Michael Garcia

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Michael Garcia
Michael Garcia
Member of the Colorado House of Representatives
from the 42nd district
In office
January 10, 2001 – February 1, 2008
Preceded by Bob Hagedorn
Succeeded by Karen Middleton
Born January 11, 1974 (1974-01-11) (age 34)[1]
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Political party Democratic
Spouse none
Religion Catholic[2]

Michael Garcia (born January 11, 1974) is a former Colorado legislator. Elected to the Colorado House of Representatives as a Democrat in 2000, Garcia was re-elected three times to represent House District 42, which includes central Aurora, Colorado.[3]

Contents

[edit] Early career

Born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina[1] to a U.S. Army veteran, Garcia's family settled in Aurora, Colorado, where he attended Aurora Public Schools and graduated from Aurora Central High School in 1992. He then earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado in 1996 and a master's degree from the University of Arizona in 1998. After graduation, Garcia received a fellowship from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to serve as a legislative assistant to Texas U.S. Representative Solomon P. Ortiz[4]; he worked in Washington, DC until 1999 before returning to Colorado.[1]

From May 2003 to December 2007, he was as Coordinator for the Youth Council for Public Policy at the University of Colorado at Boulder. While working at CU, he taught college courses on American government, including a course titled "Civic Engagement: Using the Electoral Process as a Tool for Social Change."[5] He has also served on the Board of Directors of Spirit of Aurora, the Aurora Education Foundation, and the Aurora Museum Foundation.[1] In 2006, Garcia was named one of the Denver Business Journal's "40 under 40" list of young achievers. Until his resignation from the legislature, he was a member of the Hispanic steering committee for Sen. Hillary Clinton's Presidential Campaign.[6]

Garcia is unmarried and has no children, but is close to his nieces, Alex and Sophia, and nephew, Christopher.[2] As of January 2008, Garcia was engaged to be married.[7]

[edit] Legislative career

Garcia returned to Colorado and launched his first legislative campaign in 2000, winning a seat in the Colorado House of Representatives[4] after defeating three other opponents in a contested Democratic party primary. His election at the age of 26 made him the youngest legislator in the state of Colorado.[6] He was subsequently re-elected three times to the state house, winning handily each time in the solidly Democratic district.[3]

In 2004, after Democrats gained control of the state house, Garcia was elected Assistant Majority Leader, a post he held through 2008.[2]

In 2006, Garcia sponsored legislation to create a Denver Broncos specialty license plate.[8]

[edit] 2007 legislative session

Bills Introduced in 2007 by Rep. Garcia
(for which Rep. Garcia is the primary originating sponsor)
BILL TITLE OUTCOME
HB07-1072    Concerning the elimination of requirements for a vote ratifying an all-union agreement. Vetoed by Gov. Ritter
HB07-1147 Concerning the confidentiality of witness protection materials. Signed by Gov. Ritter
HB07-1157 Concerning real estate foreclosures. Signed by Gov. Ritter
HB07-1230 Concerning claims practices for bodily injury to a third-party claimant arising out of the use of a motor vehicle. Postponed indefinitely in House committee
HB07-1376 Concerning the date on which precinct caucuses are held. Signed by Gov. Ritter

In the 2007 and 2008 legislative sessions, Garcia sat on the House Appropriations Committee and the House Finance Committee.[9][10]

During the 2007 legislative session, Garcia sponsored a measure[11] to lower the age of legislative candidacy in Colorado, currently set at 25.[12] The referendum, an amendment to the Colorado Constitution to lower the age limit to 21, (Garcia's original proposal would have set the age at 18[13]) passed the General Assembly and will be on the statewide general election ballot in 2008.[14]

Garcia also sponsored contentious legislation during the 2007 session to amend Colorado's labor laws to ease restrictions on the formation of closed shop unions.[15] Although it passed the legislature, the bill was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter.[16] Following the veto, Garcia stated that he would not seek to overturn the veto or re-introduce the legislation.[17]

Garcia was the House sponsor of a measure introduced in the Colorado State Senate to require that passage of an English competency test be required for high school graduation. The measure died in a Senate committee.[18] Garcia introduced legislation which revised rules surrounding real estate foreclosures, including forbidding consensual liens on foreclosed properties.[19] Garcia also sponsored revisions to House rules to limit the number and type of introductions that could be given by members on the House floor.[20]

Between the 2007 and 2008 legislative sessions, Garcia chaired the Interim Committee on Long-term Care Services and Supports for Persons with Developmental Disabilities[21][22]. As a result of his work with this committee, he proposed a half-cent sales tax increase to fund services for several thousand Colorado residents with developmental disabilities currently on waiting lists,[23] [24] but withdrew the proposal amid criticism.[25]

