The 2009 legislative session kicked off Wednesday morning with freshman lawmakers being sworn in. But legislators were hardly the only ones at the Capitol. In addition to lobbyists, onlookers and lawmakers' families, ex-legislators were spotted hanging around.
Notable appearances included, but were not limited to, former Sen. Penfield Tate, term-limited Majority Leader Alice Madden, former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb and term-limited Sen. Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora.
Hagedorn’s presence in particular puzzled Capitol insiders who speculated he was probably there looking for a job. As a result, Face The State caught up with Hagedorn to find out what exactly he was up to after life on the Hill.
The likeable moderate told us he was at the Capitol “still looking at health care issues” and following up on Senate Bill 217, which he championed last session. The bill created pilot programs intended to provide insurance options to roughly 800,000 people without health care.
Hagedorn said that since leaving the Senate he has been trying to move into graduate level teaching and dodged questions about whether he was interested in a government position. Before saying goodbye, Hagedorn also jokingly referred to himself as “Senator Emeritus” after seeing a biography about former University of Colorado Regent Norwood Robb, who called himself a “Regent Emeritus” after having held the position for 16 years.