Many New Laws Taking Effect Today

A long list of bills enacted into law by the General Assembly this year went into effect today. The 125 measures range from consumer protection to environmental protection and from renewable energy to education. The new laws include:

HB 1178 increases the odds of catching email spammers by providing state enforcement authority similar to federal authority against unwanted e-mails. Colorado consumers can now take complaints to local authorities. (Rep. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora; Sen. Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora)

HB 1160 will allow nearly one million more Coloradans participate in the burgeoning renewable energy market by allowing them to generate homegrown energy from wind turbines and rooftop solar panels while remaining on the utility grid. This new law also gives customers credit when their meter runs backwards from their production of wind and solar power. (Rep. Judy Solano, D-Brighton; Sen. Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont)

HB 1280 protects water rights of those owners leasing or lending unused to the Colorado Water Conservation Board. (Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins; Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village)

HB 1223 aims to identify dyslexia early in a child's educational career so that those afflicted with the learning disorder can overcome the disability in school. New training and technical assistance will help teachers address dyslexia and other literacy challenges. (Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Colorado Springs; Sen. Suzanne Williams, D-Aurora)

HB 1207 requires the state to purchase environmentally friendly products – such as energy efficient light bulbs and recycled paper products – whenever feasible. It allows the state to consider both the initial cost and the expected life-span of a product. (Rep. John Kefalas, D-Fort Collins; Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Larimer County)

SB 129 requires that beverages sold on public and charter school campuses meet nutritional and health standards aimed at reducing obesity and advancing general health. Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley; Sen. Dan Gibbs, D-Silverthorn)

SB 73 aims to lower the cost of college textbooks by imposing new disclosure and product separation requirements on publishers. (Rep. John Kefalas, D-Fort Collins; Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder)

SB 159 lowers the threshold for Boating Under the Influence (BUI) to .08 from .10. It also expands boating under the influence to include all vessels, not just motorboats or sailboats. (Rep. Christine Scanlan, D-Dillon; Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder)

HB 1265 allows counties to increase the income eligibility ceiling for child care assistance to 85% of the state's median family income. (Rep. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora; Sen. Brandon Shaffer, D-Boulder)

SB 123 allows more five-, six-, and seven-year-olds to get a free lunch at school. (Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder; Sen. Paula Sandoval, D-Denver)

HB 1407 requires insurance companies to pay double damages if they are found to have unreasonably failed to pay on a claim on a timely basis. (Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver; Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, D-Denver)

HB 1385 requires creation of a consumer shopping guide for health insurance on the Colorado Division of Insurance web site and requires insurance brokers to tell customers how much commission they make on each policy they sell. (Rep. Dianne Primavera, D-Broomfield; Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village)

HB 1228 prohibits insurance agents and companies from selling misleading insurance policies. (Rep. Gwyn Green, D-Golden; Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, D-Denver)

SB 16 provides money for free and low-cost health screenings and education through the 9Health Fair, a volunteer-run, community-initiated program. (Rep. Debbie Benefield, D-Arvada; Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial)

SB 58 requires the state to develop an action plan for dealing with the difficulties encountered by those confronted with Alzheimer's disease. (Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley; Sen. Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood)

HB 1225 raises the Business Personal Property Tax exemption from $2,500 to $7,000. (Rep. Joe Rice, D-Littleton; Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction; Sen. Suzanne Williams, D-Aurora; Sen. Steve Ward, R-Littleton)

HB 1261 aims to encourage the growth of the airplane industry by authorizing a “Fly-Away Tax Exemption” allowing new or used aircraft to be sold without collection of Colorado sales tax. (Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction; Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins)

HB 1380 reduces tax burdens by creating a “Single Factor Tax” which allows businesses to pay one tax – based on sales – rather than pay based on multiple factors, allowing them to put more resources back into their businesses. (Rep. Cheri Jahn, D-Wheat Ridge; Sen. Brandon Shaffer, D-Boulder)

SB 170 gives the state's 11 Downtown Development Authorities a 20-year extension on their tax-increment financing contracts. (Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction; Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins)

Other New Leadership Appointments for 2008 Session

Several leadership appointments other than those highlighted in earlier reports here were made by the respective caucuses at the General Assembly in the several month period preceding the opening of the session.

