tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60771753097348672722024-02-06T19:25:20.953-07:00Colorado Capitol JournalAn online news journal that covers the proceedings of the Colorado General Assembly, along with the Governor and other executive branch officials.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger578125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-43057326449947720812013-11-04T13:19:00.000-07:002013-11-04T13:19:10.345-07:00Becker takes oathNewly-appointed legislator K.C. Becker of Boulder took the oath of office and became a member of the General Assembly on Monday morning.<br />
<br />
Becker was sworn in by chief justice Michael Bender before an audience of her family and several legislators.<br />
<br />
The newest member of the House of Representatives will leave her seat on the <a href="https://bouldercolorado.gov/city-council" target="_blank">Boulder City Council</a>. An attorney, Becker once worked for the U.S. Department of Interior.<br />
<br />
Former Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, resigned the District 13 seat to take a position as executive director of the <a href="http://cclponline.org/" target="_blank">Colorado Center on Law and Policy</a>. Levy was in her last term as a state representative, having been first elected in Nov. 2006.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8CNmOkzklxzJ1wZVOYFlWZavEm6IhSDryagjp7eBKaMlDcrWrXvKZp_3qpGimGLUNwkNpBqWpPsczP-y5ucIyE7X3JRxrfBSlY0Som8Fhqf6IqyUnYXP1eVoI5tmwNnvfxy3qcTh_JgmT/s1600/KC+Becker+-+courtesy+House+Democratic+Caucus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8CNmOkzklxzJ1wZVOYFlWZavEm6IhSDryagjp7eBKaMlDcrWrXvKZp_3qpGimGLUNwkNpBqWpPsczP-y5ucIyE7X3JRxrfBSlY0Som8Fhqf6IqyUnYXP1eVoI5tmwNnvfxy3qcTh_JgmT/s1600/KC+Becker+-+courtesy+House+Democratic+Caucus.jpg" /></a></div>
Photo courtesy Democratic Caucus, Colorado House of Representatives<br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-57908264088040084632013-10-27T22:07:00.003-06:002013-10-27T22:07:50.156-06:00Becker to replace LevyBoulder city council member K.C. Becker has been chosen by a House District 13 vacancy committee to replace Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder.<br />
<br />
Levy, who was first elected to the General Assembly in Nov. 2006, leaves office Oct. 31 to become executive director of a Denver-based non-profit organization.<br />
<br />
Becker, 43, will be sworn in within a few days of Levy's departure.<br />
<br />
The Colorado Statesman has a detailed <a href="http://www.coloradostatesman.com/content/994431-kc-becker-selected-replace-claire-levy-house" target="_blank">report</a> on Becker's appointment.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-2944595813818951632013-10-25T17:40:00.003-06:002013-10-25T17:40:50.738-06:00Hood is next Colorado supreme court justice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
William Hood III, a Denver district court judge, has been chosen to succeed chief justice Michael Bender as a member of the state's highest court.</div>
<br />
Gov. John Hickenlooper made the announcement Friday.<br />
<br />
Hood, 50, has been a judge for about six years. Before assuming the bench he was in private practice and worked as a prosecutor in the 18th judicial district.<br />
<br />
The new justice will have to stand for retention in the 2014 election. If retained, he'll serve a ten year term commencing in January 2015.<br />
<br />
<br />
Hickenlooper's decision means that district judge David Prince of El Paso county and Colorado court of appeals judge John Dailey will have to await another vacancy on the state's highest court before trying again for promotion.<br />
<br />
Justice Nancy E. Rice will take over as chief justice when Bender retires on Jan. 7, 2014. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuof5jcMMB1gOWWSpa2416EAiuBIHU5CsBabee4e3oQjxGRfpQyNLRxQ8FyDmyf9P_337s3r0x3u_FnReltMaZPjyhudyoYQEpKVC0F8fpmN0MjDQ9-twTkHGA0IeehaU20FHzud91BIqP/s1600/william+hood+III.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuof5jcMMB1gOWWSpa2416EAiuBIHU5CsBabee4e3oQjxGRfpQyNLRxQ8FyDmyf9P_337s3r0x3u_FnReltMaZPjyhudyoYQEpKVC0F8fpmN0MjDQ9-twTkHGA0IeehaU20FHzud91BIqP/s1600/william+hood+III.JPG" /></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-66055586707360728832013-09-27T18:59:00.001-06:002020-01-21T17:53:54.941-07:00Chief justice Bender to retire Jan. 7<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2GTedwHNXeQTfDVzgcr9x1l5BJvi7nUuyGv2eLs7Nc-DFOeNW0sGZvs6LxFP_D3wkqDd8VGH81F1kY_GzqATmHIco3ZFdSnI-s19C5jDUUQ47tm-EjTkCu1prGkEeZNWnFjKfTPFVl_7C/s1600/Justice+Bender+(Web).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Colorado will need a new supreme court chief justice early in 2014, and the state's Supreme Court Nominating Commission is to meet Oct. 8 and 9 to begin the process of choosing his replacement as a member of the high bench.</div>
<br />
The incumbent, Michael Bender, will reach the age of 72 on Jan. 7. That is the state's mandatory retirement age for judges.<br />
<br />
The Supreme Court Nominating Commission will provide Gov. John Hickenlooper with three candidates to take his seat. <br />
<br />
Bender was appointed to the supreme court by former Gov. Roy Romer in 1997. He was selected to replace Mary Mullarkey as chief justice in 2010.<br />
<br />
During his career as a practicing lawyer Bender worked as a public defender, for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and in private practice. He has also taught law at the University of Denver.<br />
<br />
The chief justice of the state supreme court is the administrator of a justice system that has a budget in excess of $400 million and more than 3,600 employees.<br />
<br />
Colorado's state courts are staffed by 332 judges.<br />
<br />
Hickenlooper has appointed one justice to the court since assuming office in Jan. 2011. Brian Boatwright, a former Jefferson County district court judge, was selected to replace justice Alex Martinez in Nov. 2011.<br />
<br />
The members of the nominating commission for the Supreme Court are Richard Holme and Sr. Alicia Cuarón of the First Congressional District, Lamar Sims and Ann Hendrickson of the Second Congressional District, Kim Childs and Mary Stengel of the Third Congressional District, Scott Johnson and Ira Paulin of the Fourth Congressional District, Richard Celeste and Eric Hall of the Fifth Congressional District, April Jones and Bruce Alexander of the Sixth Congressional District, Charles Tingle and Olivia Mendoza of the Seventh Congressional District, and at-large member Dorothy Decker.<br />
<br />
Applicants for the appointment were required to submit the necessary documentation to the commission by Sept. 3. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ7A0HZrOhLowc_2LkpBTe_MTvOkVg5mFhJrWtzf0yU4JnwaRadHA2rfeUmQSquxxJjFytCUPREn8Zdl_trafq30AF9Bsm5NWPimtIxkdTB1mGbA4D3c-h2tHrc_ey8W5VL8r-0_pSipFE/s1600/Justice+Bender+%2528Web%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ7A0HZrOhLowc_2LkpBTe_MTvOkVg5mFhJrWtzf0yU4JnwaRadHA2rfeUmQSquxxJjFytCUPREn8Zdl_trafq30AF9Bsm5NWPimtIxkdTB1mGbA4D3c-h2tHrc_ey8W5VL8r-0_pSipFE/s1600/Justice+Bender+%2528Web%2529.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Photo courtesy Colorado Judicial Branch.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-67999797029052474162013-09-13T17:51:00.000-06:002013-09-27T17:52:20.159-06:00Levy to leave legislatureRep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, will soon leave the General Assembly.<br />
