In the 2008 legislative session Sen. Spence successfully passed 13 bills and 5 Joint Resolutions. Almost all of these bills were bi-partisan - carried by Spence in the senate with a Democratic sponsor in the house. When a legislator is a member of the minority party, successful legislation frequently requires bills have both a Republican and a Democratic prime sponsor.

Spence's Education legislation included:

The Innovation Schools Act of 2008 - Co-prime sponsor with Senate President Peter Groff. This ground-breaking measure will permit public schools, groups of schools, or school districts to waive certain state statutes to better meet the needs of students and teachers. Waivers could include teacher contracts, school calendars, budgeting, staff hiring, etc.

Teacher Performance Incentive Grant - carried with Rep. Mike Merrifield in the House, this is a grant program to provide seed money for school districts to design a Pay for Performance plan for their district teachers.

Principal Leadership Academy Program - another bill that Spence teamed up with Rep. Merrifield to establish a Principals Academy in the Department of Education to train prospective school principals and provide in-service to practicing principals.

Truancy Reporting and Programs - this measure was carried with Rep. Terrance Carroll in the House. It is a bill that was recommended by the Governor's P-20 Education Council to target school dropouts. The bill proposes to track students from early absences to dropping out of school and provide data for early intervention.

Early Kindergarten Gifted Students - carried with Rep. Peniston, this bill will permit school districts to enroll highly gifted 4 and 5 year old children into kindergarten and first grade with funding provided.

Other bills of significance:

Witness Protection Training - sponsored with Rep. Nancy Todd. This is the third bill that Spence has sponsored on the proper training of law enforcement to provide protection for witnesses of violent crime. The motivation for carrying these measures was the Javad Marshall Field murder in Aurora.

Lifetime Wildlife License for Purple Heart Recipients - Sen. Spence sponsored a bill with Rep. Al White to award lifetime licenses for fishing and small game hun ting to Colorado residents who have earned a Purple Heart serving our country.

Gambling Addition funding for Addicts - Along with Rep. Primavera, Sen. Spence carried a bill to require part of the funds generated by local gaming be earmarked for addiction treatment.

Co-payment for medical services to prison inmates - together with Rep. Victor Mitchell, Spence carried a bill to require that inmates in Colorado's prisons be required to provide a co-payment for certain medical services.

Joint Resolutions sponsored by Sen. Spence:

Support for National Women's History Museum
April Donate Life Month - Bonfils Blood Center
School Web Sites List Open Enrollment Options
Support Taiwan's inclusion in United Nations