Face the State

Face The State Staff Report

Members of Congress leave Washington, D.C. for their home districts this week to begin a month long "work session" recess. With a health care reform package looming on the horizon, many U.S. Senators and Representatives are using the time in-district to meet with constituents and promote their position on the bill. A survey of Colorado's congressional delegation shows a wide variation in plans for the break, with one Representative planning seven in-person meetings with voters while another will hold only one "telephone town hall" this week.

DeGette, at leftScott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty/File

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Democrat representing Denver's 1st congressional district, will hold only one town hall by telephone the evening of August 6. DeGette’s staff tells Face The State the meeting will cover “everything" of concern to the district. DeGette is not scheduled to meet in person with constituents during her month home.

U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a Democrat representing the 7th congressional district, will meet only once with constituents on the far north end of his district, August 8 in Brighton.

Representatives across the nation have encountered unusually high turnout at district town hall meetings, where activists on all sides of the health care reform debate have swelled meeting venues. Town halls conducted by telephone, where questions are tightly moderated by staff, virtually eliminate the possibility of disruption from angry protesters and are often tightly scripted.

Former Congressman Bob Beauprez, a Republican who preceded Perlmutter in office, saw his town hall meetings the frequent target of protesters and political agitators, but says he still hosted as many meetings as he could when Congress was not in session. “We always thought it was important to make ourselves very available to constituents,” he said. “The most effective way to do that is to host meetings.”

Beauprez says constituent communication is even more crucial as the House considers a massive overhaul of the nation’s health care system.

U.S. Reps. John Salazar and Betsy Markey, both Democrats, and Mike Coffman, a Republican, have not yet scheduled any town hall meetings for the August break, which runs Aug. 3 to Sept. 4. Staff for all three say dates and times will be announced shortly. A representative from Salazar’s Grand Junction office said they are “currently gauging interest before deciding where to hold the meetings.”

Leading the pack with the most scheduled constituent meetings is Rep. Jared Polis, a Democrat representing the 2nd congressional district. He will host gatherings around his district August 7, 17, 19, 22 and Sept. 2 and 3. Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Colorado Springs Republican, has announced two meetings in Woodland Park and Chaffee County, August 18 and 25.