What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope
What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope
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A bill to create a grant program for microgrids, sponsored by Representative Rod Pelton, R-Cheyenne Wells, recently won a 11-1 vote from the House Energy & Environment Committee. House Bill 1013 sets up the Microgrids for Community Resilience Grant Program in the Department of Local Affairs for rural communities that lose electricity during a wildfire or blizzard. The microgrid would be run by a co-op, such as a rural electric association, to provide emergency service to selected community resources when the electricity goes out, Pelton explain...
A hearing on Feb. 1, featuring emotional testimony from families who’ve been barred from seeing loved ones in hospitals and nursing homes during the pandemic, gave second wind to a bill by Senator Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling. Senate Bill 53 was assigned to the Senate’s State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, usually a bad sign that Democratic leaders had put out the order to kill the bill. But the committee’s chair, Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, knows first-hand what it’s like to lose a loved one to COVID; at least three members...
It will be a busy week ahead for the lawmakers from northeastern Colorado, with the first full week of committee hearings, including four bills sponsored by Senator Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, and Representative Rod Pelton, R-Cheyenne Wells. But whether all four would make it out of their assigned committees is debatable, given where those bills have been assigned. The Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee reviewed two of Sonnenberg’s bills on Tuesday, Feb. 1. (As of press time, the bills had not gone through the committee h...
By Marianne Goodland Legislative Reporter The bill that would open the door to the University of Northern Colorado to have its own medical school was introduced in the State Senate on Jan. 18. Senate Bill 56 is sponsored by Senator Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, and Senate President Leroy Garcia, D-Pueblo. In the House, the sponsors are Reps. Mary Young, D-Greeley and Perry Will, R-New Castle. The bill would allow UNC to open an osteopathic medical school. According to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, that’s a m...
The Colorado General Assembly got underway for its 2022 session on Wednesday, Jan. 12 and Governor Jared Polis gave his fourth State of the State address on Jan. 13. The speech reflected the priorities the governor and Democrats in control of the legislature are touting: affordability, education and addressing skyrocketing crime rates. Republicans have responded by pointing out those are the same priorities they laid out last August, through a “Commitment to Colorado.” While the themes are the same, each party has a different way to get the...
The 2022 General Assembly session, which begins its 120-day run on Wednesday, Jan. 12, will be the last year in the legislature for state Senator Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling. He intends to go out with a bang, sponsoring a measure that could be among the most significant in his 16-year history as a lawmaker. Sonnenberg is teaming up with Senate President Leroy Garcia, D-Pueblo, to change a state law that would eventually allow the University of Northern Colorado to open only the second public medical school in the State. A new medical school...
Representative Rod Pelton, R-Cheyenne Wells, finished up his third legislative session as one of the most effective members of the Republican House caucus. Twelve of the 13 measures he sponsored headed to the Governor’s desk, his best year ever. He went six-for-six in House bills he sponsored and six-for-seven in Senate bills he sponsored. Among his wins in 2021: creation of the Behavioral Health Administration, which Governor Jared Polis signed in April. House Bill 1097 is intended to consolidate behavioral health programs scattered across m...
With just one more year left as a State lawmaker, State Senator Jerry Sonnenberg of Sterling finds the most-recently concluded General Assembly session to be one of the most frustrating in his 15 years. “There were things we did that were good, to help stimulate the economy, to help those who need it, and in areas that needed help,” Sonnenberg told this reporter recently. But his fear is that lawmakers did things that are unsustainable in future years, such as investments in day care, early childhood and even K-12 education. “I don’t know ho...
The 2021 legislative session concluded on June 8, with the last day featuring a drawn-out debate over a climate change bill and a failed effort to boot the House Minority leader by far-right members of the Republican caucus. The bill that would have provided reparations to hundreds of farmers and ranchers who were cheated out of tax credits by the State Department of Revenue also fell victim to a last-minute request from Governor Jared Polis, one that resulted in the bill’s demise, to the shock of the bill’s supporters. Senate Bill 33 was never...
This is the final week of the 2021 legislative session; by law, legislatures must adjourn by Saturday, June 12, although they are not expected to go much beyond Wednesday, June 9. It’s been a busy week, with more than 200 bills still awaiting final resolution as of June 1. What’s been completed in the final full week includes Senate Bill 116, which reached its final resolution on June 3, when House Democrats approved the bill on a 40-24 vote and the Senate concurred with amendments added by the House Education Committee back on May 20. The bil...
The 2021 Colorado General Assembly is in its final weeks, with an adjournment mandated by law no later than June 12. It is likely, however, that lawmakers will head home sooner than that, possibly as early as Monday, June 7. The past week has been a busy one with 276 measures remaining on the legislature’s calendar. One bill that is nearing completion: the bill formerly known as the public option. House Bill 1232 as introduced would have set up a state-run health insurance plan, to go into effect if health insurers, doctors and hospitals f...
The bill to ban the use of Indian mascots in Colorado public schools and public colleges and universities took a major step forward on May 20. That’s when the House Education Committee approved Senate Bill 116 and sent it to the full House for debate. Senate Bill 116 requires any public school with an Indian mascot to end its use by June 1, 2022 or face a $25,000 per month fine. The bill grants exceptions to schools that have agreements with Native American tribes that existed prior to June 30, 2021. Representative Adrienne Benavidez, D...