[edit] Resignation

On January 31, 2008, a female lobbyist accused Garcia of making lewd remarks and exposing himself to her while playing pool at a Denver bar on January 7 following a fundraiser for Garcia; she filed a complaint with House speaker Andrew Romanoff after learning of other similar allegations against Garcia.[26] The following day, his resignation, in a one-sentence letter, was received by the House of Representatives.[27] In a statement released later in the day, Garcia stated:

“ Initial press reports are highly inaccurate regarding my alleged conduct. The other party and I engaged in consensual conduct that was inappropriate given my position in the legislature and the fact that the other party is a lobbyist. I do not want this incident to be a barrier to the work of the State of Colorado. [...] The interests of the state are greater than my own. As a result, I have made the difficult decision to resign.[28] ”

A Democratic party vacancy committee met on February 10 and chose Karen Middleton, who had already announced her campaign for Garcia's House seat, to fill Garcia's seat for the remainder of the term.[29][7] Colorado House Democrats caucused the following week[30] and elected Rep. Terrance Carroll to be Garcia's replacement as assistant majority leader.[31]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Representative Garcia (html). Project Vote Smart. Retrieved on 2007-11-18.
  2. ^ a b c Michael Garcia - Colorado - State House District 42 candidate (html). RockyMountainNews.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-18.
  3. ^ a b State House District 42 (html). COMaps. Retrieved on 2007-11-11.
  4. ^ a b Meet Michael Garcia (html). Michael Garcia: Colorado House Representative, District 42. Retrieved on 2007-11-18.
  5. ^ Franklin, Marcy. "Flashing scandal forces former CU teacher to resign", The Campus Press, 2 February 2008. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  6. ^ a b Bartels, Lynn. "Meteoric career crashes to Earth in 'big shocker'", Rocky Mountain News, 2 February 2008. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  7. ^ a b Staff Reports. "Dems scrambling to replace Garcia", Aurora Sentinel, 1 February 2008. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  8. ^ Staff Reports. "Extra!, February 18", Rocky Mountain News, 18 February 2006. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  9. ^ House Committees of Reference (html). Colorado General Assembly. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
  10. ^ House Committees of Reference (html). Colorado General Assembly. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  11. ^ O'Connell, J.C.. "Aurora legislators give session high marks for local bills", Aurora Sentinel, 9 May 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-18. 
  12. ^ Anas, Brittany. "18 and ready to run for state office?", Boulder Daily Camera, 19 February 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-18. 
  13. ^ Martinez, Julia C.. "Newcomers flooding the legislature", Denver Post, 7 January 2007. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  14. ^ At the Capitol (html). Michael Garcia: Colorado House Representative, District 42. Retrieved on 2007-11-18.
  15. ^ Milstead, David. "Pro-union bill has businesses worried", Rocky Mountain News, 19 January 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-18. 
  16. ^ "Ritter vetoes union bill", Denver Post, 10 February 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-18. 
  17. ^ Couch, Mark P.. "Fence-mending after fractious union-bill fight", Denver Post, 11 February 2007. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  18. ^ Brown, Jennifer. "English effort is written off", Denver Post, 13 April 2007. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  19. ^ LaRocque, Tom. "Consensual lien laws change", Denver Post, 12 January 2008. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  20. ^ Haley, Dan. "Searching the Western Slope", Denver Post, 14 January 2007. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  21. ^ Garcia, Michael. "Michael Garcia reports on Interim Committee on Long-term Care Services & Supports for Persons with Developmental Disabilities", Colorado House Dems, 24 July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-18. 
  22. ^ Gathright, Alan. "Panel to target backlog of disabled adults in need", Rocky Mountain News, 30 June 2007. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  23. ^ Barge, Chris. "Voters may be asked to OK half-penny sales tax increase", Rocky Mountain News, 30 August 2007. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  24. ^ Brown, Jennifer. "Surge of tax plans leading to overload", Denver Post, 8 September 2007. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  25. ^ Washington, April. "Bill to raise state sales tax pulled by sponsor", Rocky Mountain News, 25 October 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-18. 
  26. ^ Brown, Jennifer. "Aurora lawmaker accused of exposing himself to lobbyist", Denver Post, 31 January 2008. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  27. ^ Ingold, John. "Garcia shocks House, resigns", Denver Post, 2 February 2008. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  28. ^ Reilly, Pozner & Connelly (February 1, 2008). "Regarding Former Representative Michael Garcia". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-02-02.
  29. ^ Staff Reports. "Middleton tabbed to replace Garcia", Aurora Sentinel, 10 February 2008. Retrieved on 2008-02-11. 
  30. ^ DeGette, Cara. "Top Dem Leader Resigns Amid Sex Allegation", Colorado Confidential, 1 February 2008. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  31. ^ Colorado House Democrats (February 5, 2008). "House Democrats Elect Terrance Carroll to Assistant Majority Leader". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.

[edit] External links