These include:

Sen. Abel J. Tapia (D-Pueblo) - president pro tempore of Senate
Sen. Suzanne Williams (D-Aurora) - Senate majority caucus assistant chair
Rep. Andy Kerr (D-Lakewood) - House majority whip
Rep. Claire Levy (D-Boulder) - House majority caucus assistant chair

Sen. Tapia becomes the first hispanic member of the Senate to hold the post of president pro tempore in more than a century.

A Snapshot of Notable House Bills Introduced This Week

Here are some of the notable bills introduced in the House this week:

HB 1001 (Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Fort Collins, and Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins) - Authorizes "early stage bioscience companies" to receive funding from the Bioscience Discovery Evaluation Grant Program.

HB 1003 (Rep. David Balmer, R-Centennial, and Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder) - Requires "special Congressional vacancy election" to be held if speaker of U.S. House of Representatives declares that more than 100 vacancies exist in that body of Congress and at least one of those vacancies is in a Colorado district.

HB 1004 (Rep. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora, and Sen. Josh Penry, R-Fruita) - Authorizes law enforcement officers to arrest truant children subject to mandatory school attendance laws for purpose of returning children to school; bans transport of child arrested for truancy to juvenile detention facility or jail.

HB 1006 (Rep. Cheri Jahn, D-Golden) - Requires county social services departments to arrange visits between children in foster care and their siblings if such visit is requested by foster child or siblings and if department does not conclude visit would not be in best interests of child or sibling.

HB 1010 (Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, and Sen. Stephanie Takis, D-Aurora) - Raises minimum fines from class 2 traffic misdemeanors from $10 to $150, for class 1 traffic misdemeanors from $100 to $300, doubles minimum fine for driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with excessive alcohol content, and driving while impaired, and doubles minimum fine for vehicular eluding of a law enforcement officer; also reduces portion of fine local government can collect from citation for driving without required restraint on state or federal highway if local law enforcement officer writes citation.

HB 1011 (Rep. Gwyn Green, D-Golden) - Eliminates statute of limitations applicable to civil lawsuits based on sexual assault of a child if lawsuit is against perpetrator or third party who had control over the perpetrator, knew perpetrator had previously committed unlawful sexual misconduct and failed to prevent additional incidents; creates two-year window for filing civil actions based on childhood sexual assault in cases where existing limitations period has expired; repeals language in current law limiting damages plaintiff may collect in civil action based on sexual assault of a child.

HB 1012 (Rep. Glenn Vaad, R-Mead, and Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial) - Requires state Transportation Commission to evaluate state highway system and remove roads from that system if it determines it is appropriate and feasible to do so; road to be determined eligible for removal from list of state highways if it meets only local or regional transportation demands or provides minimal statewide or multi-regional benefits.

HB 1017 (Rep. Cherilyn Peniston, D-Westminster, and Sen. Jennifer Viega, D-Denver) - Designates western painted turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii) as Colorado's state reptile.

HB 1021 (Rep. Cherilyn Peniston, D-Westminster) - Specifies that four-year olds can be considered "gifted children" and allows school districts to permit gifted four-year olds to attend kindergarten or first grade; requires school districts to extend services to gifted five-year old children.

HB 1035 (Reps. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, and Spencer Swalm, R-Centennial, and Sen. John P. Morse, D-Colorado Springs) - Extends period in which taxpayers may make voluntary contribution to military family relief fund to 2011.

HB 1039 (Rep. Ken Summers, R-Lakewood, and Sen. Scott Renfroe, R-Greeley) - Requires identification used for election-related purposes to contain photograph of eligible elector.

