BILLS FROM FEB 6 – FEB 10, 2012

      Monday, Feb 6

10 AM – Senate Floor, 2^nd reading

SB12-015 by Senators Giron and Johnston; also Representative Duran

Optional category of tuition at state institutions of higher education (“ASSET” bill)

Allows a high school graduate who has lived in Colorado for 3 years or more to pay a special tuition at state colleges and universities that is lower than out-of-state tuition, regardless of their documentation status

SB12-048 by Sen. Schwartz; also Rep. Coram

Creation of the "Colorado Cottage Foods Act" for locally produced home foods sold directly to consumers

Exempts small producers from the licensing requirements placed on retail food establishmejnts, and limits the liability of food banks that distribute food

SB12-013 by Senator Schwartz; also Representative Jones--Low-speed Electric Vehicles

Allows operation of low-speed electric vehicles on roadways at speeds up to 40 miles per hour                                     

10 AM - House Floor, 2^nd reading

HB12-1105 Becker - Wind Energy Property Rights

Establishes a nonseverable wind energy right in real property

HB12-1017 Swerdfeger and Pace

Extend Local Access Health Care Pilot

Extends the authority of the Board of County Commissioners of Pueblo County to

create and contract with a provider to operate a pilot health care program within the county for 5 more years.

HB12-1127 Liston--Unemployment Insurance Rate Reduction for New Employers

The current unemployment insurance premium rate for new employers is 0.0170. In legislation enacted in 2011 (House Bill 11-1088), once solvency in the unemployment insurance fund is achieved, the rate for new employers would increase. This bill eliminates this rate increase and keeps the rate at 0.0170 after solvency in the unemployment insurance fund is reached.

HB12-1053 Gardner--Victims' Rights Changes

Makes numerous changes to state law concerning victims' rights, including specification of new rights; and alsochanges the standard for when a victim is not allowed to be present at the trial of the defendant.

1:30 p.m. Room 0107 House Agriculture, Livestock, & Natural Resources

HB 1107 Scott--Grand Valley Drainage Dist Excavation Exemption

HB 1060 Massey--Sunrise Dietitian Regulation

1:30 p.m. Room 0112  House Education

HB 1149 Beezley-- Parents Request for action on low-performing Schools

Authorizes the parents of students enrolled in a public school that has operated under a

priority improvement or turnaround plan for 2 consecutive years to submit a petition to the state board requesting the state board to direct the local school board or the institute to take action to reconfigure the public school immediately.

HB 1218 Peniston--Early Childhood & School Readiness Commission

1:30 p.m. Old Supreme Court Chamber, House Local Government

HB 1062 Barker--Employment Protections for Colorado Peace Officers

HB 1176 Ryden--Oil Gas Surface Owner Horizontal Drilling Setbacks

HB 1173 Wilson--Protect Pub Health Oil & Gas Hydraulic Fracturing  

Tuesday, February 7

9:00 AM – Senate Floor, 2^nd reading

SB12-010 Sen. Aguilar, Rep. Summers

Immunity for Reporters of Overdoses

Provides limited immunity from prosecution for illegal possession and use of drugs for anyone who makes a 911 emergency call to prevent the death of a person from an overdose of controlled substances

Wednesday, February 8

Upon adjournment SCR 354 Senate Education Committee

SB12-061 by Senator King K.; also Representative Massey

Applying, Authorizing, & Revoking a Charter School

Requires new charter school applications to include an executive summary, a plan for evaluating student performance, a description of its employment policies, a plan for parent and community involvement, a facilities, transportation and food service plan, a plan for serving students with special needs, and a description of the school’s management contract, if any.  Also requires the charter school to annually review the school’s academic and financial performance, and mandates that the authorizer of the school adopt a policy that establishes procedures for closing the school when necessary.

