Update! The 37th Legislative Day (and the 34th)
We have had a number of issues with our Capitol intranet and I was unable to publish Monday's legislative update, which appears below. A lot has happened since Monday! We passed the Seatbelt bill on 3rd reading yesterday morning, and it will go to the Senate. Mandatory seatbelt laws exist in many states and save thousands of lives. Mandatory seatbelt laws also keep the State's medical costs for car crash victims much lower. Should the bill become law, Colorado is eligible to receive an additional $12 million in federal highway funds.
Many of you know that there are mandated deadlines for introduction and hearings on bills. We are now on deadline to get bills introduced at the beginning of session heard in committees. The two committees that I serve on (Judiciary and Health and Human Services) seem to have the bulk of these bills!
Monday evening in Health and Human Services we have been busy on clean air issues. My bill, HB1113, allowing the State of Colorado to adopt stricter clean air standards than the federal government, passed out of committee today and now moves to the floor. HB1175, the statewide smoking ban, also passed out of committee. Unfortunately, the Republican members did not stick with the bill sponsor, Rep. Mike May (R-Parker), and the bill passed out of committee with several amendments that provide exceptions. Notably, the casino exception passed with all six Democrats voting "no" except Rep. Frangas, who voted "yes" with the six Republicans. We are also taking action on Rep. Green’s bill regulating the leases of residential care facilities (also known as the "audacity to die" bill). This bill requires that any lease expires within 30 days of the death of a resident of nursing facilities.
As we begin the new legislative session, I am busy working on drafting bills for introduction this week. I am working on bills related to regulating intra-state movers, clean air, health care, health care reform, consumer credit, and identity theft.
On the first legislative day, Speaker Romanoff and Minority Leader Stengel gave their speeches outlining their agendas for the session. We had several visitors from House District 3 join us on the floor and in the Gallery. Please let me know if you would like to come and visit me during session.
