Mark Scheffel

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Mark Scheffel
Member of the Colorado Senate
from the 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 7, 2009[1]
Preceded by Tom Wiens
Personal details
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Cheri
Profession Lawyer

Mark Scheffel is a state legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado. First elected to the Colorado State Senate as a Republican in 2008, Scheffel represents Senate District 4, which encompasses Douglas County: including Castle Rock, Larkspur, Parker, Franktown, and Castle Pines.[2] He is also the Assistant Minority Leader for the Colorado Senate Republican Caucus.

Biography

Mark Scheffel earned a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Denver in 1982, then later a J.D. from John Marshall Law School in 1987 and an LL.M. in tax law from the New York University School of Law in 1998.[3][4] A practicing business and tax attorney since 1989, he has worked as an attorney for his own firm, Reid and Scheffel, since 1993. In 2003 he was named Elbert County Attorney,[5] a post that he held through 2008.[6][7][8]

Active in the Douglas County Republican Party, he has served as a precinct committeeperson, district captain, chaired the Douglas County Republican GOTV effort and the bylaws committee of the Colorado Republican Party,[3][4] and was chairman of the Douglas County Republican Party for two terms,[9] from 2004 to 2007.[5]

Scheffel has also served on the board of the Skycliff Stroke Center and on the citizen advisory board for The Wildlife Experience. He was a founding incorporator and charter director of Champion Bank.[3][4] Scheffel and his wife Cheri reside with their four children in Parker, Colorado.[5]

Scheffel's house was foreclosed on at 9791 Summit Ridge Place, Parker, CO 80138 in 2014.[10]

Legislative career

2008 Election

After incumbent Senator Tom Wiens announced in April 2008 that he would not run for a second term, Scheffel announced his candidacy for the seat; he had briefly sought the seat in 2004 before Wiens declared his candidacy.[11] Scheffel defeated three other contenders — Ed Brewer, Mark Vanderbilt, and Randy Reed[12] — to take 65 percent of the vote at the Republican district assembly in May, the only candidate to qualify for the ballot by the assembly process. Financial advisor and Air Force veteran Bob Denny petitioned onto the Republican primary ballot. During the primary campaign, Scheffel touted his experience as a tax attorney and familiarity as an asset in the legislature,[9] but was outraised by Denny, who took in about $24,000 to Scheffel's $18,000. Scheffel was also endorsed by retiring U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo.[13] Mark Scheffel ultimately defeated Bob Denney in the contested Republican primary in August, taking 65 percent of votes cast.[14]

Scheffel faced Democrat Joe Alsup in the November 2008 general election. Alsup's candidacy was endorsed by the Denver Post,[15] but Scheffel won with 68 percent of the popular vote.[16]

2009 Legislative Session

In November 2008, Scheffel was named to a special legislative Committee on Job Creation and Economic Growth, tasked with developing recommendations on bolstering Colorado's economy before the 2009 legislative session.[17] Stemming from this interim committee, Senator Scheffel set his focus on bills during the 2009 legislative session regarding exemptions from property taxation for business personal property: SB09-085 created a task force to study the possibility, and HB09-1068 would have created such an exemption.[18][19] Senate Bill 85 successfully passed through both the House and Senate before being signed by Governor Bill Ritter (politician); however, House Bill 1068 failed to pass through the House Finance committee before being postponed indefinitely.

2010 Legislative Session

During this legislative session Senator Scheffel sponsored several bills, one of which focused on increasing the transparency in the use of gifts, grants, and donations to fund programs by state agencies. HB 10-1178 required that any state agencies that received such gifts would have to make annual reports to the General Assembly. The bill successfully passed through the legislature before it was sent to the Governor and signed to be enacted.

In addition, following the 2010 legislative session Scheffel was honored with the James T. Brubaker Legislative Award.

2011 Legislative Session

In 2011, Scheffel was elected to act as the Assistant Minority Leader for the Colorado Senate Republican Caucus, following Senator Kopp’s retirement that same year. He also sponsored several bills that year, most notably regarding business personal property taxes: SB11-026 and HB11-1141. However, both bills were killed in the Democratic-controlled Senate, and were postponed indefinitely in committee.

