Kent Lambert

After retiring from the Air Force at the rank of colonel in 2004,[1] Lambert entered Colorado politics, challenging Michael Merrifield for the 18th house district seat in central Colorado Springs, losing with 42 percent of the vote.[5] He served as legislative assistant to representatives Dave Schultheis and Keith King[2] and helped found the Republican Study Committee of Colorado, serving as its executive director until 2005.[1]

In 2006, Lambert ran to succeed Rep. David Schultheis, who was elected to the Colorado Senate that same year. Lambert faced Colin Mullaney in the Republican primary, in which he garnered the endorsements of the Minutemen PAC, the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, and a homeschoolers PAC.[6] In the general election, he defeated Democrat Karen Teja with over 68 percent of the popular vote.

During the 2007 session of the Colorado General Assembly, Lambert sat on the House Finance Committee and the House State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee.[7]

In his first year in the legislature, Lambert was noted for his conservative stances on legislation. He was the primary house sponsor of a senate bill that would have criminalized abortion in Colorado —the bill died in the Colorado State Senate —[8] and he spoke out against a measure that would have allowed adoption by homosexual couples.[9][10] All five bills introduced by Lambert were defeated in House committees, including measures to make Colorado a right-to-work state and to prohibit labor unions from deducting fees from government employees' paychecks.[11]

During the legislative session, Lambert filed a formal ethics complaint against the Colorado Education Association, arguing that emails sent by the CEA lobbying in favor of a property tax freeze to bring in additional revenue for public schools included deceptive statements.[12] The complaint was called "frivolous" by the CEA and was dismissed by the Colorado Legislative Council's executive committee on a vote that was boycotted by Republican leaders.[13][14][15]

For the session, the Colorado Union of Taxpayers gave Lambert its "Taxpayer Champion" award.[16] Lambert, along with Rep. Douglas Bruce, was also noted for rarely supporting nonbinding resolutions in the legislature.[17]

In the 2008 session of the Colorado General Assembly, Lambert sat on the House Finance Committee, and the House State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee. [18] One piece of legislation he introduced created a specialty license plate commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America.[19]

In April 2008, Lambert filed a campaign finance complaint against Gov. Bill Ritter, alleging that Ritter's 2006 campaign manager, Greg Kolomitz, improperly used inaugural committee funds to pay himself and pay off campaign debts.[20][21] In August, Lambert's complaint was dismissed by an administrative law judge, and he was ordered to pay Ritter's legal fees.[22] The ruling was overturned by the Court of Appeals, and Ritter eventually admitted the charges against him after his announcement not to run for a second term.

In 2008, Lambert won a second term in the Colorado House of Representatives. He was opposed by Democratic nominee Chyrese Exline.[23] Lambert's re-election bid was endorsed by the Denver Post,[24] while the Colorado Springs Independent endorsed his opponent.[25] Lambert won re-election with 71 percent of the popular vote.[26]

Lambert was also a delegate to the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, alongside El Paso County Commissioner Wayne Williams and Colorado's Attorney General John Suthers.[27]

For the 2009 legislative session, Lambert was named to seats on the House State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee and the House Finance Committee, where he was the ranking Republican.[28]

In August 2009, Lambert was appointed to the Joint Budget Committee to replace departing member Rep. Dan Marostica.[29]

For the 2010 legislative session, Lambert was on the House Appropriations Committee and the Joint Budget Committee.

Lambert produced a bill that focused on establishing an income tax credit for nonpublic education in the state of Colorado. HB10-1295 would have set forth, as a future tax credit, for families who either pay private school tuition or home-school their children. The bill was introduced to the House Finance Committee, where it was postponed indefinitely.

In the 2010, Lambert ran for election to the 9th District Senate seat. He ran unopposed in both the primary and the general election, and won a 4-year term to the Colorado Senate.

Following Lambert's election in 2010, he was elected by the Republican caucus to continue service on the Joint Budget Committee, as well as join the Senate Appropriations Committee.

During the 2011 legislative session, Lambert sought to remove unnecessary use of state vehicles for personal commuting with SB11-023, a measure he also ran previously as a representative in the Colorado House. In 2010 when the bill (HB10-1287) was initially run, it successfully made it through both chambers before eventually being vetoed by Governor Bill Ritter. The bill limits the use of state vehicles by private persons for personal business, and would have required an employee to reimburse the state for commuting with a state-owned vehicle for such use and openly labeled appropriate terms of use. The bill was assigned to the Senate Transportation Committee, but failed and was postponed indefinitely on a 5–2 vote.[30] Lambert also sponsored several major bills pertaining to illegal aliens: SB11-054 and HB11-1088.

Lambert was elected as a delegate to the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa Bay, Florida. He had been a committed delegate to Senator Rick Santorum before he dropped out of the presidential race.

In 2012, Lambert brought forth a major piece of legislation regarding PERA transparency, SB12-084, which would have required PERA records of elected officials and cabinet-level appointees to be publicly disclosed and available for review.[31] Lambert's bill was assigned to the Senate Finance Committee, where it was defeated in a committee vote and postponed indefinitely.

In 2013, Lambert was re-elected by the Senate Republican Caucus to serve on the Joint Budget Committee for the Colorado General Assembly. He was also appointed to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

In the 2017 legislative session, Lambert served as the chairman of the Joint Budget Committee and vice-chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He chairs the Legislative Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Committee and serves as vice-chair of the Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Interim Study Committee.[32]

In addition to his responsibilities as the chair of the JBC, he ran a wide variety of bills, including Senate Bill 82 concerning the regulation of methadone clinics;[33] Senate Bill 96, which created a grant program for the reserve peace officer academy program;[34] Senate Bill 300 which would have created a high risk pool for impoverished citizens to obtain medical insurance through the state;[35] and Senate Bill 297 that revised the requirements for higher education performance.[36]