Mark Ferrandino

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Mark Ferrandino
Member of the Colorado House of Representatives from the 2nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office  October 1, 2007[1]
Preceded by	Mike Cerbo
Born	c.1978[2] Nyack, New York[3]
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Gregory Wertsch[4]
Residence	Denver, Colorado
Profession	Fiscal Analyst

Mark Ferrandino is a legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado. Appointed to the Colorado House of Representatives in 2007, Ferrandino represents House District 2, encompassing south central Denver.^[5] He is the first openly gay male legislator in Colorado history.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Legislative career 2.1 2007 legislative appointment 2.2 2008 legislative session 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Biography

Ferrandino, the son of two public school teachers,^[6] was born in Nyack, New York.^[3] He attended the University of Rochester, earning a bachelor's degree in political science and economics in 1999 and a master's degree in public policy analysis in 2000. While in school, Ferrandino was a collegiate pole vaulter.^[3]

He began his political career in 1997^[6], spending a semester as intern for Congressman Chuck Schumer of New York.^[3] After working for several years in Washington, DC as a program analyst for the United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, and as a policy analyst for the White House Office of Management and Budget,^[3] Ferrandino relocated to Colorado when his partner, Gregory, took a job with the U.S. Customs Service.^[7] He now lives in the Baker neighborhood of Denver and is a member of the Baker Historic Neighborhood Association. Ferrandino is also the chief financial officer for Clandestine Chef Experience, a company offering in-home cooking lessons^[3] Ferrandino has played the trumpet since the fourth grade and continues to play regularly.^[2]

Ferrandino worked as a senior budget analyst in the Colorado Department of Health Care and Financing from 2005 until his legislative appointment in 2007. He was also active in Democratic Party politics as treasurer of the Colorado Democratic Party^[6][3] and co-captain for Colorado House District 2A. Ferrandino was named Colorado Young Democrat of the Year in 2007.^[3] An openly gay man, he is also a former co-chairman of the Colorado Stonewall Democrats,^[7] and served on the board of directors for the National Stonewall Democrats.^[6]

[edit] Legislative career

[edit] 2007 legislative appointment

In September 2007, Rep. Mike Cerbo resigned from the legislature in order to become director of the Colorado AFL-CIO. Ferrandino was elected to Cerbo's seat in the Colorado House of Representatives in September 2007 by the 2nd District Vacancy Committee on a vote of 23-3.^[7] Both Ferrandino and his opponent in the vacancy election, Doug Williams,^[8] were openly gay; Ferrandino became the first openly gay man to serve in the Colorado General Assembly. He serves alongside out lesbian Sen. Jennifer Veiga.^[7]

Ferrandino was sworn into the legislature on October 1, 2007,^[9] and will stand for a full term in November 2008. Assuming he is re-elected in 2008 and again at two-year intervals, term limits will prevent him seeking a fifth House term in 2014, despite the fact that he would not have served four full terms.

Ferrandino has declared his legislative priorities to include health care, consumer protection, and TABOR reform.^[2]

[edit] 2008 legislative session

For his first legislative session, in 2008, Ferrandino was named to the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee and the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee.^[10] Ferrandino has named health care and education as his top legislative priorities.^[9][6]

For the 2008 legislative session, Ferrandino is exploring regulation requiring greater transparency and guaranteed lifetimes for gift cards,^[11] and plans to sponsor a bill to direct funds from fines collected from scammers to educate the public about consumer scams.^[12] Ferrandino has also sponsored a bill to allow some lesser criminal convictions to be sealed from public inspection.^[13]

He has also proposed, with Rep. Sara Gagliardi, the "American Dream Protection Act of 2008," which would allow judges to delay home foreclosures by 90 days, in response to the ongoing subprime mortgage crisis.^[14][15] The bill was amended in the legislature to only increase public outreach efforts and notification requirements before passing the state house.^[16]

He has also introduced the Colorado Payday Lending Reform Act, which would cap interest rates for payday lending at 36 percent^[17] and prohibit additional lending to borrowers already in debt, making Colorado's short-term lending regulation the strictest in the nation.^[18] The bill narrowly passed the state house on a vote of 33-30,^[19] and passed the state senate on 19-16 after being significantly amended. Ferrandino objected to senate amendments, claiming that they weakened the bill by loosening caps on lending fees.^[20] Several weeks later, Ferrandino and Senate cosponsor Peter Groff announced that they intended to kill the bill,^[21] but Ferrandino plans on re-introducing the bill during the 2009 session.^[22]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Legislative homepage
• Campaign website