Republican Kevin Grantham will lead the state Senate in 2017, where his party held onto its one-seat majority. He represents District 2, located in north-central Colorado and includes northwestern Denver suburbs, and says he鈥檚 the first rural Senate president in over four decades.
Here is his take on the upcoming session.
How he will govern with such a narrow majority:
Grantham: It鈥檚 on a case-by-case basis. You know it depends on the issue. It depends on the circumstances and it depends on who鈥檚 on which side of which issues.
What he sees as the most significant state budget challenge:
Grantham: The ever-increasing amount we鈥檙e having to pay on Medicaid, and for the expansions. It鈥檚 cutting into some of our other -- what we feel are necessary functions of government including transportation infrastructure, that鈥檚 going to be another one of our main focuses.
His thoughts on the transportation funding solution:
Grantham: It will be a multi-faceted solution, if we鈥檙e able to get it done before the middle of May. 鈥� If there is going to be a long-term solution to transportation infrastructure, it鈥檚 going to almost certainly require something that the voters are going to have to weigh in on. What that is, we鈥檙e still talking about.
Capitol Coverage is a collaborative public policy reporting project, providing news and analysis to communities across Colorado for more than a decade. Fifteen public radio stations participate in Capitol Coverage from throughout Colorado.
