| Spencer Swalm | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Colorado House of Representatives from the 37th district |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 10, 2007 |
|
| Preceded by | Lauri Clapp |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Marleen[1] |
| Profession | insurance broker |
| Religion | Christian[1] |
Spencer Swalm is a legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado. First elected to the Colorado House of Representatives as a Republican in 2006, Swalm represents House District 37, which encompasses the most of the city of Centennial, Colorado.[2]
Contents |
Born in Colorado,[1] Swalm attended Colorado College before transferring to the University of Colorado at Boulder, graduating with a bachelor's degree in history[3] in 1975.[4] He then earned a J.D. from the University of Denver in 1979.[4]
After practicing law for over a decade,[4] specializing in estate planning,[3] Swalm entered the employee benefits and health insurance business in 1990 as a partner in Redstone Benefit Systems. He has served as the chair of the legislative committee of the Colorado State Association of Health Underwriters.[4]
In the early 1980s, Swalm began writing op-ed pieces opposing government transportation subsidies and joined the Independence Institute, a Colorado free-market thinktank, eventually becoming a senior fellow.[3] He opposed the 2004 tax measure funding the FasTracks light rail expansion.[5] He has also served on the board of the Colorado Council on Economic Education. Politically, Swalm has been a member of the Colorado Republican Business Coalition, the Centennial Republican Forum, the Arapahoe County Republican Men's Club, and was treasurer for the Sixth Congressional District Republican Committee.[3]
Swalm is married; he and his wife, Marleen, have three children:[1] Byron, Lauren, and Jocelyn.[6] Swalm has taught Sunday school and served on the missions committee of his church, Grace Chapel, and has taken several missionary trips to the Amazon Basin in Bolivia.[4]
Swalm won election to Colorado's 37th House District in 2006. He faced Centennial Councilwoman Betty Ann Habig in the Republican primary, losing to her at the party assembly,[7] but defeating her in the party primary.[8] He then defeated Democrat Angela Engel with just over 51 percent of the vote.[2]
| Bills Introduced in 2007 by Rep. Swalm (for which Rep. Swalm is the primary originating sponsor) |
||
|---|---|---|
| BILL | TITLE | OUTCOME |
| HB07-1039 | Concerning conforming the "long-term care insurance act to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners model. | Signed by Gov. Ritter |
| HB07-1127 | Concerning requiring sex offenders to provide electronic communication identifiers when registering as sex offenders | Postponed indefinitely in House committee |
| HB07-1143 | Concerning the option of a covered state employee under a self-insured group benefit plan to obtain medical care in an accredited foreign health care facility. | Postponed indefinitely in House committee |
| HB07-1326 | Concerning requiring sex offenders to provide electronic communication identifiers when registering as sex offenders, and making an appropriation in connection therewith. | Signed by Gov. Ritter |
In the 2007 session of the Colorado General Assembly, Swalm sat on the House Health and Human Services Committee and the House Transportation and Energy Committee.[9] Swalm's father, Paul Swalm, had served on the Denver, Colorado city council and in the Colorado House of Representatives[3] in the 1970s, and Swalm was assigned the same seat in the house chamber as his father.[10]
That year, Swalm sponsored legislation that would require sex offenders to register their email addresses and other online identities with the state.[11] After being defeated in committee, the bill was resubmitted to apply only to sex offenders whose victims are children,[12] and was signed into law. He plans on submitting legislation to extend the program to all sex offenders in future sessions.[13]
Swalm also sponsored successful legislation designed to encourage Coloradans to purchase long term care insurance rather than relying on Medicaid, allowing Coloradans to participate in a federal long term care partnership program.[14]
Between legislative sessions, Swalm served on the interim Health Care Task Force[15] and on the Transportation Legislation Review Committee.[16]
For the 2008 legislative session, Swalm plans to sponsor a measure that would create a special pass to offset state park maintenance costs.[17][18] As part of a set of Republican health care proposals, Swalm will sponsor legislation to create a low-cost state health insurance plan and to encourage tax breaks for individual health insurance.[19] He has also, working with Democratic Rep. Morgan Carroll, introduced legislation to extend a fund to provide financial assistance to military families.[20][21] The bill was passed by the legislature and signed into the law by Gov. Bill Ritter.[22]
Swalm also introduced legislation to create the "Colorado Health Plan," a low-cost health insurance program to be run by the state,[23] but the proposal was killed in committee.[24] Democratic House Speaker Andrew Romanoff has expressed interest in reviving the bill.[25] Swalm also reintroduced his bill to require sex offenders to register their email addresses, which was again killed in committee.[26]
Because of the closeness of Swalm's 2006 election in a traditionally Republican district, Democrats targeted Swalm's re-election bid in 2008. Swalm faces Diana Holland, a Democrat and Littleton School Board member,[27] and Constitution Party candidate Brian Olds in the November general election. Swalm's re-election bid was endorsed by the Denver Post.[28] He ultimately won with 51 percent of the popular vote, nearly 2000 votes ahead of Holland.[29]
For the 2009 legislative session, Swalm was named to seats on the House Finance Committee and the House Health and Human Services Committee.[30] Representative Swalm worked with Democratic Representative Sara Gagliardi to promote a bipartisan measure lowering the age limit for blood donations to 16.[31]
|
|||||||||||||||||