<br />
Levy, who was first elected in 2006 and is now the speaker pro tempore of the House of Representatives, announced Sept. 12 that she will become executive director of the Colorado Center for Law and Policy.<br />
<br />
The veteran lawmaker has played a key role in many debates since taking the oath of office for the first time in Jan. 2007, including in those relating to renewable energy, juvenile justice, and fiscal affairs. She is a member of the Joint Budget Committee.<br />
<br />
A Democratic Party vacancy committee will choose her replacement.<br />
<br />
Levy's district encompasses Clear Creek, Gilpin, Grand, and Jackson counties in addition to a significant portion of Boulder county.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-41875747266136241362013-09-12T18:00:00.000-06:002013-09-27T18:14:02.250-06:00New senators Herpin, Rivera to take office during first week of OctoberThe two Republicans chosen to replace recalled senators John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, and Angela Giron, D-Pueblo, will be sworn in Oct. 3.<br />
<br />
Bernie Herpin, a former Colorado Springs city council member, and George Rivera, a retired law enforcement officer and former deputy chief of the Pueblo police department, are the beneficiaries of the state's first-ever legislative recall elections.<br />
<br />
In Morse's district, which includes areas in western El Paso county and central and southern Colorado Springs, the recall election was a low turnout affair. Less than 25 percent of the voters in Senate district 11 voted in the Sept. 9 election; Morse lost his quest to retain his seat by less than 400 votes out of more than 17,000 cast.<br />
<br />
Giron's race in Senate district 3 was not nearly as close, with about 56 percent of voters supporting her recall, and turnout was higher than in Morse's district with about 36 percent of voters participating in the election.<br />
<br />
Advocates for generally unrestricted access to firearms spearheaded the effort to recall Morse and Giron in the aftermath of a package of modest gun bills enacted into law last spring. Those measures included limits on magazine capacity, closed certain background check loopholes, and a requirement that applicants for concealed carry permits pay the necessary fee. <br />
<br />
The Democrats will continue to control the state senate during the 2014 legislative session. They'll have 18 members of the body, while the Republican party will have 17 members.<br />
<br />
The question of who will succeed Morse as senate president will be resolved after Herpin and Rivera are sworn in. Possible contenders are president pro tempore Lucia Guzman of Denver and majority leader Morgan Carroll of Aurora.<br />
<br />
Herpin and Rivera will have to stand in the November 2014 election if they wish to hold the seats beyond the first week of January 2015, which is when the next General Assembly begins.<br />
<br />
Morse's district is about evenly divided between Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliated voters.<br />
<br />
Morse, a former paramedic and Fountain police chief, was first elected in 2006 and then again in the strong Republican year of 2010. Term limits would have forced Morse from office in January 2015. <br />
<br />
Giron's district has significantly more registered Democrats than Republicans.<br />
<br />
Giron, 53, was first elected in Nov. 2010.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-39078150494493359402013-05-29T16:12:00.000-06:002013-09-27T18:26:15.944-06:00Supreme Court rejects attack on state school finance systemThe state supreme court has turned aside a constitutional attack on Colorado's public school financing system.<br />
<br />
In a 4-2 <a href="http://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/Supreme_Court/Opinions/2012/12SA25.pdf" target="_blank">decision</a> announced Tuesday, the court held that the method established by the School Finance Act is "thorough and uniform," as required by article IX of the state constitution, and that appropriate local control is guaranteed. <br />
<br />
Justice Nancy Rice wrote the majority opinion, which was joined by justices Brian Boatwright, Nathan Coats, and Allison Eid. <br />
<br />
Chief Justice Michael Bender and Justice Gregory Hobbs dissented.<br />
<br />
Education News Colorado has a thorough <a href="http://www.ednewscolorado.org/news/capitol-news/high-court-reverses-lobato-ruling" target="_blank">report</a> on the decision in State v. Lobato. Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-21091136509993974102013-03-06T09:30:00.001-07:002013-03-06T09:30:27.785-07:00Colorado Supreme Court to provide video feed of Lobato argumentsThe state supreme court will make available a live video feed of the oral arguments in a case that challenges the constitutionality of Colorado's school finance system.<br />
<br />
Arguments in Lobato v. State are scheduled for Thursday, March 7 at 9:30 am.<br />
<br />
A video feed can be accessed here: http://www.courts.state.co.us/lobatovstate.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-69484285088791837162013-03-06T09:05:00.000-07:002013-03-06T09:05:37.092-07:00Fort Collins bans fracking<span style="font-family: inherit;">Fort Collins now has an ordinance that bans hydraulic fracturing within its city limits.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The city council in the northern Front Range municipality approved the law Tuesday evening, defying a threat from Gov. John Hickenlooper that the state would sue to prevent local regulation of the oil and gas industry.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hickenlooper <a href="http://coloradocapitoljournal.blogspot.com/2013/02/hickenlooper-threatens-anti-fracking.html" target="_blank">told</a> a Denver TV news reporter last week that litigation in which the state would argue that only the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission can set rules for the industry would likely be pursued against any city that attempts to ban fracking.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The state's principal oil and gas industry trade group, Colorado Oil and Gas Association, may also challenge the ordinance in court.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">COGA is evaluating taking legal action; the State Supreme Court has clearly stated that drilling cannot be banned within a city, county, or municipality," Tisha Schuller, the organization's president and chief executive officer, said. "Because any new wells in Fort Collins would be hydraulically fractured, a ban on hydraulic fracturing is a ban on oil and gas development."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The ordinance extends further than just a fracking prohibition; it forecloses any oil and gas exploration in Fort Collins.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Fort Collins is now the second municipality in Colorado to ban fracking. Longmont did so last November.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-51923946273520503342013-02-27T14:23:00.000-07:002013-02-27T14:24:33.106-07:00Hickenlooper threatens anti-fracking Colorado cities and towns with lawsuitsGov. John Hickenlooper staked out Wednesday an aggressive stance in favor of state control of oil and gas exploration.<br />
