This week, the lighter side of the Capitol is the dog side.

If you’re a regular reader of Capitol M, you know anything about dogs gets immediate attention in this space.

It began in earnest in 2019 with the Cute Dog Edition of Capitol M, a salute to the six most frequently seen dogs around the building.

CAPITOL M | Feb. 3-9: Cute dogs edition (PHOTOS)

This week, dog love goes viral!

The Colorado Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration that includes Rocky Mountain PBS, KUNC, CPR, and the Colorado Sun, is working on a feature on Capitol dogs. This features a playdate between Pippin, the 5-year-old Golden Retriever belonging to Rep. Karen McCormick of Longmont, and Ruthie, the 21-month-old White Golden Retriever owned by Jesse Paul of the Colorado Sun.

But the video went way beyond the playdate. It also featured three trained therapy dogs owned by Rep. Ryan Armagost of Berthoud; Peaches, a Shih-Tzu/Lhasa Apso mix owned by Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-Fort Morgan; and longtime Capitol regular Queso, a terrier mix owned by Sen. Faith Winter, D-Westminster.

Missing from the portrait is Gia, the terrier mix and longtime companion of Gov. Jared Polis, who famously bit Sen. Ray Scott of Grand Junction at a bill signing in 2019.

Welcome to Capitol M, Sen. Tom Sullivan!

The Senator from Centennial, who is not known for his sense of humor (and he admits it), offered a mighty incentive to the Senate on Thursday: he would pay $69 if he didn’t have to wear a tie for the rest of the session.

So, what would prompt Sullivan to have such an aversion to ties? He comes by it honestly, as he explained to Capitol M.

Sullivan went to Catholic school as a child, and even in second or third grade, the boys had to wear ties. In those days, clip-ons had not yet been invented, and if a student got into trouble in class, the nun would grab the tie, cinching it up quite a bit. When the boy got home, his parents would know if he’d been in trouble that day by how tight the tie was.

The issue with ties for Sullivan continued into high school. If a student forgot his tie, he’d be sent to the dean’s office, someone with what sounded like a pretty hideous collection of ties, such as polka dots and cartoon characters. So, the boys learned to keep an extra to avoid a trip to the dean’s office.

By the way, Sullivan’s tie on Feb. 27 was hunter orange, in recognition of Moms Demand Action day at the Capitol.

Snacks, anyone

This one hit Capitol M in the feels.

Rep. Ron Weinberg of Loveland is on a quest to reduce food waste this year. He’s got two bills that have already cleared the House on the issue. This pertains to the bill he and Rep. Lisa Feret of Arvada are carrying on behalf of the Representative Hugh McKean Colorado Youth Advisory Council Review Committee (that’s the feels part). Weinberg first got to the House and was appointed by a vacancy committee after the death of the respected House Minority Leader in 2022.

House Bill 1059 is about reducing food waste in public schools, but it’s dubbed the “snack bill” by some of his colleagues.

In honor of its recent passage through the House Education Committee, Weinberg’s colleagues decided to turn his desk into a snack station. The photo shows a small sample of the stuff they dumped on it.

The bill won a 60-3 vote from the House on Feb. 19 and is now waiting to be taken to the Senate snack bar. There, it will be up to the Janices—Sens. Rich of Grand Junction and Marchman of Loveland —to get it to the checkout line.