Steadman hopes to tackle budget in 2013

For a minute there, state Sen. Pat Steadman thought he was going to be running unopposed this November.

His Republican opponent, Brandon Kelley, dropped out in late June and until late July the GOP had not appointed anyone to replace him.

But a vacancy committee made Colorado history July 21 when it appointed out gay Republican Michael Carr to fill the position.

“It’s par for the course to have an opponent,” Steadman chuckled during an interview with Out Front. “But this hasn’t changed my campaign plans.”

While the Steadman-Carr match-up hasn’t garnered much statewide attention yet — Steadman is expected to easily win the district where 48 percent of registered voters claim the Democratic Party as their own — the race will nevertheless be a first for Colorado: Two gay men will go head-to-head for a seat at the Colorado General Assembly. The district, newly-redrawn during the reapportionment process, stretches from central Denver into Glendale, the Denver Tech Center and parts of Aurora.

The reapportionment process takes place every 10 years using data from the latest United State Census.

About 30 percent of registered voters in the district’s new boundaries are Republicans and another 20 percent of registered voters are unaffiliated.

Like Carr, Steadman was first appointed to his seat by a vacancy committee in 2009. Steadman successfully ran for re-election in 2010, winning 70 percent of the vote.

Steadman said he sought the seat after learning out lesbian state Sen. Jennifer Vega, D-Denver, was vacating her seat to move to Australia. He said Vega’s departure, coupled with term limits forcing lawmakers out of Colorado’s legislature, posed a threat to institutional knowledge.

Steadman had previously gotten to know the General Assembly as a lobbyist for Mendez Consulting since 1994. He was a partner in the firm.

As a senator, Steadman went right to work on the Joint Budget Committee, the panel tasked with authoring the state’s budget. He said he’s proud of the work on the committee, which included passing two bipartisan budgets with few detractors.

Other bills Steadman sponsored range from providing additional health care assistance to eligible families, combating bullying, promoting the arts, regulating medical marijuana and supervising community corrections.

Steadman said he is most proud of his 2010 needle exchange bill and finding funding for the Colorado Energy Office.

Until Steadman’s bill was passed and signed into law, state health agencies were only allowed to collect dirty needles from drug users. His legislation allowed agencies to exchange those dirty needles for clean ones to prevent the spread of HIV.

“Thanks to this program, I’ve met people who have taken their first HIV test and stopped sharing needles,” Steadman said. “It’s saved lives.”

And during the 2012 regular session, Steadman worked with Morgan County Republican Rep. Jon Becker on a compromise to fund and evolve the Governor’s Energy Office that focused exclusively on renewable energy into the Colorado Energy Office that continued its mission while incorporating traditional forms of energy like oil, gas and fossil fuels into its purview.

Steadman, who has worked on LGBT rights issues spanning more than two decades, is perhaps most recently recognized statewide for his work on the Colorado Civil Union Act.

He first sponsored the bill during the 2011 session. The legislation that would establish most marriage rights for same-sex couples cleared his chamber with bipartisan support was killed at a House Judiciary Committee hearing.

The following year, he re-introduced the bill. This time it also garnered bipartisan support in the Senate and in the House, clearing three committees with Republican votes. But the bill died after House leadership declared the chamber to be in recess, running the clock out.

Steadman declined to re-introduce the bill during a special session. He said his chamber would pass the bill if it could clear the House. Fellow gay Denver Democrat Rep. Mark Ferrandino introduced the bill, but it died at its first committee hearing.

Steadman has high hopes the Democrats will regain control of the state House after the November elections. Republicans won a one vote 33-32 advantage after the 2010 election.

“We have unfinished business,” Steadman said. “Next year’s legislature is going to be much more favorable and we’ll be able to care of business that hasn’t been addressed during the last few years.”

Besides the Colorado Civil Union Act, Steadman hopes to address a tuition bill for undocumented immigrants and Colorado’s fiscal status. He said the General Assembly needs to find resolutions to address three constitutional budget requirements including the Tax Payers Bill of Rights that forbids government for raising taxes without voter approval, the Gallagher Amendment that sets homeowner property taxes and Amendment 23 that requires a minimum funding for public education.

“If we’re going to do serious reform, everything needs to be on the table,” Steadman said.

Steadman’s hope is that if the state can raise more revenue, it would be able to fund public and higher education at greater levels that would attract more business.

“The business community is very interested in a state that funds education,” he said.