The Pacific Events Center – our new meeting place - is large and bright and offers us the chance to expand.   Thanks to the owner, OJ Pratt!

Outback Steak house catered a lovely lunch.  Thanks to Mike and Jenny!

Todd Shepherd was unable to attend due to illness.  Kelly Maher, who has worked with Todd and hosts WhoSaidYouSad.com , filled in for him.  She gave us a great talk on MEDIA BAIS, and helped us understand how to work to counter it.  Kelly has agreed to come back and teach us specifically how to do what she does, and I look forward to that!

The gals from RIGHT TURN COLORADO  followed on message with examples of how they are learning to use the new Medias and hitting the street to educate Larimer County of the values of conservatism.

Lisa Rue, a victim of identity theft, brought her 5” thick folder of legal documents collected over the years of trying to clear her name.  She encourages us to call our senators about HOUSE BILL 11-1049. Barker/Roberts (formerly HB 12-1101).

From Lisa:  This is the information about the bill:
Sponsored by Rep. Barker
It will be heard in the Senate Judiciary committee soon. 
Senators:   Carroll- Chair, Guzman,  Giron, King, Lundberg, Nicholson, Roberts 

Talking Points:   We need this bill to be able to convict people for Identity Theft as a class IV felony.  Not a lesser offense of fraud.  This law will give District Attorney’s a stronger position because criminals will not be able to get out of their crime by simply stating,  “I didn’t know it (a Social Security Number) belonged to a real person.”  It will make the law similar to sexual assault laws.  With sexual assault, if the criminal says, “I didn’t know she was 15.”  Not knowing is irrelevant.  Their knowledge of that fact is not the point.  HB 12-1101, puts the onus is on the criminal to be sure they are not breaking the law. 

Sue Sharkey, CU Regent from CD4, Spoke about the proposed state legislation, HB 1252.  See Times Call article, below.

Bill would create database of CU salaries, teaching loads, expenses

Regent Sue Sharkey to ask colleagues to endorse legislation

By Brittany Anas Camera Staff Writerdailycamera.com

A University of Colorado regent said she will ask the board to endorse a state bill requiring CU -- and other major public universities -- to create a searchable database of professors' salaries, teaching loads, travel expenses and grant money.

Regent Sue Sharkey, R-Windsor, said Thursday she plans to bring forward a resolution to the board next month seeking support for the Republican-sponsored "Transparency of Higher Education Financial Information" bill. Regent Jim Geddes, R-Sedalia, has indicated he'll be a co-sponsor of the resolution.

Sharkey said that providing the information to taxpayers through the database fits into CU's guiding principles of transparency and accountability. In light of a recent Camera report about tuition increases being used to pay for raises for administrators, she said the university needs to be transparent about the way it's spending money.

Sharkey also said she often gets questions from constituents about professors' salaries and teaching loads, and having a database would help parents understand the complexity of the university system's budget.

But university officials and faculty leaders have early hesitation about the proposed state legislation, HB 1252.

CU system spokesman Ken McConnellogue said university officials are concerned about the fiscal impact of the bill, including how much money it would cost the university to compile and maintain the database. The bill would require that expenditure and revenue data be updated every five days.

There are 2,971 tenured and tenure-track faculty members in the CU system and 1,370 non-tenured faculty members, according to McConnellogue. The Boulder campus alone employs 1,090 tenured and tenure-track faculty members and 296 non-tenured faculty members.

He said the school already provides substantial amounts of financial data to the state. Employees realize that they are public employees and their salaries are public, as well as the number of classes they teach.

"We're big believers in transparency," McConnellogue said.

House Bill 1252 is sponsored by Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, and B.J. Nikkel, R-Loveland. The bill would require that all salaries be provided anonymously, but that extra information be included for professors -- including their benefits packages paid by the university.

The bill would apply to CU, Colorado State University, Colorado School of Mines and the University of Northern Colorado.

CU faculty governance leaders were mostly unaware of the measure, and it wasn't discussed at the systemwide Faculty Council meeting in Denver on Thursday.

But Greg Carey, a psychology professor at CU-Boulder, said faculty teaching loads can vary from semester to semester, depending on factors such as departmental needs and schedules for research.

Mark Malone, chairman of the systemwide Faculty Council, said professors have been willingly taking on additional teaching loads amid budget cuts -- which has been publicly recognized by CU regents.

The bill calls for the online, searchable databases to be available by July 1, 2013.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Brittany Anas at 303-473-1132 or anasb@dailycamera.com.