<br />
According to a <a href="http://denver.cbslocal.com/2013/02/26/hickenlooper-threatens-to-sue-any-town-city-that-bans-fracking/" target="_blank">report</a> by Denver television station KCNC, Hickenlooper told reporter Shaun Boyd that his administration would launch court fights against any municipalities that ban hydraulic fracturing within their city limits.<br />
<br />
The state has already started down that path. In December attorney general John Suthers' office sued the city of Longmont, arguing that only the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission can regulate where fracking occurs in the state.<br />
<br />
The litigation with the Boulder county municipality followed a decision by the community's residents to approve an anti-fracking referendum in the November election.<br />
<br />
It was the second lawsuit launched by the state against Longmont. Suthers sued on behalf of COGCC after the city adopted rules last summer that limited the areas in which exploration could occur.<br />
<br />
Fort Collins might be the next target. Its city council initially approved on Feb. 19 an ordinance that would ban all oil and gas exploration within the city limits.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-91191052641480815622013-02-23T01:43:00.001-07:002013-02-23T01:47:49.648-07:00House gives final approval to Democrats' sex education billThe state House of Representatives sent to the Senate Friday a bill that would commit school districts who teach about human sexuality to doing so in a way that takes account of the circumstances faced by students who are not heterosexual or who must cope with disability.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2013a/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/1B0EC2643B4EFFB787257AEE0054AB45?Open&file=1081_01.pdf">HB 13-1081</a> was approved on third reading by a 37-28 vote.<br /><br />The debate before that final vote of the chamber was less time-consuming than was the one that occurred on Tuesday. Nevertheless, Republicans reiterated their view that the bill is objectionable because it forces parents to excuse their children from sex education classes, rather than being given the chance to sign them up for such instruction, and that there is no reliable mechanism to verify that its policy prescription will actually result in fewer teen pregnancies or sexually-transmitted disease cases.<br /><br />"Folks, this message hasn't been proven to work," Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, said. "It has never gone through a federally-funded randomized control study. We are doing a grand experimentation on our children."<br /><br />Stephens, who formerly worked for the evangelical advocacy organization Focus on the Family, argued that the comprehensive approach to be written into law by the bill rules out the sort of individual counseling that discourages risky sexual behaviors.<br /><br />She told of her experience working in a California family-planning clinic, where some patients would repeatedly visit to determine whether a pregnancy had commenced.<br /><br />"We need to connect," she said. "You cannot address this issue of comprehensive sexuality education unless you address behaviors."<br /><br />Stephens, along with fellow Republican Lori Saine of Dacono, argued that parents would object to instruction about birth-control methods, while Colorado Springs Republican Lois Landgraf warned that school districts would be sued if teachers talk of birth control methods in the classroom.<br /><br />"The real truth is that eight out of 10 Democratic parents, they want their kids taught abstinence," Stephens asserted. "They at least want their kids taught about restraint."<br /><br />A 2004 <a href="http://www.kff.org/newsmedia/upload/Sex-Education-in-America-General-Public-Parents-Survey-Toplines.pdf">survey</a> conducted by National Public Radio, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government found that nearly three-quarters of respondents thought it "very important" that sex education be available to children.<br /><br />Forty-eight percent of respondents agreed with an assertion that "[w]hen it comes to sex, teenagers need to have limits set, they must be told what is acceptable and what is not," and 48 percent agreed with an assertion that "[u]ltimately teenagers need to make their own decisions, so<br />their education needs to be more in the form of providing information and guidance."<br /><br />Stephens, who has been her party's principal combatant on the issue as it has progressed through the House, also cited New York physician Michael Carrera's <a href="http://www.childrensaidsociety.org/carrera-pregnancy-prevention/dr-michael-carrera">Children's Aid Society</a> as a model for appropriate comprehensive sexuality instruction and slammed HB 13-1081 for not mimicking it.<br /><br />"It's because this program deals one-on-one," she said. "They have a lot of mentoring, a lot of one-on-one mentoring, a lot of sheltering, a lot of community resources that come around to kids."<br /><br />Democrats countered, as they did during the initial floor debate on the measure earlier in the week, with an emphasis on the imperative of overcoming ignorance and drawing kids away from a sense of isolation that can inhibit healthy questioning.<br /><br />Rep. Dominick Moreno, D-Commerce City, made the point with a personal story that reflected his party's point. He told his colleagues that he attended a high school with an infant and toddler care facility on the campus and that his sister became pregnant as a teenager.<br /><br />The Democratic sponsor, Rep. Crisanta Duran of Denver, argued during a committee hearing and on the floor during Tuesday's discussion in the chamber's Committee of the Whole that her bill would lower teen pregnancy rates.<br /><br />At the county level, recent data indicates that teen pregnancy is a significantly bigger problem than it is in others. In 2009, the teen pregnancy rates in Adams, Denver, Mesa, Pueblo, and Weld counties were higher than both the Colorado and U.S. averages.<br /><br />The statistical case for an inordinate teen pregnancy rate in the state as a whole is not altogether clear. In 2005, according to the <a href="http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/USTPtrends.pdf">Guttmacher Institute</a>, Colorado had the 19th-highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation. <a href="http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/state-data/state-profile.aspx?state=colorado">Other data</a> indicates that the state's teen pregnancy rate dropped by 32 percent between 1988 and 2005.<br /><br />The state's Department of Public Health and Environment issued a <a href="http://www.coprevent.org/2012/10/youth-sexual-health-in-colorado-call-to.html">report</a> last year that indicated the teen pregnancy rate in Colorado fell at an even faster rate between 2001 and 2009.<br /><br /><div>