The third of three gun control bills has started through the Colorado Senate in the past week, with the third focused on allowing local governments to enact ordinances on gun control stricter than current State law. Senate Bill 256 allows those local governments to ban concealed weapons and it includes counties and municipalities as well as special districts. That drew questions from State Senator Jerry Sonnenberg, a Sterling Republican, on just what that would mean during a May 11 hearing in the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs...
Two of three firearms safety bills got initial hearings in state House committees in the past week. House Bill 1298 is in part a response to the shooting at the south Boulder King Soopers on March 22. The Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committee approved the bill on May 5 on a 7-4 party-line vote. The bill is a comprehensive approach to several issues tied to background checks. It has three components: the first is to bar anyone convicted of a violent misdemeanor from purchasing a gun for five years after the conviction, and that is...
The State Senate spent time during the week of April 26 working through appointments to the Colorado State Fair Board of Authority as well as dealing with a bill that requires the governor to pick appointments more reflective of Colorado's geographic diversity. House Bill 1212 won unanimous support from the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on April 27 and a preliminary vote of approval from the full Senate on April 30. Under the bill, in addition to requirements for appointments to the more than 200 boards and commissions the...
The Senate has approved a bill that would force the Yuma and Arickaree Indians, and almost two dozen other public schools, to stop using Indian mascots. Senators amended Senate Bill 116 last week to give schools more time to remove mascots from gym floors or change out sports uniforms. The bill passed on a 20-12 party-line vote with three Republican members absent. Under the bill as introduced, that deadline would have been Oct. 1, giving schools barely five months to make those changes. Bill sponsor Senator Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge,...
On April 14, the General Assembly sent to the Governor a bill that could establish a new State agency. House Bill 1097 contains recommendations from a behavioral health task force, including setting up the behavioral health administration, initially to be housed within the Colorado Department of Human Services. Once the behavioral health administration is up and running, CDHS has until Nov. 1, 2024 to decide if it stays in CDHS or becomes a stand-alone agency. HB 1097 won unanimous support from the State Senate and a 52-8 vote in the House....
The 2021-22 State budget, as contained in Senate Bill 205, is on its way through the General Assembly. The State Senate last week had its first crack at the $34.1 billion budget, up by about $4 billion from the current year’s spending. Much of that extra money is in one-time funds left over from the 2019 tax year, due to higher-than expected income tax revenues. The Joint Budget Committee, the six-member group that annually crafts the budget, also cut $3.4 billion in general funds from the 2020-21 budget and that turned out to be more than w...
A bill to impose heavy fines on schools that use unapproved Indian mascots won approval on April 1 from the Senate Education Committee. Senate Bill 116 is sponsored by Senator Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge, who is also the sponsor of the farmworkers bill of rights measure that is awaiting action from the Senate Appropriations Committee. About 25 schools in Colorado still use Indian mascots, including several with images considered offensive and derogatory. That includes Lamar High School that uses the Savages as its mascot. Under SB 116,...
The fragile peace between land trusts that hold conservation easements and landowners cheated out of State tax credits is teetering on the brink, after a second bill not authorized by a 2019 working committee surfaced in the State House. Conservation easements have been a tool for preserving undeveloped lands that the State believes should be left wild. The State has granted more than 4,000 such easements over the last 20 years. An easement basically goes under a land trust or a county for preservation. The property owner retains title to the...
Representative Rod Pelton, R-Cheyenne Wells, is close to seeing his first bill of the 2021 session on its way to the Governor’s office, on allowing direct sales of meat to consumers. Senate Bill 79 will allow livestock producers to sell shares of their livestock directly to consumers, bypassing United States Department of Agriculture inspections, among other things. During the COVID shutdown, we found issues in the supply chain, and while this won’t solve it, it’ll help local producers sell shares in their livestock to consumers. This isn’t...
Governor Jared Polis, surrounded by legislative leaders from both parties, announced a $700 million stimulus package designed to help small business, agriculture and families recover from the economic effects of the pandemic and boost workforce development. The Governor announced the package on March 11, moments after the United States House completed work on a $1.9 trillion COVID relief package. President Biden signed the bill on Friday. The Colorado Recovery Plan is a series of bills that will be introduced in the coming weeks, investing in...
The year 2020 had such promise for the hundreds of Coloradans, primarily farmers and ranchers, who hoped that this would be the year that the State would resolve the decades-long issue over denied tax credits for conservation easements. But concerns over the cost, and the pandemic-shortened legislative session, put an end to the legislation that would have started down that path. This week, State Senator Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, will begin afresh with legislation that will deal with one of the three recommendations from a 2019 working...
Senator Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, has an early victory in the resumed 2021 legislative session, with a bill on allowing consumers to buy a share of a livestock animal for meat directly from a producer. Senate Bill 79 won unanimous approval from a Senate committee on Feb. 22 and a 34-0 vote from the full Senate on March 1. It now heads to the House. The bill was reviewed by the Senate Health & Human Services Committee and applies to cows, sheep and hogs. An amendment offered on Feb. 22 added bison and goats. The bill excludes fish and...
Governor Jared Polis gave his third annual State of the State address on Feb. 18, touching on many of the same topics from previous years: health care, climate change and renewable energy and access to broadband. But the heart of his address to a joint session of the General Assembly was on finding ways to jump-start Colorado’s economy as the State begins to emerge from the pandemic that started in Colorado just about a year ago. In his remarks, Polis spoke of the $1 billion stimulus he proposed last November, to be paid for with h...
