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<br />The bill called for an appropriation of $103,868 to the Drought Council "for <br />expenditure as directed by the executive corrmittee of the drought council." <br /> <br />The dynamics of the Drought Council set up in HB 1723 are interesting. <br />First, the Drought Council assumed a politicized complexion. At the time <br />HB 1723 was formulated by the Colorado General Assembly, Republican majorities <br />reigned in both the House and Senate. As a consequence, the Speaker of the House <br />and the President of the Senate, the two individuals with the power of making <br />appoi ntments of 1egi s 1 ators to the Drought Council, were Repub 1 i cans. The <br />result was that four of the six legislators appointed to the Drought Council <br />were Repub1icans--the maximum allowable representation by one political party <br />under the terms set forth in the bill. Similarly, all four legislators <br />appointed to the executive committee of the Drought Council were Republicans. <br />(See Figure 2-1.) However, as tempting as the conclusion might be, the Drought <br />Council did not become a forum for partisan gamesmanship. Beyond the political <br />desire to implement Republican legislative oversight of Drought Council <br />proceedings, the major thrust of the legislatively imposed structure was to <br />create a cohesive problem-solving body. Most of the legislators appointed to <br />serve on the Drought Council represented rural, agricultural areas of the State <br />where drought impacts were among the most seri ous. They naturally were <br />concerned with timely problem-solving. The Governor, who was named chairman of <br />the Drought Council in HB 1723, was authorized to appoint eight of the 14 <br />members of the Drought Council and all five of the associate members. Again, <br />these appoi ntments were based strongly upon the C:es i re to place qual ifi ed <br />experts on the council and to have geographic representation. The Governor was <br />also mandated to choose two members of the executive committee of the Drought <br />Council from among the five associate members of the council. His appointments <br />to the executive committee were the head of the Colorado Department of <br />Agriculture and the head of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. <br />Governor Lamm chaired the executive committee. (Appendix C, page 110, contains <br />a list of the membership and affiliations of the new Drought Council.) \ <br /> <br />The power of the Drought Council was restricted to the influence of its <br />members over resources within the State government system and the monies <br />appropriated to it by the Legislature for program implementation. It had no <br />power to mandate any programs, projects, or activities outside of the State <br />system, i.e., in counties or municipalities. The legislation setting up the new <br />Drought Council was strictly an appropriation for the fiscal year beginning <br />July 1, 1977. Drought Council funding would cease on January 31, 1979, and <br />would not be renewed unless conditions merited renewal. <br /> <br />The influences of the revamped membership and the appropriation of monies <br />to the second Drought Council combi ned to transform the 1 arge ly advi sory, <br />legitimizing role of the first Drought Council to the more implementive and <br />administrative role of the second. The following summary of functions and <br />activities of the second Drought Council illustrates its impact on policy <br />development and management: <br /> <br />28 <br />