That report also indicated that, in 2009, the teen pregnancy rate in Colorado was 4 births lower per 1,000 women than it was for the nation as a whole.<br /><br />The problem is daunting on a national scale. The U.S. has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any developed nation, <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6102a1.htm?s_cid=mm6102a1_w">according</a> to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 400,000 girls between the ages of 15 and 19 become pregnant every year in America.<br /><br />Duran pointed out Friday, as she had during committee discussion of the bill and in floor debate earlier in the week, that her bill does not preclude educators from emphasizing the value of abstinence.<br /><br />That position is consistent with the policy prescriptions of a number of medical organizations concerned with adolescent health, <a href="http://www.siecus.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.ViewPage&PageID=1198">including</a> the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, and Society for Adolescent Medicine.<br /><br />No general fund dollars would be available to fund sex education in schools under the measure's terms. Instead, CDPHE would administer a program through which school districts and charter schools could seek federal funds to pay for the instruction.<br /><br />No district or charter school would be obligated to apply for the federal money, but if they did and received the grant, then the bill's sex education content mandates would kick in.<br /><br />No Republican member of the House voted for the bill, which now heads across the Capitol to the Senate. Sen. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora, will carry it there.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-57958757529243448092013-02-23T00:44:00.002-07:002013-02-23T00:46:59.891-07:00ASSET bill gets initial Senate approvalThe Senate gave initial approval to the ASSET legislation Friday, taking a historic step toward equalizing the college tuition paid by Colorado residents who are not U.S. citizens and Colorado residents who are U.S. citizens.<br />
<br />
Matt Ferner of the Huffington Post has the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/22/colorado-senate-passes-in_n_2744175.html" target="_blank">story</a>.<br />
<br />
SB 13-033 drew Republican votes, which makes it even more likely that the Democrat-dominated General Assembly will send the bill to Gov. John Hickenlooper, who has previously indicated he supports it.<br />
<br />
Eligibility to pay in-state tuition rates at Colorado universities would depend on several factors, including how long the individual attended high school in the state.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-72842808266874728872013-02-22T21:11:00.000-07:002013-02-22T21:11:18.236-07:00Denver-based federal appeals court: no constitutional protection for concealed carry of gunsA federal appeals court based in Denver <a href="http://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/opinions/11/11-1149.pdf" target="_blank">ruled</a> Friday that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee a person the right to carry a concealed firearm.<br />
<br />
The court, in an opinion written by Judge Carlos Lucero, explained that longstanding historical precedent and language in the U.S. Supreme Court's 2008 decision in a case called District of Columbia v. Heller compelled its holding.<br />
<br />
The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit disagreed with a December 2012 <a href="http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/tmp/Q018Y1JJ.pdf" target="_blank">opinion</a> by the federal appeals court based in Chicago.<br />
<br />
In that case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit provided a semantic explanation that<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"the right to 'bear' as distinct from the right to 'keep' arms is unlikely to refer to the home. To speak of “bearing” arms within one’s home would at all times have been an awkward usage. A right to bear arms thus implies a right to carry a loaded gun outside the home." </blockquote>
<br />
The opinion in the case noted that, were a state legislature to sufficiently document the public benefits expected to follow from a ban on the concealed carrying of firearms, such a ban might be constitutional.<br />
<br />
The Moore v. Madigan case is still before the Seventh Circuit. Illinois attorney general Lisa Madigan has <a href="http://www.hoffmang.com/firearms/moore/Moore-en-banc-Petition-2013-01-08.pdf" target="_blank">asked</a> the court to rehear it with all of its 11 judges, instead of just the three who decided the dispute last year, sitting as a panel.<br />
<br />
Two other federal circuit courts of appeals - the <a href="http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?xmldoc=In%20FCO%2020121127122.xml&docbase=CSLWAR3-2007-CURR" target="_blank">Second Circuit</a>, based in New York, and the <a href="http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?xmldoc=In%20FCO%2020110324111.xml" target="_blank">Fourth Circuit</a>, based in Richmond, have also ruled that the Second Amendment provides no right to carry a hidden firearm outside the home.<br />
<br />
The discord on the issue among the four federal circuits could persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the question at issue in both Peterson v. Martinez, the Tenth Circuit case, and Moore v. Madigan, the Seventh Circuit case, if asked to grant certiorari.<br />
<br />
One question the Supreme Court would have to address in such a case the question how to handle clear, but not binding, language in a decades-old case that portended Friday's Tenth Circuit decision. In 1897 the Court <a href="http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/165/275/case.html" target="_blank">opined</a> that any right to "keep and bear arms" does not extend to possession of hidden guns in public.<br />
<br />
Even in the Court's 2008 <a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-290.ZS.html" target="_blank">decision</a> that confirmed a right to keep a handgun in a private home the justices in the majority were careful to point out that "the majority of the 19th-century courts to consider the question held that prohibitions on carrying concealed weapons were lawful under the Second Amendment or state analogues."<br />
<br />
It went on to explain that its opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller should not be understood as undermining such "longstanding prohibitions."<br />
