hold deserves.

You are not always guaranteed to be friends with everyone, but that is not the goal. The goal is to be effective and pass good public policy. You should always treat people, no matter who they are, with the respect and dignity you want to be treated with. Lastly, do not check your values and beliefs at the door!

[Terrance Carroll]

PoliticalPrincess,

My frustration had nothing to do with being in the majority. I was most frustrated with the inability of the legislature to explore the substance of legislation in more depth. This is not the fault of the legislators who introduced any particular bill. It is just the nature of the system. We only have 120 days to do our work and most times major changes to the law are dealt with in a single committee hearing. This is unfair to all involved in the process. The congressional model is probably a good starting point, but to use this model would require less bills to be introduced within our 120 day session.

[Terrance Carroll]

Thanks everyone for the excellent questions and for allowing me to share with you today. I enjoyed the exchange of ideas!

Terrance Carroll

[Regina Goodwon]

Stop booing about the email from Jesse Peterson. Where were you when Jesse Lee Peterson said the same thing and worse on C-SPAN the very same day of the 1 million people march? Hmmmm? This email and comments have been circling around for months. Yet you and the other so-called lawmakers are crying foul?

He has said a whole lot worse than this. Contact C-Span and see if you can obtain transcripts of his comments on Katrina.

[Doug Schultz]

Dear Terrance,
I found your comment about building a wall around Colorado to keep out the minutemen stupid. I have gone to two minutemen meetings, have you??? The people there were mostly between 40 and 75 years old. These people truely care about Colorado and the USA. They talked about illegals causing crime. The effects that illegals have on our schools. Also how our culture itself is changing. Never once did I hear anyone making a racial or threating comment. When you hold Public office you will never please 100% of the people. So it should come down to doing whats right. You know what the illegals are doing to Denver. Just look at Manual High School, once a proud African American school now because of all of the illegals or Mexicans the school has been trashed to say the least. Being an old high school sports fan and coach this breaks my heart. Look at West, North, Kenedy, Lincoln, Aurora Central, Montbellow, Hinkley high schools. They have all changed, have you noticed??? You want to talk about the crime?? Do you want to talk emergency rooms??? Do you want to talk about the Denver Police Officer that got shot in the back of the head??? Do you want to talk about the drugs that are being sold to our children??? Do you want to talk about the low level of education that our children are getting because it takes longer to teach children that don't speak english!!!! I could go on Terrance but I won't I will say that Mexicans have invaded our neighborhood, our local schools and our enviormemt. For you to complain about some stupid email you got makes you look like a bitch. Don't you think other politicions get stupid emails from stupid people? I bet Tancredo can show you a few. So Terrance instead of looking like a bitch I am asking you to stand up like a man and do the right thing for the middle class legal black, brown, white and all other legal citizens in Colorado. Sorry about the bitch reference but I wanted to get your attention. Call me if you please.

Thank you,
Doug Schultz
303-364-6633

[CHARLIE,MONTOYA]

IT,S GOOD TO HAVE A MINNORITY TO REPRESENT THE PEOPLE/HOPEFULLY YOU ARE THERE TO REPRESENT ALL MONIORITYIES EQUAILY;/ARE A ASSET TO COLORADO/SET A BEST EXAMPLE FOR THE FOLKS OF THIS STATE/NOT SO PRESJUCIAL AS MR.TOMCANCREDO THE RACIST HAS BEEN UPON LATINOIS/THOSE WHO WISH TO BETTER EDUCATE THEMSELVES/BE HAVE A MORE PRODUCTIVE LIFE IN AMERICA;MR TOMCREDO HAS MADE IT A LIFE THREAT TO BE AS RACIST HAS HE CAN/MAKE MEX IMMIGANIENTS SUFFER FOR HIS CHILDHOOD;ALL I ASK IN EXPECTARION TO YOU IS DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR THE PEOPLE;YOU ARE ENPOWERD TO BE THE GAUARDIAN FOR THOSE WHO CAN,T CHANGE SOME ISSUES/DO WHAT IS BEST FOR COLORADO; SEMPER FI'

[Michael Almeida]

I saw his remarks during a january colorado debate on illegal immigration. i'd like to see his proof that illegal immigration has no affect on wages. i'd gladly debate him on the issue, if possible.

[thebizofknowledge]

I stumbled across your blog while I was doing some online research. I was quite impressed with Representative Carroll's responses to these questions. He was fair, clear, and focused throughout.

[Chana Jones]

Can you please contact me regarding your prison reform issues?

[Shaun K. Smith]

How do you feel about the upcomming audit of CMHIP on personal. How Will it help with any abuse of staff and patients on the units. Who should people contact with any inside information about the Hospital.

[Ken Ransford]

Representative Carroll: Representative Kathleen Curry recommended I contact you. I am a CPA and the Colorado State CPA Society recently reported in their monthly magazine that since 1990, prison spending's share of the state budget has doubled, while higher ed's share of the budget has been cut in half. In 1990 we spent 4 times as much on college than on prisons, and now spending on each is about equal. I think this is very bad policy. Kathleen recommended that we need to reform sentencing and parole issues first. Do you have any thoughts on this? Could we freeze spending on prisons, a la TABOR?

[michael p. lamirande]

Dear sir, I was told to contact you by Congresswoman Diana DeGette. I am having a hard time getting a Colorado I.D. I am a tax payer, a registerd voter, a 14 yr. U.S. navy veteran. I have worked for the U.S. postal service here in Colorado. Iwas called back to the Post Office, but needed a Colorado I.D., and was refused. I had with me , a birth certificate, a V.A. picture I.D.,a DD2-14, a W-2 from the post office, I was finger printed when I started working at the post office to show I had no felonies, and to prove who I was. With all this, I was refused an I.D. Now I don't have a job until I get that I.D. I have nothing else to show the DMV. i am a prisoner here, can't get an I.D., so I lost my job, can't leave, No I.D. , means no plane, no bus, no train , no job. please help me, Thank you Michael P. Lamirande

[michael p. lamirande]

Dear sir, I was told to contact you by Congresswoman Diana DeGette. I am having a hard time getting a Colorado I.D. I am a tax payer, a registerd voter, a 14 yr. U.S. navy veteran. I have worked for the U.S. postal service here in Colorado. Iwas called back to the Post Office, but needed a Colorado I.D., and was refused. I had with me , a birth certificate, a V.A. picture I.D.,a DD2-14, a W-2 from the post office, I was finger printed when I started working at the post office to show I had no felonies, and to prove who I was. With all this, I was refused an I.D. Now I don't have a job until I get that I.D. I have nothing else to show the DMV. i am a prisoner here, can't get an I.D., so I lost my job, can't leave, No I.D. , means no plane, no bus, no train , no job. please help me, Thank you Michael P. Lamirande

[michael p. lamirande]

Dear sir, I was told to contact you by Congresswoman Diana DeGette. I am having a hard time getting a Colorado I.D. I am a tax payer, a registerd voter, a 14 yr. U.S. navy veteran. I have worked for the U.S. postal service here in Colorado. Iwas called back to the Post Office, but needed a Colorado I.D., and was refused. I had with me , a birth certificate, a V.A. picture I.D.,a DD2-14, a W-2 from the post office, I was finger printed when I started working at the post office to show I had no felonies, and to prove who I was. With all this, I was refused an I.D. Now I don't have a job until I get that I.D. I have nothing else to show the DMV. i am a prisoner here, can't get an I.D., so I lost my job, can't leave, No I.D. , means no plane, no bus, no train , no job. please help me, Thank you Michael P. Lamirande

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