A Snapshot of Notable Senate Bills Introduced This Week

Dozens of bills were introduced during the first two days of the 2008 legislative session, including 48 in the Senate and more than 100 in the House. Among them are proposals to implement some of Gov. Bill Ritter's priorities and a number of competing ideas from the General Assembly's Republican minority.

Here are some of the notable bills introduced in the Senate this week:

SB 1 (Sen. John P. Morse, D-Colorado Springs, and Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument) - Creates a "school safety resource center" within the Department of Public Safety to help school s prevent and prepare for violent incidents.

SB 4 (Sen. Moe Keller, D-Arvada, and Rep. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs) - Creates a state employment program for persons with developmental disabilities

SB 11 (Sen. John P. Morse, D-Colorado Springs, and Rep. Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs) - Creates an "emergency responders and trauma care reimbursement fund" to be paid for from an increase in motor vehicle registration fees and requires all auto insurance policies issued in Colorado to include at least $15,000 in emergency care coverage

SB 13 (Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village, and Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins) - Authorizes use of oil and gas severance tax revenues to fund mitigation of production impacts by the Division of Wildlife and improvements to state parks.

SB 18 (Sen. Sue Windels, D-Arvada, and Rep. Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs) - Requires Department of Higher Education approval for any new academic, career or technical education program at any state-supported institution of higher learning.

SB 21 (Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, and Rep. Edward Casso, D-Commerce City) - Creates a pilot English language competency program to help students who primarily speak another language to achieve English competency prior to high school graduation.

SB 23 (Sen. Josh Penry, R-Fruita, and Rep. Rob Witwer, R-Evergreen) - Requires State Board of Education to establish uniform minimum high school graduation standards, to include four years of mathematics, four years of English, three years of science, three years of social studies, two years of foreign language or American sign language, one year of physical education or health education and oneyear of visual, performance or applied fine arts.

SB 24 (Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton) - Prohibits ticket sellers, such as professional athletic teams, from limiting the resale of event tickets, requires ticket seller to guarantee ticket refund in case event is cancelled and prohibits denial of access to event to person who purchased ticket from re-seller.

SB 25 (Sen. Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood, and Rep. Sara Gagliardi, D-Arvada) - Transfers regulatory authority regarding safety of retail foods to State Board of Health from Department of Public Health and Environment and requiring creation of a Uniform Code of Sanitary Rules.

SB 26 (Sen. Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora) - Requires all cigarettes sold in the state after July 31, 2009 to be tested for, and to meet, standards assuring a lower risk that lit cigarettes can ignite a fire.

SB 40 (Sen. Ken Gordon, D-Denver) - Allows a person qualified to vote to register to vote online if that person's signature is stored in digital form in one of several state-maintained databases.

SB 43 (Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver) - Requires each school district to adopt minimum nutritional standards for food and drinks sold "a la carte" or in vending machines or school stores on school campuses and requires compliance with the nutritional standards for accreditation of school districts; also creates "healthy school foods and drinks grant program," paid for from lottery revenues, to assist school districts in complying with the obligation to provide food and drinks that meet the nutritional standards.

SB 48 (Sen. Moe Keller, D-Arvada, and Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction) - Prohibits political telephone solicitations made by automatic dialing machines or paid political solicitors to anyone in Colorado or registered to vote in Colorado unless the person being called had a pre-existing relationship with the caller; exempts calls made by candidates, public officials and political parties made for the purpose of announcing town meetings, fundraisers, and "other events of interest to existing constituents and supporters;" also exempts calls from professional polling organizations.

General Assembly Opens 2008 Session Jan. 9

The second regular session of the 66th Colorado General Assembly will open Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008.

Senate president Peter Groff (D-Denver), Senate minority leader Andy McElhany (R-Colorado Springs), House speaker Andrew Romanoff (D-Denver) and House minority leader Mike May (R-Parker) are expected to deliver opening day addresses.

Gov. Bill Ritter is expected to address the legislature on Thursday, Jan. 10.