Registered Colorado Republicans gathering tonight for their party’s precinct caucus will tackle topics ranging from 2nd Amendment rights to educational battles as they present resolutions that could become part of the state GOP party platform.
Among the resolutions made available to Complete Colorado ahead of tonight’s caucus are calls for an Article V convention of states, a state law supporting religious freedom, opposition to Common Core, and repeals for all gun legislation passed by a Democrat-controlled legislature in 2013.
“The resolutions show where our party stands on the issues that impact the people of Colorado,” GOP spokesman Owen Keith told Complete Colorado.
“This precinct hereby urges all Republican candidates and elected officials to repeal the illogical Magazine Ban, repeal the expansion of the Brady Registration System, and repeal all of the Democrats’ gun controls from the 2013 Legislative Session, and support the right to keep and bear arms, and further urges the Republican Party to only support candidates who stand firmly for our 2nd Amendment freedoms,” one resolution read.
Another resolution urges a “state-level Religious Freedom Restoration Act so that state and local government shall not violate the free exercise of religion.”
Opposition to Common Core — a controversial program at both the state and national levels — was well-represented among the proposed resolutions. One version argued for state recognition for “the diversity of needs, learning styles, and achievement objectives in educating Colorado students in the K-12 educational system, as well as the important roles historically played by parents, educators, and local and state officials in that system, and therefore to reject and repeal the mandatory universal adoption and implementation statewide of the so-called “Common Core standards” in mathematics and English language arts.”
Also on tap: a resolution supporting the “exclusive use of American constitutional, statutory, and case law.”
Several proposed resolutions seek to call for an Article V convention under the U.S. Constitution for the purpose of “amendments to the Constitution of the United States that impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and limit the terms of office for its officials and for members of Congress.”
Not all resolutions are as broadly focused. In addition to Constitutional amendments and state law considerations, rank-and-file Republicans have submitted house cleaning resolutions aimed at changing–or maintaining–party bylaws and rules.
Drawing the ire of some party activists were rule changes made by the Republican National Committee in January.
They took issue with “changes made to Rule 16 by the Republican National Committee on January 24, 2014 [that] attempt to impose a national standard for allocation and binding of delegates to the Republican National Convention, destroying the Colorado caucus process used to determine the representatives of Colorado Republicans to our national decision making body,” the resolution noted. The proposed solution devolved power back to the state and precinct level, and rejected national party intrusion on state decisions.
State GOP chair Ryan Call has also drawn a resolution–a no-confidence measure outlining what the submitter described as Call’s lack of representation for “the interest of the rank and file Republicans” in both “word and deed.”
Resolutions may be submitted by any precinct member, and may be shared and distributed both locally within counties as well as across the state.
Successful support at the precinct level will move those resolutions onto resolution committees at the county, and then state level for similar consideration, as they refine similarly-worded submissions for clarity and concision. Approximately 100 resolutions were presented for approval at the 2012 GOP state assembly at the University of Denver.
Should a resolution receive support from a majority at the GOP state assembly, it will placed for consideration as part of the Republican National Committee.
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