First Regular Session
Seventy-fourth General Assembly
STATE OF COLORADO
REVISED
LLS NO. M23-0687.01 Rebecca Hausmann x2172
SJM23-002
Senate Committees House Committees
SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 23-002
M
EMORIALIZING FORMER SENATOR JOHN (JACK) TAYLOR.101
WHEREAS, John (Jack) W. Taylor, the former Senator, departed1
this life on April 22, 2020, at the age of 84; and2
WHEREAS, Senator Taylor was born in Chicago, Illinois, on3
November 22, 1935, to Harvey and Pauline Taylor; and4
WHEREAS, Senator Taylor grew up on a farm in Auburn, Iowa,5
with his brother Robert before attending Iowa State University; and6
WHEREAS, In college, Senator Taylor was in the Navy ROTC7
program and played baseball, in which he excelled, being named All8
Conference at second base and playing for the 1957 Iowa State University9
varsity baseball team that won the Big 7 Conference Championship and10
placed third in the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska; and11
HOUSE
Final Reading
February 27, 2023
SENATE
Final Reading
February 24, 2023
SENATE SPONSORSHIP
Roberts, Baisley, Bridges, Coleman, Cutter, Exum, Fenberg, Fields, Gardner, Ginal,
Gonzales, Hansen, Hinrichsen, Jaquez Lewis, Kirkmeyer, Kolker, Liston, Lundeen,
Marchman, Moreno, Mullica, Pelton B., Pelton R., Priola, Rich, Rodriguez, Simpson,
Smallwood, Sullivan, Van Winkle, Will, Winter F., Zenzinger
HOUSE SPONSORSHIP
Lukens, Amabile, Armagost, Bacon, Bird, Bockenfeld, Boesenecker, Bottoms, Brown,
Catlin, Daugherty, DeGraaf, deGruy Kennedy, Dickson, Duran, English, Evans, Frizell,
Froelich, Gonzales-Gutierrez, Hamrick, Hartsook, Jodeh, Joseph, Kipp, Lindsay, Lindstedt,
Luck, Lynch, Mabrey, Marshall, Martinez, McCluskie, McCormick, McLachlan, Michaelson
Jenet, Ortiz, Parenti, Pugliese, Ricks, Sharbini, Sirota, Snyder, Soper, Story, Taggart, Titone,
Valdez, Velasco, Vigil, Weinberg, Weissman, Willford, Wilson, Winter T., Woodrow, Young
Shading denotes HOUSE amendment. Double underlining denotes SENATE amendment.
Capital letters or bold & italic numbers indicate new material to be added to existing law.
Dashes through the words or numbers indicate deletions from existing law. WHEREAS, After college, Senator Taylor joined the Navy and1
served on an icebreaker ship that participated in the International2
Geophysical Year operation in Antarctica, an international scientific3
project that lasted from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958; and4
WHEREAS, After serving in the Navy, Senator Taylor moved to5
New Orleans, Louisiana, where he worked for Boeing Aerospace on the6
Apollo Moon Landing Project; and7
WHEREAS, Senator Taylor also spent time in Kuwait, helping to8
build and staff the country's first oil refinery before moving to Steamboat9
Springs, Colorado, in 1969, where he established a real estate business10
and became a partner in a small coal mining operation at Mount Harris;11
and12
WHEREAS, After moving to Steamboat Springs, Senator Taylor13
met his wife, Geneva, whom he married in 1973; and14
WHEREAS, Senator Taylor and Geneva had one daughter, Vicki,15
and two grandchildren, Brianna and Dakin; and16
WHEREAS, Senator Taylor served on several boards and17
commissions, including the Soda Creek Ditch Board, before running for18
the state legislature; and19
WHEREAS, In 1992, Senator Taylor was elected to the Colorado20
House of Representatives, where he served from 1993 to 2000, followed21
by an eight-year term in the Colorado Senate from 2001 to 2008; and22
WHEREAS, Senator Taylor was a well-respected and well-liked23
statesman whose legislative career focused on support for the military,24
wildlife, water, and telecommunications; and25
WHEREAS, Senator Taylor sponsored 252 bills, memorials, and26
resolutions in his 16 years in the legislature, 201 of which were enacted,27
including bills on voting, tuition assistance for the National Guard,28
petroleum storage tanks, creation of the Colorado tourism office, waste29
tire recycling, and enterprise zones, among many others; and30
WHEREAS, Senator Taylor served on the Agriculture and31
Business committees in both the House and the Senate and was a member32
002
-2- of the Legislative Audit Committee for 12 years; he also served on joint1
Water committees for 10 years, the joint Police Officers' and Firefighters'2
Pension Reform Commission for five years, and several interim3
committees throughout his tenure; and4
WHEREAS, Senator Taylor felt strongly that it was important to5
fight for Western Slope water, vowing to protect water rights and6
property rights; and7
WHEREAS, Senator Taylor was also instrumental in providing8
better telecommunications access in northwest Colorado; and9
WHEREAS, Senator Taylor also loved working irrigation ditches10
in his neighborhood and mowing the neighborhood Strawberry Park roads11
and some neighbors' driveways with his John Deere tractor; and12
WHEREAS, After serving in the General Assembly, one of13
Senator Taylor's main activities was participating in the Republican Party,14
chairing the Routt County Republican Party twice and partnering with his15
wife, Geneva, to chair various Republican campaigns; and16
WHEREAS, Senator Taylor and Geneva were a team, two17
community leaders who complemented each other and were very strong18
supporters of the community; and19
WHEREAS, Geneva survived Senator Taylor, but passed away20
just six months later on October 15, 2020; now, therefore,21
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Seventy-fourth General22
Assembly of the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives23
concurring herein:24
That, in the death of Senator Jack Taylor, the people of the state25
of Colorado have lost a devoted public servant and an outstanding citizen,26
and that we, the members of the Seventy-fourth General Assembly, pay27
tribute to Jack Taylor for his years of dedicated public service and do28
hereby extend our deep and heartfelt sympathy to the members of his29
family.30
Be It Further Resolved, That a copy of this Joint Memorial be sent31
to Senator Taylor's daughter and son-in-law, Vicki and Trent Bushner of32
Yuma, Colorado; his granddaughter, Brianna Klamer; his grandson,33
002
-3- Dakin Bushner; and his brother, Robert Taylor of Houston, Texas.1
002
-4-