<br />
The federal appellate judges who issued Friday's opinion emphasized that, in that respect, Heller is consistent with longstanding precedent. They cited a 2009 law review <a href="http://www.uclalawreview.org/pdf/56-5-12.pdf" target="_blank">article</a> by noted libertarian law professor Eugene Volokh, which perfunctorily noted that "by the end of the 19th century the constitutionality of such [concealed carry] bans had become pretty broadly accepted."<br />
<br />
The court also pointed to a 2011 <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1865946" target="_blank">academic study</a> by gun advocate David T. Hardy, which concluded that state appeals courts had rejected, as early as the 1820s, any inconsistency between the constitutional firearms rights provisions and concealed carry laws.<br />
<br />
It is possible that other federal courts could limit their reading of Friday's decision in <a href="http://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/opinions/11/11-1149.pdf" target="_blank">Peterson v. Martinez</a> to statutory prohibitions on granting concealed carry permits to non-residents of a state.<br />
<br />
The case arose when a Washington resident sued to enjoin Colorado's concealed carry law because he was denied such a permit on the basis of the state's statutory provision forbidding an out-of-state resident from receiving one.<br />
<br />
Courts have, in the vast majority of constitutional challenges to the gamut of state firearms laws since the Heller case was decided, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-winkler/the-new-second-amendment_b_154783.html" target="_blank">upheld</a> those statutes.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-10268907775353853542013-02-21T15:35:00.001-07:002013-02-21T15:35:48.418-07:00NYT: Many state legislatures considering mandatory liability insurance for gun owners<span style="font-family: inherit;">The New York Times has a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/22/us/in-gun-debate-a-bigger-role-seen-for-insurers.html?hp">story</a> this morning that explores a new trend in firearms legislation: bills requiring gun owners to purchase liability insurance policies.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The article indicates that at least six states are debating such a policy approach.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">One of them - New York - is <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/19/ny-bill-would-force-gun-owners-buy-least-1m-insura/">considering</a> a <a href="http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?default_fld=&bn=A03908&term=2013&Text=Y">proposal</a> to mandate a minimum of $1 million in liability coverage resulting from "negligent or willful" acts involving the use of a firearm by the insured owner.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The measure would require a prospective gun owner to acquire the insurance before obtaining a gun and, in the case of current gun owners, set a deadline of thirty days after the law takes effect.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A similar <a href="http://gaithersburg.patch.com/articles/maryland-senators-introduce-bill-to-require-liability-insurance-for-gun-owners-11eb13d4">proposal</a> in Maryland would set $250,000 as the minimum insurance coverage.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Other states in which legislators are considering whether to require gun owner to carry liability insurance on their firearms are California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The bills introduced around the nation this year are the first since Illinois legislators <a href="http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocTypeID=HB&DocNum=687&GAID=10&SessionID=76">rejected</a> a similar idea in 2009.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">According to Robert Hartwig, an economist and president of the <a href="http://www.iii.org/" target="_blank">Insurance Information Institute</a>, a major problem with the idea is that, in several of the states in which the bills have been introduced, the proponents do not distinguish between an insurance mandate applicable to accidental damage resulting from use of a gun and illegal use of a firearm.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Such an all-inclusive coverage mandate would be contrary to long-established industry practice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"They
have not historically, they do not today, and they will not in the future," Hartwig said, referring to insurance companies. "This
is not unique to gun coverage. I think most people believe that’s the way
things would be."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Moreover, Hartwig argued, firearms liability insurance is not needed to provide a disincentive to misuse of a weapon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"T<span style="line-height: 115%;">he gun owners have a pretty strong disincentive right now," he said. "Obviously, they face
criminal charges and prison time, not to mention lawsuits, as a result of [illegal] activities. I’m not sure the payment of an insurance premium is going to alter the
incentive here. The disincentive to misuse the weapon already exists through the penal
code."</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Hartwig noted that accidental discharges of a firearm that cause damage to person or property are generally covered by homeowners or renters insurance policies. The National Rifle Association </span><a href="http://www.locktonrisk.com/nrains/">currently</a><span style="line-height: 115%;"> makes available to its members a supplemental insurance policy that allows for additional compensation to claimants in those circumstances.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The idea of requiring gun owners to carry liability insurance applicable to their firearms was apparently first broached in a 1987 <a href="http://www.constitution.org/2ll/2ndschol/73lund.pdf">law review article</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As of this writing no Colorado legislator has introduced a bill in the 2013 legislative session that would impose a mandatory insurance requirement on gun owners.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-38358450595932754572013-02-21T11:33:00.000-07:002013-02-21T11:33:53.386-07:00Sex education bill will soon head to SenateThe House of Representatives has preliminarily approved an overhaul of state law on sex education, likely setting up a partisan Senate clash on a bill that would assure a more broad-based discussion of human sexual behavior in Colorado classrooms.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2013a/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/1B0EC2643B4EFFB787257AEE0054AB45?open&file=1081_eng.pdf" target="_blank">HB 13-1081</a> gained initial approval Tuesday in a party-line vote.<br />
<br />
