Contents

We invite your comments and questions.

Mar 25, 2008

Mar 02, 2008

Feb 09, 2008

Jan 19, 2008

Newsletters 2007

Mar 25, 2008

1. Among the highlights of the Long Bill are:
   
   
   • The provision of health-care coverage for an additional 50,000 low-income children.
   • A $30 million boost in support services for Coloradans with developmental disabilities.
   • A 10 percent increase in financial aid and work-study funding for college students.
   • A $2 million incentive program in the Governor's Energy Office to help consumers afford photovoltaic and solar thermal systems.
   In the six largest departments, HB 1375 provides for the following increases in General Fund appropriations: 5 percent for K-12 Education; 4.7 percent for Health Care Policy and Financing (primarily for Medicaid and the Children's Health Plan); 8.6 percent for Higher Education; 5.6 percent for Human Services (including child welfare, mental health services, drug and alcohol treatment, and youth corrections); 8.3 percent for Corrections; and 9.6 percent for the Judicial branch.
   
   If you have questions about funds for specific programs please feel free to contact my office and we'll get you the answer.
2. Thank you to all of you who spent a Saturday at your county assembly participating in democracy at the most grass roots level. I had the pleasure of attending Democratic Party Assemblies in Clear Creek, Gilpin and Boulder Counties. It was heartening to see the level of interest in the 2008 elections. We have outstanding candidates in every race at every level of government.
   
   To those who volunteered to be delegates to the House District 13 Assembly, please remember to attend the Assembly on April 12 at 10:00 a.m. at the Teen Center in Nederland. That is the time when I will actually be nominated for the 2008 ballot. If you don't show up, I won't be nominated. I promise to have you on your way no later than noon.
3. I have three town meetings scheduled in April. I hope you can join me for one or more of these events. Here are the details:
   
   On April 5 at 10:00 a.m. at the Community Center in Nederland, I will host a meeting on Healthy Forests and the Pine Beetle infestation. Representatives of the U.S. Forest Service, the Colorado State Forest Service and Boulder County Parks and Open Space along with County Commissioner Ben Pearlman will be there to provide information about the epidemic and resources available to address it. The announcement is attached.
   
   On April 10 at 7:00 p.m. in the Gene Wilson Conference Room at Boulder Community Hospital on Alpine Avenue, I will host a panel discussion with House Democratic Speaker Andrew Romanoff on the challenges of implementing genuine health care reform. Joining me will be Mark Laitos, co-chair of the Colorado Medical Society's Physicians' Congress for Health Care Reform, and Ralph Pollock, CEO of AsiaPacific Access and director Business Health Forum. That announcement is also attached.
   
   Finally, on April 24 I will meet with community members in Lyons to discuss concerns about air quality at the Cemex Cement Plant. A member of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will join us. This meeting will be at the Stonebridge Farm, 5169 Ute Hwy.

Mar 02, 2008

• set aside revenue from gambling to fund gambling addiction programs
• override homeowner association covenants that don’t allow energy saving measures such as clothes lines, photovoltaic panels, and awnings
• make the metal detectors at the capitol permanent (I dissented)
• increasing enforcement against illegal use of off-road vehicles on federal lands

Feb 09, 2008

Jan 19, 2008

Newsletters 2007

Sep 13, 2007

May 08, 2007

Apr 30, 2007

Apr 15, 2007

Apr 01, 2007

Mar 18, 2007

Mar 05, 2007

Sep 13, 2007

“How I Spent My Summer”

I lot of people wonder what their State Representative does after the session ends. That’s a perfectly fair thing to wonder about. Aside from yard work, laundry, dental appointments, etc., I have spent my summer meeting with people to gather ideas for the next session, sharing my views about the past session and what I think we will focus on in 2008, and thinking about what is important to the people in my district and the state as a whole. Here is a sampling of my activities this summer. (I’ll spare you the medical appointments.)

In May, I participated in a legislative wrap up with the Democratic Women of Boulder County; shared thoughts and advice on running for office at the Boulder Chamber of Commerce’s “College of Political Knowledge”; spoke at a PLAN Boulder lunch; met with the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project; met with environmental, growth and transit activists; sponsored a forum on health care with the Colorado Progressive Coalition; met with elected officials from Clear Creek, Summit, Grand and Gilpin Counties; breakfasted with the Boulder County Movement for Children; served on a panel on the medically underserved sponsored by the Boulder County Human Services Coordinating Council; met with Clean Energy Action about so-called clean coal; and traveled to North Carolina, Virginia and New York with my daughter.

In June, I met with the governor’s climate change policy advisor; met with staff of the Department of Local Affairs about gaming funds; met with the editors of the Daily Camera; met with a representative of the Boulder County Medical Society; wrote a guest opinion article about health care reform; met with a former supreme court justice about reforming the judicial performance review process; attended a meeting of the Transportation Legislative Review Committee; spoke to the Credit Union Association lunch; spoke to the Broomfield Democratic Women; met with representatives of the Colorado chapter of the American Planning Association; joined Representative Al White and Speaker Romanoff in a discussion on reforming the Colorado Constitution; marched in the Pride Fest Parade in Denver; met with the Shanahan Neighbors for Climate Change; and walked in the Nederland Fourth of July Parade. I also traveled to the Chesapeake Bay and Washington, D.C. to visit with aunts, uncles and cousins, experience humidity, and eat crabs.

