Spencer Swalm

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Spencer Swalm
Member of the Colorado House of Representatives from the 37th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 10, 2007
Preceded by	Lauri Clapp
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Marleen[1]
Profession	insurance broker
Religion	Christian[1]

Spencer Swalm is a legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado. First elected 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 1 Early career 2 Political career 2.1 2006 election 2.2 2007 legislative session 2.3 2008 legislative session 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Early career

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. 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.^[5] 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]

[edit] Political career

[edit] 2006 election

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,^[6] but defeating her in the party primary.^[7]. He then defeated Democrat Angela Engel with just over 51 percent of the vote.^[2]

[edit] 2007 legislative session

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.^[8] 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.^[9]

That year, Swalm sponsored legislation that would require sex offenders to register their email addresses and other online identities with the state.^[10] After being defeated in committee, the bill was resubmitted to apply only to sex offenders whose victims are children,^[11] and was signed into law. He plans on submitting legislation to extend the program to all sex offenders in future sessions.^[12]

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.^[13]

Between legislative sessions, Swalm served on the interim Health Care Task Force^[14] and on the Transportation Legislation Review Committee.^[15]

[edit] 2008 legislative session

For the 2008 legislative session, Swalm plans to sponsor a measure that would create a special pass to offset state park maintenance costs.^[16][17] 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.^[18] He has also, working with Democratic Rep. Morgan Carroll, introduced legislation to extend a fund to provide financial assistance to military families.^[19][20] The bill was passed by the legislature and signed into the law by Gov. Bill Ritter.^[21]

Swalm also introduced legislation to create the "Colorado Health Plan," a low-cost health insurance program to be run by the state,^[22] but the proposal was killed in committee.^[23] Democratic House Speaker Andrew Romanoff has expressed interest in reviving the bill.^[24]

Swalm also reintroduced his bill to require sex offenders to register their email addresses, which was again killed in committee.^[25]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Colorado General Assembly profile
• Campaign website