Joe Hanel of the Durango Herald <a href="http://www.durangoherald.com/article/20130219/NEWS01/130219512//article/20130219/NEWS01/130219512/House-OKs-sex-ed-bill---" target="_blank">covered</a> the debate.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-55443120914031222912013-02-21T10:26:00.001-07:002013-02-21T10:26:29.423-07:00Hickenlooper says he'd veto firefighter collective bargaining billJohn Hickenlooper does not like the idea of tinkering with the state's polyglot system of handling employment relations with local firefighters.<br /><br />The governor wrote to Senate president John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, and House speaker Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, on Tuesday to express his opposition to <a href="http://www.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2013A/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/3DBE2257C1EB6DDF87257AEE0054B102?Open&file=025_01.pdf">SB 13-025</a>, which would require all municipalities in Colorado to collectively bargain with firefighters. <br /><br />“After careful review of the legislation, the concerns of relevant parties and the policies of this administration, we cannot support SB13-025 in its current form and urge the Colorado General Assembly to consider alternatives that respect both the political rights of firefighters and the ability of local governments to make locally accordant decisions regarding collective bargaining,” Hickenlooper's <a href="http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=Content-Type&blobheadervalue1=inline%3B+filename%3D%22Letter+to+Morse+%26+Ferrandino+RE+Collective+Bargaining+SB13-025.pdf%22&blobheadervalue2=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1251851131634&ssbinary=true">letter</a> said.<br /><br />Former Gov. Bill Ritter <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12528784">vetoed</a> similar legislation in 2009.<br /><br />One concern about this year's bill, as well as the measure killed by Ritter, is that it might violate the state constitution. A 1990 state supreme court <a href="http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?xmldoc=19901552788P2d764_11546.xml&docbase=CSLWAR2-1986-2006" target="_blank">decision</a> seems to indicate that the General Assembly lacks authority to override article 20, section 6 of Colorado's bedrock law.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-6626874660350986202013-02-21T09:58:00.000-07:002013-02-21T14:33:32.515-07:00Another bill to let grocery stores sell beer dies<span style="font-family: inherit;">In what is becoming an annual tradition, legislation that would have opened the door to sale of full-strength beer in grocery stores has died in the General Assembly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
<a href="http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2013a/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/B7DAD79CD3BA845E87257A8E0073BF81?open&file=1178_01.pdf" target="_blank">HB 13-1178</a>, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Priola, R-Henderson, was terminated Tuesday at Priola's request after he realized there was not enough support for it to pass the House Business, Labor, Economic and Workforce Development Committee.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The committee voted unanimously to end the bill's journey through the legislative process.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
The measure was opposed, as similar versions in prior years have been, by liquor stores. The state's micro-brewing industry also expressed skepticism about the bill.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
Jeanne McEvoy, a spokesperson for the Colorado Licensed Beverage Association, said that safety is a principal reason for her organization's opposition to this and similar bills.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
"You don’t put alcohol on
shelves where kids can go in and grab their Red Bull and vodka and put it in a
backpack and go out the door," she said. "That doesn’t happen in a liquor store."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
McEvoy also noted that a study commissioned by CLBA showed that many of the state's liquor stores would go out of business if grocery and convenience stores could compete with them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
"<span style="line-height: 115%;">The
other thing is, the economics of losing your market to large corporations that can
out-purchase you and then put you out of business pretty darn quick," she explained.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">The state's craft brewing industry has been experiencing rapid growth, according to a spokesman, and does not believe that changing the current system would benefit the increasing number of small breweries in Colorado.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">"</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">We
feel that the system that’s in place is an excellent system," Steve Kurowski, the marketing and public relations manager for the <a href="http://coloradobeer.org/" target="_blank">Colorado Brewers Guild</a>, said. "We feel that it
supplies the beer drinker, the wine drinker with a lot of options with great
selection in these liquor stores and they’re very convenient. A lot of them are
right next to the grocery store. To have a place that’s going to focus exclusively
on beer, wine, and spirits is a good thing, especially in a state that has so
many breweries, wineries, and now distilleries."</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A 2012 <a href="http://coloradobeer.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/CBG-Economic-Impact-Press-Release-04-24-12.pdf" target="_blank">study</a> commissioned by CBG indicates that the industry produces a $146 million annual economic impact for the state.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">"</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Growth
is staggering," Kurowski said. "We are seeing breweries that are 10, 15-plus years old build new
breweries from the ground up, expand at their breweries to add new fermentation
tanks. We’re even seeing some of these breweries grow internationally. In Colorado,
in the last sixteen months, it’s safe to say that we've opened around
40 breweries."</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kurowski explained that the advantage of current law is that it allows brewers to quickly form strong working relationships with those who make purchasing decisions at the state's many liquor stores.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">"</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">If
you make good beer, if you’re product is in demand, you can find a place for
it," he said. "What makes it easy is that a brewery can make some beer, put it in a delivery
van, take it to a liquor store, and say, ‘hey, look at our Christmas beer, look
at our summer brew, would you like to buy?’ The liquor store can say yes or no."</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16.363636016845703px;">The state's major grocery chains do not station personnel with purchasing authority relating to beer in Colorado, Kurowski added.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
