House members get a grade

Northern Colorado lawmakers wrapped up this year's legislative session last Friday. Yesterday, we reviewed the accomplishments of the region's Senate members. Today, we look at the county's House delegation and the various bills area lawmakers tackled.

HOUSE

Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud

Grade: C+

Lundberg gets a plus by his name for sponsoring one of the most consumer-driven bills of the session -- House Bill 1208, which allowed gasoline discounts to return to grocery stores and other retailers.

He sponsored it with a Democrat in the House, and northern Colorado neighbor Sen. Steve Johnson carried it in the Senate. It was good to see Lundberg working on such a practical bill.

Other than that, however, Lundberg's votes seemed overtly partisan. It appears that often, he voted against bills simply because they were sponsored by Democrats. Those included his "no" vote on House Bill 1118, which would have set requirements for high school graduation, and on a toothless resolution that merely recognized public school teachers. In those cases, he was one of only two or three lawmakers out of 65 to vote no.

Like State Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, Lundberg said he wanted to represent his constituents' voices, and that helped inform his votes. But Lundberg seemed unwilling to compromise at all, and for that we give him a C.

Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley

Grade: A+

Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff told the Tribune's editorial board Wednesday that Greeley is lucky to have Jim Riesberg. And we couldn't agree more.

Riesberg is one of the hardest-working people under the dome, which can be proven simply by looking at the math: He carried 19 pieces of legislation this session. The limit is five, meaning he had to ask Romanoff for permission to carry more bills.

Among many accomplishments, Riesberg shored up money for older Coloradans; for bioscience and biofuel research grants, which could help seed new businesses; and for state construction projects.

He chaired the Capital Development Committee, which prioritizes those construction projects, and deftly balanced the needs of his constituents with the needs of the whole state.

He carried a bill requested by the University of Northern Colorado to regulate athletic trainers; he sponsored a measure that will help Coloradans be more responsible with their personal budgets; and he carried a measure to make it easier for law enforcement to crackdown on drunken drivers.

Riesberg also weathered some mini-controversies that Republicans generated over a train ride and a comment about taxes. He told the Tribune he would not refrain from speaking his mind, no matter how the opposition party tried to twist his words. That is commendable.

Jerry Sonnenberg

Grade: A

For a freshman lawmaker, Sonnenberg kept himself busy this session.

He carried nine measures, including several agriculture-related bills.

Specifically, he sponsored a bill that made several changes to the Colorado Feed Law. The most important is a provision that prevents the use of "adulterated feed" for animals raised for human consumption. Adulterated food is food that has been contaminated to the point that it is considered unfit for human consumption.

Supporters argued this is a good way to prevent prion diseases like mad cow disease from reaching consumers' meat. It was a good example of Sonnenberg using his background as a rancher to work for the best interests of his largely agricultural-based constituents.

He also did his best to reach out in a massive region with few defined urban centers. He held breakfast meetings -- dubbed "Dutch treat" meetings -- throughout his district on the second Monday of each month.

Glenn Vaad

Grade: B--

When it came to speaking on the House floor, Vaad was a little more shy than fellow freshman Sonnenberg.

He said he wanted to take this year to learn the process and was reluctant to "go to the well" to talk about issues he didn't know well.

He carried only two measures -- one that made minor changes to motor vehicle insurance and one that took county employees' names off a published list of salaries and job descriptions.

Vaad was the ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee, however, and we anticipate good things to come from his expertise in that area. He will be on a transportation task force this summer, and anticipates working on a possible referendum regarding transportation funding.

We are glad to see Vaad taking the lead on an issue with which he's so familiar. But he was elected to work on many other things in addition to transportation, and that's why we put a minus sign behind his grade.