In addition, Scheffel was honored as the Independent Bankers 2011 Champion of Main Street Colorado Award, which recognizes state lawmakers who “understand, value, and champion local community banks and small businesses.” [20]

2012 Legislative Session

During the 2012 session, Senator Scheffel was appointed to the Finance and Judiciary Committees. In addition, he serves on the Legislative Council due to his role as Assistant Minority Leader in the Republican Caucus.

An important piece of legislation Scheffel sponsored this year was SB12-157 which focused on the regulation of telecommunication services while also enacting the “Telecommunications Modernization Act of 2012”. The bill, sponsored by a bipartisan group of legislators, sought to reduce service fees and increase broadband service to rural areas. Senator Scheffel said that the bill was “the result of more than a year of work on the part of the legislators and other government officials and agencies. The bill was assigned to the Senate Business, Labor, and Technology Committee, where it was passed and sent on the Senate Appropriations. However, in the Appropriations Committee, they could not agree on terms, and therefore the bill failed to pass and was postponed indefinitely.

2012 Election

During the 2012 elections, Scheffel faced no opposition during the primaries. In the general election, he opposed Democratic candidate Holly Gorman and Libertarian candidate Chris Grundermann, both of whom he defeated with 64.3% of the vote.[21]

2013 Legislative Session

Senator Scheffel was re-elected by the Senate Republican Caucus to serve as the Assistant Minority Leader for the 2013 legislative session. He was appointed to the Senate Education Committee, as well as the Legislative Council.

References

  1. ↑ "Senate Journal - January 7, 2009" (pdf). Colorado General Assembly. Retrieved 2009-01-09. 
  2. ↑ "State Senate District 4". COMaps. Retrieved 2008-11-09. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Mark Harold Scheffel". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 2008-11-24. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "About Mark". Scheffel4Senate.com. Retrieved 2008-11-24. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Moore, Rhonda (7 October 2008). "Alsup, Scheffel vie for state Senate seat". The News Press. Retrieved 2008-11-24. 
  6. ↑ Staff Reports (5 December 2003). "Pit Bull Owner Not 'Monster Being Portrayed'". TheDenverChannel.com. Retrieved 2008-11-24. 
  7. ↑ Moreno, Ivan (14 January 2006). "Elbert sheriff worried about mold at jail, too". Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 2008-11-24. 
  8. ↑ McGhee, Tom (31 January 2008). "Elbert judge stops Spring Valley development". Denver Post. Retrieved 2008-11-24. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Gathright, Alan (7 August 2008). "GOP hopefuls say voters seeking economic relief". Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 2008-11-24. 
  10. ↑ "Home foreclosure". 
  11. ↑ Pelzer, Jeremy (17 April 2008). "EFive GOP candidates are in SD-4 race so far". Denver Post. Retrieved 2008-11-24. 
  12. ↑ Bartels, Lynn (30 May 2008). "State GOP rallies today". Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 2008-11-24. 
  13. ↑ Sanchez, Christopher (13 August 2008). "Clapp, Scheffel lead their primaries". Denver Post. Retrieved 2008-11-24. 
  14. ↑ "Colorado Statewide Cumulative Report - 2008 Primary Election". Colorado Secretary of State. Retrieved 2008-11-08. 
  15. ↑ Editorial Board (23 October 2008). "The Post's picks for state Senate". Denver Post. Retrieved 2008-11-09. 
  16. ↑ "Colorado Statewide Cumulative Report - 2008 General Election". Colorado Secretary of State. Retrieved 2008-12-04. 
  17. ↑ "Legislative Leaders Convene Committee On Job Creation & Economic Growth" (Press release). Colorado House Democrats. 20 November 2008. 
  18. ↑ "GOP unveils plan to roll back tax, invest in 'real job growth'" (Press release). Colorado Senate News.com. 8 December 2008. 
  19. ↑ Ingold, John (30 January 2009). "New committee backs bills to boost economy". Denver Post. Retrieved 2009-06-13. 
  20. ↑ "Independent Bankers Present Senator Scheffel with Champion of Main Street Colorado Award". Colorado Senate News. Retrieved Nov 14, 2012. 
  21. ↑ Denver Post http://data.denverpost.com/election/results/state-senate/2012/ |url= missing title (help). Retrieved Nov 13, 2012. 
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