No bill to expand access to beer sales was introduced in last year's legislative session. During each of the four years prior to that similar proposals were considered.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
Priola's bill would not have been limited to beer. It would have allowed grocery stores to obtain up to five liquor licenses, which could have in turn provided a pathway to sell wine and hard liquors in addition to full-strength beer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
The micro-brewing industry's opposition to the bill came in spite of a provision that would have allowed some of its participants to sell their product in all Colorado grocery and convenience stores.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kurowski noted that the provision would not have benefited most of the state's craft brewers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="line-height: 115%;">There’s
only a small handful of breweries that would be able to do business with the
grocery stores," he said.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">NOTE: This story also appears at Examiner.com.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-34343247548482177782013-02-21T08:48:00.000-07:002013-02-21T08:48:14.959-07:00CU regents put off taking a stand on college concealed weapons billThe University of Colorado Board of Regents will continue, at least for awhile, its silence on the question whether the General Assembly should enact a measure to ban concealed weapons on the state's college campuses.<br />
<br />
The Boulder Daily Camera <a href="http://www.dailycamera.com/cu-news/ci_22630106/cus-board-regents-delays-taking-stand-guns-campus" target="_blank">reported</a> Wednesday that the seven-member panel rejected a Republican-led effort to get it on record.<br />
<br />
HB 13-1226, which would overturn a 2012 state supreme court decision that applied the state's concealed carry law to college campuses, cleared the House of Representatives Monday.<br />
<br />
The bill now heads to the Senate, along with three other firearms regulation measures.<br />
<br />
Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, is the House sponsor, while Democrat Rollie Heath of Boulder will carry the bill in the Senate.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-28259266522875042162013-02-21T08:37:00.003-07:002013-02-21T08:37:51.669-07:00School finance act overhaul introducedThe long-awaited bill from Sen. Mike Johnston, D-Denver, to overhaul the state's school finance system is on the way.<br />
<br />
A Monday <a href="http://www.ednewscolorado.org/2013/02/18/56217-school-funding-plan-almost-ready-to-go" target="_blank">story</a> in Education News Colorado provides an informative overview of the complex proposal.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-22067507308133921842013-02-20T11:14:00.000-07:002013-02-20T11:14:02.649-07:00Colorado gun law reform debate gets national coverageThe General Assembly's debate about how to change the state's firearms laws is gaining national media attention.<br />
<br />
National Public Radio ran a <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/02/19/172431559/gun-control-an-emotional-issue-for-citizens-lawmakers-in-colorado" target="_blank">story</a> on the issue yesterday. Megan Verlee, the able statehouse reporter for Colorado Public Radio, gets a countrywide microphone for her excellent work.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-57788541142961472722013-02-16T19:11:00.000-07:002013-02-16T19:22:24.726-07:00COMMENTARY: Legislators should obey capitol gun banThe <a href="http://durangoherald.com/article/20130214/NEWS01/130219757/Senator-get-your-weapon--" target="_blank">news</a> that some legislators are carrying concealed weapons inside the state capitol is deeply disappointing to every citizen of Colorado who believes that the law must apply equally to all.<br />
<br />
This state's concealed carry law is very clear on the point: guns are not permitted in the capitol building. Here is the text of <a href="http://www.lpdirect.net/casb/crs/18-12-105.html" target="_blank">C.R.S. 18-12-105(1)</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">(1) A person commits a class 2 misdemeanor if such person knowingly and unlawfully:</span>. . .<br />
<span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">(c) Without legal authority, carries, brings, or has in such person's possession a firearm or any explosive, incendiary, or other dangerous device on the property of or within any building in which the chambers, galleries, or offices of the general assembly, or either house thereof, are located, or in which a legislative hearing or meeting is being or is to be conducted, or in which the official office of any member, officer, or employee of the general assembly is located.</span></blockquote>
<br />
There is no exception in the language of this law for state legislators. There is no statutory language that authorizes the state police, which guard the entrances to the building, to overlook the carrying of guns into the capitol by anyone, even legislators. There has been no regulation by any state agency, including the state Department of Public Safety, that purports to exempt legislators from the statute's reach. No court of this state has declared that the statute cannot constitutionally be applied to legislators while they are in the capitol building.<br />
<br />
It is true that the state police have not set up metal detectors, nor posted guards, at the doors through which legislators may enter by means of an access code or digital identification card.<br />
<br />
This, however, is no excuse for legislators to break the law. After all, if legislators believe that the law is only to be honored when an enforcer of it is nearby to make sure that it is, the message they are sending is that compliance with the law is at the whim of the individual.<br />
<br />
It is regrettable that there are public servants - people who hold a position of high public trust - who apparently have concluded that they are not bound by the laws they write. It is to be hoped that those who have the authority to enforce the law will act in a way that shows their understanding of one of the most fundamental principles of a democratic republic. As Aristotle wrote, centuries ago, "the only stable state is the one in which all men are equal before the law." That truism certainly extends, in the state of Colorado, to state senators and state representatives.<br />
<br />
Members of the Colorado General Assembly should leave their guns at home. They have no place in the state capitol.<br />
<br />
As for those who have arrogantly disregarded their sacred obligations under the law of the state they were elected to serve, attorney general John Suthers or Denver district attorney Mitch Morrissey should act to remind such scofflaws that they are not above that law.<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-79766375213033855542013-02-14T09:12:00.000-07:002013-02-14T09:12:16.992-07:00Is Lt. Gov. Garcia headed to Washington?Lieutenant governor Joe Garcia, in an enigmatic comment yesterday, may have hinted that he could soon be joining President Barack Obama's cabinet.<br />
