A lawmaker says a fellow Republican warned her she'd be a target in future elections if she supported a construction-defects bill the home builders industry opposes.
Rep. Debbie Stafford, of Aurora, won't say which colleague reminded her that the industry has given money to her and other Republicans in previous elections.
But the admonition from a lawmaker came amid what Stafford called the "most heavy-handed lobbying" she's felt in her seven years in the legislature.
"I'm enraged beyond measure," she said Monday. "I'm not going to be blackmailed into kowtowing to anybody just because I've gotten a campaign contribution from them in the past.
"My vote is not for sale."
Stafford voted for the bill in committee last week. She said she doesn't care how that might affect her political future. She is term-limited next year, but has been asked to consider running for the state Senate.
Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D- Denver, said he was concerned when Stafford relayed what had been said to her.
The bill in question is House Bill 1338, by Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder.
Pommer said his bill brings balance to a legal system tilted against consumers by a 2003 law that was supposed to shield builders from an onslaught of construction-defect lawsuits, while preserving home buyers' legal rights.
Instead, virtually all major production builders in the state are inserting non-negotiable clauses in their sales contracts that allow them to wiggle out of correcting home defects, Pommer said.
Opponents include the Colorado Association of Homebuilders and the Civil Justice League, a group that tracks what it considers to be frivolous lawsuits.
"We believe the bill will lead to a significant increase in litigation, which would result in substantially higher premiums for construction professions and much higher costs for new homes," said Steve Durham, lobbyist for the home builders.
Durham said he has never personally spoken to Stafford about the bill.
Stafford said she was stunned at the intensity of the lobbying effort last week even when the bill was in committee.
She said lobbyists asked to speak to her in the hallway as the bill was being debated, as did a former lawmaker who now is a lobbyist and two current Republican colleagues.
Stafford said she voted for the bill after hearing horror stories from homeowners whose houses were shoddily built, but have no recourse.
"Current law does not protect them and their homes," she said. "And a home is probably the biggest investment you'll ever make in your life."
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