Indian mascot bill passes House & Senate; heads to Polis' desk

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 bill now heads to the Governor.

SB 116 bars Colorado public schools, colleges and universities from using Indian mascots unless there is a cooperative arrangement with Native tribes. Currently, that is only two: Strasburg High and Arapahoe High in Centennial. Schools have until June 1, 2022 to eliminate their Indian mascots from sports uniforms and school buildings or face a $25,000 per month fine.

The bill does provide funding that could cover the cost for those changes; Yuma High School Board President Dan Ross estimated a cost of $250,000. About two dozen public schools in Colorado use Indian mascots. 

However, schools named after towns with Indian names, such as Yuma, Niwot and Ouray, can continue to use those names, including on school letterhead.

During final debate on SB 116 on June 2, sponsor Representative Adrienne Benavidez, D-Adams County, claimed the bill had been through extensive “stakeholding” process, where bill sponsors work with those impacted by the bill. However, representatives from Yuma High pointed out they were never contacted about Sb 116, and the bill sponsor, Senator Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge, admitted she never even reached out to the State’s two Native tribes, the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Utes, until after the bill was introduced. 

A bill to allow farmworkers to unionize and engage in collective bargaining over working conditions won preliminary approval on June 4 and final approval on June 7.

Senate Bill 87, another Danielson-sponsored bill in which she did not reach out to the ag industry until right before the bill was introduced, would mandate that ag employers provides access to transportation so that workers can meet with clergy and lawyers and receive health care services. It also prohibits the use of the short-handled hoe, cited as a cause of injuries when workers must spend hours weeding in the fields. The bill also mandates meal breaks and rest periods. 

House Republicans mounted a five-hour debate on June 4 with nine amendments. All but one, on exempting truck driver whose sole job is to haul livestock, or a combine/harvest operator during harvest season, failed. The amendment was offered by Rep. Rod Pelton, R-Cheyenne Wells and Richard Holtorf, R-Akron.

Pelton and Holtorf also failed with an amendment to exempt cow-calf and lamb operations during birthing season.

One amendment that succeeded was in lowering the minimum pay originally set in the bill for range workers, such as sheepherders, to $500 per week, down from $553.60 per week. That wage would be adjusted annually for inflation.

House sponsors also agreed to an amendment that would ensure that when a worker files a retaliation claim, any monies awarded from that claim would go to the worker. The bill previously would have sent that money to lawyers or union reps.

A slew of economic stimulus bills affecting agriculture are all but completed and headed to the Governor for signing, part of an $800 million package of more than three-dozen bills intended to help Coloradans recover from the recession caused by the pandemic.

House Bill 1262 puts $9 million toward agriculture events, include the National Western Stock Show, Colorado State Fair and other ag-related events, such as county fairs.

During Senate debate on June 2, Senate President Leroy Garcia of Pueblo offered an amendment to add $25 million in general funds, the discretionary dollars in the State budget, for the stock show construction and an extra $1 million for the State fair. 

Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, noted that back in December he had originally asked for $5 million, and now it’s well above $25 million for stock show construction. “You’ve heard the talk about the push of Oklahoma City to take over our stock show and the people who come to our stock show. Right now, we are building the ‘Silicon Valley’ of agriculture.” And while he said he didn’t want to get into a competition with Oklahoma City, which is now building its own facility, Denver hasn’t kept up its end of the bargain. 

HB 1262 won a unanimous vote from the state Senate on June 3.

House Bill 1289 will devote $75 million for broadband investments, including $5 million to local governments to assist them in broadband deployment. Another $35 million would go to expand broadband services to Indian tribes as well as to expand connectivity for telehealth, and $35 million to a grant program to improve broadband infrastructure, in line with the American Rescue Plan guidelines, which suggest building infrastructure to underserved areas, reducing consumer cost and pay for digital skills training.

On June 1, a bill to boost funding by $2.5 million to help promote Colorado agriculture, headed to the governor’s desk. Senate Bill 203, a bill Pelton cosponsored, won a 55-8 vote on June 1. 

Senate Bill 204 adds $5 million to the rural economic development grant program within the Department of Local Affairs and won final approval on June 2. It is now headed to the Governor.

Senate Bill 229 adds $3 million to the State’s rural “jump start” program, which will issue grants to new businesses that locate inside a rural jump-start zone. Under the program, new businesses can get tax relief and incentive payments. Washington, Yuma, Phillips and Sedgwick counties are all designated as enterprise zones, defined as having low per capita income, slow population growth or high unemployment. SB 229 went to the Governor’s desk June 2. 

One of the largest programs for ag is a $35 million investment in the future of ag under Senate Bill 248. The bill creates a Colorado Agricultural Future Loan Program within the Department of Ag, intended to provide money for loans to farmers or ranchers who have operated for less than 10 years or who come from underrepresented or underserved populations, primarily minorities. 

As of press time, SB 248 was awaiting final resolution on House amendments.

For all the stimulus bills, the clock is ticking; for most of the bills the money must be spent by the end of 2025.