<br />
Education News Colorado reports this morning that Garcia, when asked by a Denver school board member whether he would be staying in his current job, said "I think my time is up."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-59315291609773354912013-02-14T00:25:00.001-07:002013-02-14T00:34:19.453-07:00Legislation to fix Colorado sex education standards to get House debate ThursdayA Denver Democrat will ask the House Thursday to approve legislation that would clarify what the state's public schools must teach about human sexuality.<br />
<br />
The bill aims to eliminate disparities among districts and encourage schools to give children the knowledge they need to avoid pregnancy even if they become sexually active.<br />
<br />
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Crisanta Duran, D-Denver, argued in a committee hearing last week that the measure is necessary to advance public health and to protect teenagers. <br />
<br />
"Colorado youth still face many barriers in obtaining the medically accurate information and resources they need to make informed and responsible decisions and lead healthy lifestyles," she said.<br />
<br />
Duran's proposal would not preclude instruction about abstinence.<br />
<br />
“Abstinence is incredibly important. If you do not want unintended pregnancy, if you do not want to see the transmission of disease, then abstain from engaging in sexual activity,” Duran explained.<br />
<br />
However, Duran pointed out that educators also need tools to help students who do choose to become sexually active.<br />
<br />
"For those who choose to do so, we should be able to have an approach that really teaches them how to protect themselves," she said.<br />
<br />
At the core of the legislation is a provision that conditions compliance on receipt of federal grant money.<br />
<br />
The money would be dispersed to school districts or charter schools by the state's Department of Public Health and Environment.<br />
<br />
"This is not an unfunded mandate," Duran said.<br />
<br />
One notable feature of <a href="http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2013a/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/1B0EC2643B4EFFB787257AEE0054AB45?Open&file=1081_01.pdf">HB 13-1081</a> is a clause that puts the burden on parents to excuse their children from sex education classes. Under current law a student is not permitted to learn about human reproductive behavior in school unless a parent gives permission in advance.<br />
<br />
Republicans on the House Health, Insurance, and Environment Committee voted as a block against the bill last Thursday. <br />
<br />
Former House majority leader Amy Stephens, R-Monument, led the GOP opposition to the legislation.<br />
<br />
Among several arguments she advanced was one to the effect that any benefit of teaching children about the reproductive physiology of the human body is outweighed by the prospect that doing so may offend the religious sensibilities of some individuals.<br />
<br />
Centennial Republican Spencer Swalm attacked the bill on grounds that it limits school districts to grants that advance the goal of comprehensive sex education. Duran disputed that argument, pointing out that the proposed statutory language would not prevent districts from working with external organizations that advocate for abstinence-only education.<br />
<br />
The legislature last enacted a <a href="http://www.cde.state.co.us/healthandwellness/download/1292_enr.pdf">sex education bill</a> in 2007. That one, however, did not require curricula used by public schools in the state to address the reality of homosexual and bisexual behavior among humans.<br />
<br />
HB 13-1081 would correct that oversight, requiring that sex education programs in the state's public schools be "culturally sensitive."<br />
<br />
That requirement, as well as the overall approach of the legislation, is based on a 2012 <a href="http://co9to25.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Youth-Sexual-Health-in-Colorado-A-Call-to-Action.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> on youth sexual activity issued by the state's Department of Public Health and Environment.<br />
<br />
The sponsor of the 2007 bill, Nancy Todd, is now a senator from an Aurora-area district and is carrying HB 13-1081 in the Senate this year.<br />
<br />
If the bill is approved on "second reading" Thursday then it must first be approved in another House vote before moving to the Senate.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-25628060784191071592013-02-13T23:03:00.000-07:002013-02-13T23:12:08.625-07:00Democrats' package of four gun control bills to be debated on House floor FridayThe set of four big firearms bills introduced by House Democrats will be debated in that chamber on Friday.<br />
<br />
The package includes measures that would <a href="http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2013a/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/7E6713B015E62E6F87257B0100813CB5?Open&file=1224_01.pdf" target="_blank">limit the size of bullet magazines</a>, <a href="http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2013a/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/590C29B4C02AFC2F87257A8E0073C303?Open&file=1229_01.pdf" target="_blank">require all purchasers of firearms to obtain a background check</a>, <a href="http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2013a/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/04005C2BDBC54E4087257AEE00585D19?Open&file=1228_01.pdf" target="_blank">force gun buyers to pay for the required background check</a>, and <a href="http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2013a/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/7A2AA2783B54E1CF87257AEE005704A0?Open&file=1226_01.pdf" target="_blank">make clear that the state's concealed carry law does not apply on the campuses of public colleges and universities</a>.<br />
<br />
If any or all of the bills are approved by the House on Friday, they will be calendared for a second vote in the chamber a few days later. The bills move to the Senate only if they are approved on both "second reading" and "third reading" in the House.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077175309734867272.post-40364710568984278422013-02-13T22:52:00.002-07:002013-02-13T22:52:28.719-07:00Lynn Bartels rounds up the fate of some interesting billsThe Denver Post's Lynn Bartels, doyenne of statehouse reporters, has <a href="http://blogs.denverpost.com/thespot/2013/02/13/besides-guns-a-look-at/91057/" target="_blank">posted</a> a useful roundup of the General Assembly's handling of several recent bills.<br />
<br />
Do yourself a favor and check it out.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com