Stella Garza-Hicks | |
---|---|
Member of the ColoradoHouseofRepresentatives from the 17th district | |
In office January 10, 2007 –January 7, 2009 [1] | |
Preceded by | Mark Cloer |
Succeeded by | Dennis Apuan |
Personal details | |
Born | 1953 (age 70–71) Kress,Texas,U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Ray |
Profession | Cosmetologist,Salesperson |
Stella Garza-Hicks (born 1953 [2] [3] ) is a former Republican legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado.
A former cosmetologist and salesperson,Garza-Hicks became active in Republican Party activism in Colorado Springs,Colorado and rose to become a district chairperson and campaign manager for local candidates. A legislative aide to Rep. Mark Cloer,Garza-Hicks was appointed to Cloer's seat in the Colorado House of Representatives when he resigned unexpectedly in 2006.
As a legislator,Garza-Hicks represented House District 17,which included southern Colorado Springs and the Fort Carson military base. [4] She served one term in office,during which she look largely mainstream Republican positions and sponsored relatively little legislation. She did not stand for re-election in 2008 but remains involved in Colorado Republican Party politics.
Born in Kress,Texas, [5] Garza-Hicks dropped out of high school in the ninth grade to become a cosmetologist, [2] moving to Colorado in the 1970s [6] with her first husband,a soldier stationed at Fort Carson. After divorcing her first husband,whom she describes as an alcoholic,Hicks remarried; [2] she has four children —Lisa,Frank,Jestifer,and Kelly [7] —through ex husband but they were later adopted by her current husband Ray Hicks,and worked as a vacuum cleaner salesperson before leaving work to become a homemaker. [5]
Garza-Hicks became involved in politics after a conversation with former state representative Barbara Phillips. [2] An active member of the El Paso County,Colorado Republican Party,Garza-Hicks belongs to the El Paso County Republican Women's Club,the Pikes Peak Republican Club,the Pikes Peak Firearms Coalition,the National Rifle Association of America,and is a legislative member of the Civil Air Patrol.[ citation needed ] She has managed the political campaigns of Harrison District 2 School Board member Linda Pugh and Colorado State Representative Mark Cloer,in addition to serving as Cloer's legislative aide. [5]
Garza-Hicks served as the Republican district chairperson for Colorado House District 17 for six years, [8] a seat to which Rep. Mark Cloer was re-elected in the Colorado House of Representatives in 2006. However,instead of serving out what would have been his fourth term in the state legislature,Cloer resigned only a few weeks after his re-election,citing a desire to spend more time with his family. [9] Nominated for the position by Cloer himself,Garza-Hicks was unanimously appointed to his seat by a Republican vacancy committee, [8] and was sworn in on January 10,2007,with the rest of the incoming legislative class. [10] Garza-Hicks,who speaks Spanish,was one of the few Hispanic women in the Colorado legislature. [2]
Bills Introduced in 2007 by Rep. Garza-Hicks (for which Rep. Garza-Hicks is the primary originating sponsor) | ||
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BILL | TITLE | OUTCOME |
HB07-1365 | Concerning the inclusion of the Colorado Consortium for Earth and Space Science Education in the definition of a Public Employees' Retirement Association employer. | Signed by Gov. Ritter |
During the 2007 legislative session,Garza-Hicks served on the House Services Committee and the House Local Government Committee. [11]
Garza-Hicks maintained a low profile for most of her first term in the legislature,first speaking in House floor debate two months into the legislative session. [12] After being criticized by news media for not being the primary sponsor of any legislation,she introduced a late bill to allow members of the Colorado Consortium for Earth and Space Science Education to receive state retirement benefits,as well as a nonbinding resolution honoring Colorado soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. [13] Both were passed by the legislature;the resolution honoring fallen soldiers was marked in the General Assembly by a ceremony,including the playing of taps in the legislative chambers. [14] Garza-Hicks also increased her co-sponsorship of legislation from co-sponsoring only one bill at the midpoint of the 2007 legislative session to co-sponsoring over 150 bills by the session's end. [13]
For her voting record during the 2007 legislative session,Garza-Hicks earned a 64% rating from the fiscally conservative Colorado Union of Taxpayers, [15] a 60% rating from the environmentally-oriented Colorado Conservation Voters, [16] and a 42% rating from the American Civil Liberties Union; [17] each rating placed Garza-Hicks near the middle of the range of Republican legislators.
Following the regular session,Garza-Hicks was appointed by Attorney General John Suthers to the state Methamphetamine Task Force, [18] and served on the legislature's Police Officers' and Firefighters' Pension Reform Commission. [19]
In the 2008 session of the Colorado General Assembly,Hicks sat on the House Health and Human Services Committee,and the House Local Government Committee. [20] She sponsored legislation to create a special license plate recognizing the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division, [21] the first military unit to be honored with a special plate in Colorado. [22] She was also a primary sponsor of the bipartisan resolution to recognize Military and Veterans Appreciation Day. [23] Another of Garza-Hicks' bills addressed expedited extension of police wiretaps for surveillance purposes. The measure initially passed both houses of the legislature with different limits on potential extensions. [24] After being reconciled to allow three month-long extensions of wiretaps,the bill was signed into law by Gov. Bill Ritter. [25]
Although interest group ratings from groups including the Colorado Union of Taxpayers, [26] Colorado Conservation Voters, [27] and the American Civil Liberties Union [28] again placed Garza-Hicks solidly within the main body of Republican lawmakers in Colorado,Garza-Hicks was one of only a few Republicans to publicly back a measure introduced by Speaker Andrew Romanoff to reform spending requirements in Colorado's state constitution by diverting excess revenues under TABOR to K-12 education. [29]
Garza-Hicks announced in October 2007 that she would not seek re-election in 2008,citing health issues within her own family,but she did not rule out a future run for public office. [3] Republicans Kit Roupe and Sheila Hicks (no relation to Garza-Hicks) declared their candidacies for the open seat, [30] but the general election was narrowly won by progressive activist and Democrat Dennis Apuan,who defeated Roupe to win the only Democratic takeover of a Republican-held seat in the 2008 legislative elections in Colorado. [31]
While a member of the legislature in 2007,Garza-Hicks was appointed to the War on Terror Fallen Heroes Memorial Commission,which was charged with selecting a design for a memorial to soldiers killed in U.S. actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. She was elected vice-chair at the commission's first meeting;however,after the chairman,former Rep. Rafael Gallegos,left the legislature,the group did not meet again,and Gallegos could not be located. In April 2009,Garza-Hicks expressed a desire that the panel continue its work,but,as vice-chair,stated that she did not have the authority to reconvene it. [32]
In December 2009,Garza-Hicks was announced as a member of county-level leadership for Jane Norton's campaign for the U.S. Senate seat held by Michael Bennet. [33]
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