Budget cuts, tax policy, medical marijuana, and state employee retirement plans – with the legislature at the midpoint of the 2010 session, how are these issues being addressed? We are very fortunate to have four legislative leaders join us for the annual legislative town hall meeting on March 30th. Each legislator will give brief opening remarks, and then we will open the discussion up to members of the audience. Please join us for this lively program – and join the discussion!
Senate President Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont
First elected to the Colorado General Assembly in 2004, Shaffer serves as President of the Colorado Senate. He represents Senate District 17, which includes Longmont, Erie, Lafayette and Louisville. Shaffer has served on a number of senate committees, including Health and Human Services, Finance, and Judiciary. He chaired the senate Judiciary Committee from 2007-2008.
Shaffer attended Stanford University on a Navy ROTC scholarship. Upon graduation in 1993, he was commissioned into the U.S. Navy and made multiple deployments to the Persian Gulf. He graduated from the University of Colorado School of Law in 2001 and is of counsel at the Longmont law firm of Grant, Grant & Goiran LLP.
House Speaker Terrance Carroll
Representative Terrance D. Carroll is the 54th Speaker of the Colorado House. He is the first African American in that leadership role. Carroll, 40, is an attorney with Greenberg Traurig, LLP, and an ordained minister. Since 2003, Carroll has represented northeast Denver. He served four years as chair of the House Judiciary Committee and, during the 2008 session, he was Assistant Majority Leader.
A graduate of the University of Denver College of Law, Carroll graduated with honors from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia with a degree in political science. He also holds a Master of Divinity degree from the Iliff School of Theology in Denver and is a graduate of the Summer Leadership Institute at Harvard University Divinity School’s Center for the Study of Values in Public Life.
Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry
Josh Penry serves as the Minority Leader of the Colorado State Senate. He was first elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 2004 and subsequently elected to the State Senate in 2006.
Penry is a native of Colorado and a long-time resident of Western Colorado. He graduated from Grand Junction High School and Mesa State College, where he quarterbacked the Mesa State Mavericks football team and served as student body president. Prior to his election to the Colorado General Assembly, Penry served in a variety of capacities to Congressman Scott McInnis. He is also employed by Home Loan and Investment Company, a banking, financial services and insurance company that has been in business in western Colorado for more than a century.
House Assistant Minority Leader David Balmer
Representative Balmer was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 2004, re-elected to a second term in 2006 and re-elected to a third term in 2008. For the past three years, his colleagues have elected him to serve as Assistant House Minority Leader (Number 2 Republican in the House). Balmer serves on the House Business Affairs and Legislative Council committees.
Away from the legislature, Balmer is a consultant specializing in brownfield redevelopment. From 1994-2007, he worked as a Senior Manager with Cherokee Investment Partners, a brownfield redevelopment firm. Additionally, Balmer is a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve and has served in deployments to Afghanistan and Bosnia. Balmer earned a JD from Wake Forest Law School and a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.