Colorado Democrats are pedaling hard to keep their members in line Thursday for a vote on a controversial Senate bill that would effectively ban the sale and manufacturing of guns in the state.
An original cosponsor of Senate Bill 3 pulled his support just before last week’s vote that was ultimately cancelled. The Democrat Senate whip from Pueblo is also backing away.
Now Jesse Paul from the Colorado Sun reports that embattled Democrat state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis of Longmont is absent today and excused from votes.
Coincidence?
Not on your freaking life.
PeakNation™ will recall that Lewis is the target of an ethics investigation, which held its first hearing on Tuesday regarding allegations that Lewis is a lousy boss who made an employee do her lawn work and withhwld pay, among other complaints.
The hearing didn’t go so well for Lewis with her own party members.
The Denver Post was the only newspaper that covered the hearing:
She has denied any wrongdoing and said she’s being used as a “platform” by the aides’ union in its bid for collective bargaining.
Interestingly, there is another major bill that is being voted on today to gut the Colorado Labor Peace Act, which the unions so desperately want to get rid of.
As for the gun bill, Paul reminds that one of its lead sponsors is Sen. Julie Gonzales, who also chairs the Ethics Committee.
Some inside baseball: Jaquez Lewis is facing an ethics investigation. Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat and a lead sponsor of Senate Bill 3, is the chair of the Senate Ethics Committee leading the investigation.
— Jesse Aaron Paul ☀ (@JesseAPaul) February 13, 2025
From the Post:
Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat chairing the committee, said Jaquez Lewis’ response did not show any change in behavior, or attempt at it, in the year-plus since concerns were raised internally about her behavior. Jaquez Lewis said she had hired an “HR trained professional” — but Gonzales noted that Jaquez Lewis had not identified that person and the nature of their work or specified how Jaquez Lewis had tried to change her behavior as a result.
Will Lewis show up later today for the votes? Or is payback going to be a bitch?
Stay tuned!