Colorado Ethics Commission Probes 17 Democrats Over Vail Retreat Contributions

By: Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics

The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission, on Tuesday, voted to move forward with investigations into 17 state Democratic lawmakers who have been accused of accepting illegal contributions to pay for an October retreat in Vail.

Colorado Common Cause filed complaints against members of the Colorado Opportunity Caucus, a group of moderate Democrats in the General Assembly.

The complaints are against:

Sen. Lindsey Daugherty of Arvada, the group’s chair and Rep. Shannon Bird of Westminster. Bird has said she did not participate in the retreat, nor was she part of the conversation seeking $25,000 from One Main Street Colorado to pay for hotel rooms at the Sonnenalp Vail resort for the Oct. 3-5 retreat. She said in a statement Tuesday that she has filed a motion to dismiss the complaint.

The other lawmakers named in the complaints are Reps. Tish Mauro of Pueblo, Michael Carter of Aurora, Jacque Phillips of Thornton, Rebekah Stewart of Lakewood, Meghan Lukens of Steamboat Springs, Karen McCormick of Longmont, Cecelia Espenoza and Sean Camacho, both of Denver; Matthew Martinez of Alamosa, Katie Stewart of Durango, William Lindstedt of Broomfield; Senate President pro tem Dafna Michaelson Jenet of Aurora, Sens. Marc Snyder of Colorado Springs, Kyle Mullica of Thornton and Judy Amabile of Boulder.

The Colorado Common Cause complaint said that One Main Street organized a closed-door “Summit” for business advocates to “educate” Opportunity Caucus members on issues important to business interests.

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