Upon adjournment, Room 0107, House Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Resources

HB 1172 Swalm--Electric Utility No Imputed Carbon Tax

Upon adjournment, Room 0112, House Education

HB 1043 Conti--Concurrent Enrollment for Early High School Grads

If, during a high school student's twelfth-grade year, the number of credit hours the student needs for graduation is less than full-time enrollment, the bill requires that the student be given the choice of graduating early, continuing to take high school courses, or concurrently enrolling for a maximum of 15 credit hours per semester in an institution of higher education

HB 1072 Massey and Fields--Higher Ed Prior Learning Assessments

Requires the commission on higher education, after consulting with public institutions of higher education, to develop criteria for awarding credit for a student's prior learning through work experience, military service, community involvement, or independent study, beginning with the 2013-14 academic year

1:30 p.m. SCR 356, Senate Judiciary

SB12-070 by Sen. Aguilar; also Rep. Wilson

Uniform Residential Landlord & Tenant Act

Makes numerous revisions to existing statutes, generally strengthening the rights of tenants

SB12-125 by Sen. Harvey; also Rep. Holbert--Crimes Against Unborn Children

Classifies a number of acts against a pregnant woman which result in the termination of her pregnancy as felonies, but excludes medical procedures for which she has given consent.

1:30 p.m. Room LSB-A, House Finance

HB 1045 Bradford--Spruce Beetle Kill Wood Products Tax Exemption

HB 1069 Miklosi and Pabon--Sales & Use Tax Holiday for Back-to-school Items

HB 1029 Holbert--Economic Stimulus Personal Property Tax Exemption

HB 1042 Pace--Income Tax Credit for Estate Taxes on Agricultural Land

1:30 p.m. Room 0107, House Transportation

HB 1021 Vaad--Coordinated and Rational Transportation Planning

     Thursday, February 9

Upon adjournment Room LSB-A House Finance

HB 1075 Beezley and DelGrosso--Six Percent General Fund Appropriations Limit

Establishes a new appropriations limit of 6% over the previous fiscal year, and allows for any end-year surplus to be transferred to a newly created state reserve fund (50%), the highway users tax fund (25%), and the capital construction fund (25%).  The General Assembly may appropriate these funds during economic downturns by a 2/3 vote in each house.

Upon adjournment SCR 354 Senate Finance

SB12-063 by Senator Brophy

Severance Tax Revenues for Rural Institutions of Higher Education

Establishes that any revenue received above a $100 million cap is first made available to any political subdivisions impacted by mining or energy extraction, but only fora serious need for which a grant is applied for. Whatever moneys remain after the joint committee awards grants is appropriated to rural institutions of higher education on a proportionate basis. The bill requires that at least 50% of each annual appropriation be placed in a separate trust account in order to build an endowment fund to be used by the rural institution of higher education.

Upon adjournment SCR 353 Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Energy

SB12-097 by Senator Hodge--Streamline Change of Surface Water Diversion Point

Under current law, all changes of water rights, including changes in the point of diversion, must be adjudicated. The bill creates a simplified procedure for the adjudication of a simple change in a surface point of diversion.

SB12-068 by Senator Guzman; also Representative Massey

No Trans Fats in Public School Foods

Prohibits a public school or institute charter school from making available to a student a food item that contains any amount of industrially produced trans fat.

Upon adjournment, SCR 352 Senate Transportation Committee

SB12-044 by Senator Guzman; also Representative Pabon

Failure to Provide Valid Transit Pass or Coupon

Repeals the crime of theft of transit and creates a class B traffic infraction failure to present a valid transit pass or coupon in its stead.

1:30 P.M. SCR 356  Senate Education Committee

SB12-036 by Senator Mitchell

Parental Consent for Surveys In K-12 Schools

In addition to the existing list of information for which a school district must obtain parental consent in order to collect, the bill adds requests for a social security number or information concerning the student's or parent's religious beliefs or practices which require parental consent.

SB12-045 by Senators Hudak and King K.; also Representatives Massey and Fields

Higher Ed Associate Degree Transfer Students

SB12-067 by Senator Hudak; also Representative Holbert

For-profit and Nonprofit Charter Schools

Requires that all charter schools be organized as a nonprofit corporation and prohibits a local board of education or the state Charter School Institute from authorizing a charter with a for-profit entity, or entering into a charter contract directly with a for-profit entity.

SB12-106 by Sen. King K.-- Statutory Changes Related to Education