Spam Reduction Bill Heads to Ritter

A bill that would markedly toughen penalties for sending unsolicited commercial email messages, and give the state maximum ability to enforce the federal CAN-Spam Act as well as consumers education needed to fight spam, is on its way to Gov. Ritter.

HB 1178, sponsored by Reps. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, Sara Gagliardi, D-Arvada, and John Soper, D-Thornton, as well as Sen. Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora, cleared the House a second time Thursday morning. The House had to take up the bill again, after initially giving it final clearance in February, because the Senate amended it before giving a final nod last week.

Carroll lauded the measure as an essential tool to fight a growing economic burden on business.

"Today the legislature sent a strong bi-partisan message – enough!” Carroll said. "Colorado companies and average citizens spend too much time, energy and money sifting through ridiculous claims of million dollar paydays, ads for E.D. medications and various other schemes -- just to get to their personal emails. This will not do."

According to a report issued by the University of Maryland, spam cost U.S. business about $22 billion in lost productivity in 2005. Another report, released by Nucleus Research in April 2007, says the lost productivity value is now about $70 billion.

Hagedorn said the bill is also aimed at helping the elderly, who are increasingly targets of computer crime.

"Spammers are using increasingly more sophisticated methods to target elderly folks and those with less computer know-how, conning them out of money and personal information like credit and social security numbers,” he said.

The average American receives, on average, at least 2,200 spam email messages each year, according to SpamFilterReview.com.

The proposed Spam Reduction Act of 2008 will become law in August if signed by Ritter.

Hagedorn Introduces Broad Healthcare Reform Legislation

A bill that aims to get health insurance coverage into the hands of 800,000 Colorado residents who don't currently have it was introduced in the Senate March 28.

SB 217 would allow health insurers to provide the state with plans to expand coverage. A commission to study ways of making participation in those plans available to people who don't have health insurance would be created and would have to report to the General Assembly in 2009.

The measure would call for the use of federal block grant funds provided Colorado for health and other purposes to subsidize the premiums needed to secure the participation in the private sector health plans by uninsured individuals.

A commission appointed last year issued a report in January that concluded that extending coverage to all of the state's uninsured could cost as much as $1.5 billion.

The measure also includes a coverage mandate. All residents of the state would be required by law, if the bill is enacted, to obtain private health insurance coverage. In exchange, health insurance providers would be required to issue a policy to anyone who applies for one.

In a report published in the Denver Business Journal, sponsor Sen. Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora, said that the approach proposed by his bill is the only practical alternative to a single-payer, government-run health care system.

The report also quoted Hagedorn as saying he has secured bipartisan support for the measure, including from Sen. Steve Johnson, R-Fort Collins, and Reps. Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs, and Ellen Roberts, R-Durango.

Massachusetts imposed a coverage mandate on its residents in 2007. According to a recent Boston Globe article, the program in that state is expected to cost $1.35 billion per year by 2011, up from $158 million in the first year of the program's life.

Vermont and Maine have also launched efforts at achieving universal private health insurance coverage in those states.

Anti-Spam Bill Gets Unanimous Final House Approval

A bill that would make it a misdemeanor to deceptive or unsolicited commercial email got unanimous approval on third and final reading in the House today.

HB 1178, sponsored by Rep. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, passed 64-0. The bill also gives Internet service providers immunity from civil liability for transmitting spam over their email networks if they take certain actions to prevent spam transmissions.

The proposed Spam Reduction Act of 2008 now heads to the Senate, where it is sponsored by Sen. Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora.

"Spam Reduction Act" Bill To Receive Second Reading Vote in House Mon.

A bill that would criminalize the sending of spam in Colorado will get its first floor vote in the House Monday, Feb. 11.

HB 1178 would specify that unsolicited commercial e-mail messages, or commercial email messages that conceal the sender, are deceptive trade practices under state law. It would allow Internet service providers to sue spam senders if their networks are used to send unlawful email traffic and recover actual damages and, in some cases, attorney fees and costs.

The bill also grants immunity from civil liability to ISPs who take actions to prevent the sending of spam over their networks. It also explicitly grants the state Attorney General authority to enforce the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act of 2003, 15 U.S.C. section 7701 et seq.

Finally, the bill declares that violations of the CAN-SPAM Act are "inherently false and deceptive" and specifies that "electronic mail fraud" is a class 2 misdemeanor on first offense and a class 1 misdemeanor on a second or subsequent offense within two years.

If enacted, the bill would supersede Colorado's Junk E-mail law and grant the state all of the authority to regulate spam granted by the CAN-SPAM Act.

The sponsors of the bill are Rep. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, and Sen. Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora.

Rep. Morgan Carroll to Seek Senate Seat

Rep. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, announced this week that she'll seek the Senate seat being vacated by term-limited Sen. Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora, next January.

Carroll, who is the House Majority Caucus chair, was not expected to seek to move over to the Senate until former Rep. Michael Garcia, D-Aurora, suddenly resigned earlier in the week after being accused by a lobbyist of making unwelcome sexual advances.

Su Ryden, an Aurora businesswoman, is expected to seek the Democratic nomination for Carroll's house seat.

Morgan Carroll's HOA Bill Passes Committee

A bill that would require HOAs to assure that disputes with members are decided by a neutral party and authorize the use of mediation passed its first test in the House of Representatives Thursday.

HB 1135 drew no opposition on second and preliminary reading by the full chamber. It had sailed through the House Local Government committee with a unanimous vote Wednesday.

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, and Sens. Bob Hagedorn and Suzanne Williams, D-Aurora.

The House is scheduled to vote on final adoption of the bill Friday. If approved, it will head to the Senate for consideration.