July was a slower month as my family and a dozen friends spent two weeks on the Colorado River rafting through the glorious Grand Canyon. After two weeks in temperatures that exceeded 110 and neared 120 degrees every day, I had trouble completing sentences about substantive policy issues. Those who attended the joint precinct potluck dinner and heard me speak the day after we returned know the problem I had. During what was left of the month, I attended a dinner meeting of the Boulder County Medical Society; had a coffee with the Jamestown community; met with land use people from Boulder County; spoke to a Rotary lunch in Boulder; and co-hosted a fundraiser for the Colorado Democratic Party featuring Jeannie Ritter. My daughter and I also painted her bedroom and rearranged her furniture. (She turned 13 and something told her it was time for change.)

So far in August, I have adopted a wonderful greyhound, gone on a very informative bark beetle tour in Summit County and spent two days with the Transportation Legislative Review Committee on a tour of I-70, learning about the Eisenhower and Hanging Lakes tunnels, observing the development pressures from gas drilling in Garfield County, hearing from the I-70 Corridor Coalition, seeing the challenges of developing chain-up areas, and hearing from CDOT’s chief engineer. I participated in a panel discussion on health care reform sponsored by the Boulder County Dems as well. I’ll be attending the Clear Creek County Democrats’ annual rally in Georgetown and the Gilpin County Fair, meeting with people interested in the problems of our aging population, meeting with a representative of the Colorado Hospital Association, attending a PERA meeting, and attending more meetings on I-70. I will also join a newly forming group of people who are served by Poudre Valley REA, who seek to reform the organization and open it to renewable energy, distributed power and energy efficiency. Oh yes, I’ll visit my father in Virginia and attend the Vail International Dance festival too.

Lists such as the above are not very informative in and of themselves. They don’t tell you what I gleaned from the interactions or what I contributed to the discussion. They merely let you know that being a legislator is a year-round job. There are many, many issues to attend to and I try to be available to anyone who seeks a bit of my time.

So what have I pieced together from all these appointments? Well, time is running out on developing enduring reform of Colorado’s revenue and spending limitations. In my comments to others, I stressed the importance of addressing the shortage of funds for higher education, transportation and K-12 education. The lack of flexibility in spending allows the corrections budget to crowd out spending on higher education. It forces highway maintenance to compete with capital construction, and requires the legislature to put millions of dollars into highways and capital construction regardless of what our other needs are. There were no funds to help Boulder land the high speed computing center that went instead to Wyoming or help the Henderson Mine in Clear Creek County land the Deep Underground Science Lab that went to South Dakota. There are entirely insufficient funds for affordable housing. Our reimbursement rate for Medicaid is so low that it is difficult in many communities to find a physician who will see a Medicaid patient.

How is this situation possible given the good economy and Referendum C? Referendum C allows the state to retain all tax revenues that are generated from existing taxes until 2011. TABOR does not allow us to spend those revenues where they are most needed. The revenues are allocated based on established formulae that do not recognize shifting needs and changing priorities. It is imperative that we give the legislature more discretion to direct dollars where they are most needed. In the longer term, Colorado needs new revenue streams to address critical infrastructure needs and higher education.

My legislative agenda has not fully gelled for 2008. (It would be scary if it had already.) I am taking a hard look at legislation that will create incentives for development patterns that maximize use of existing transportation infrastructure and minimize the need for new highways. I am exploring legislation that will motivate joint land use decisions between cities and counties in areas in which their interests overlap, and that will discourage intensive development in unincorporated areas that are not equipped to provide the necessary services. I will work with housing advocates to identify a permanent funding source for affordable housing. CDOT will be concluding the environmental impact statement process for selecting a solution to the congestion on I-70 between Denver and the Eagle County Airport, and I will be actively advocating a transit solution for that corridor. I am looking at legislation to allow a judge to make the final decision on whether a juvenile should be charged in adult court. I will also be looking at legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars, additional energy efficiency opportunities, a possible pilot program to use recycled tires for pavement, and several other issues.

As I close this letter, I want to return to the issue of health care. I have attached the guest opinion article I wrote on this issue in case you didn’t see it in the paper. I did not start out as an advocate of a single payer system. Instead, I gathered facts in an effort to understand why health care is unaffordable for so many and why so many people do not have health insurance. The inescapable conclusion from the facts available is that a single payer system as proposed by Health Care for All Colorado is the only responsible and feasible way to provide health care to all at an affordable price. The full proposal is at www.colorado.gov/208commission/. If you share that view, your involvement this session will be crucial.

The final comment I will make will sound trite, but I am completely sincere. It is truly a privilege to serve you in the legislature. I am continually challenged by it. I will strive to make the most of the time I have there. I need your help to be effective. I hope you will be generous with your input and feedback.

My daughter and me in a side canyon

May 08, 2007

Legislative Wrap Up

One Hundred Fifteen Days after opening day, the 2007 legislative session adjourned sine die. It was a tremendously productively session, and for me it was tremendously thrilling. Participating in floor debate, being active during committee hearings, shepherding my bills through the process, and casting votes were the reward for those grueling months of campaigning.

Among the highlights of the session were the bills allowing two-parent adoption, ending employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, allowing workers to choose their own doctor for worker’s compensation claims, and freezing property tax rates for K-12 education. These bills demonstrate that progressive policies can be a positive force in people’s lives.

In the coming weeks and months I will be meeting with constituents and interest groups to formulate an agenda for the 2008 session. If your organization or neighborhood has a meeting at which you would like me to attend, please let me know. Likewise, let me know your thoughts and ideas about what is important for next session.

On May 16 I will host a “speak out” on health insurance reform. The event will be in the city council chambers in Boulder from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. The city council chambers are at Broadway and Canyon Blvd. I hope you can come.

I have cut and pasted below an “End of Session Summary” that lists some of the major bills in several important categories. These bills are just a few of the many bills passed that will improve the quality of life in Colorado for all. For a digest of all major bills and for more detail on the bills listed here, go to http://www.leg.state.co.us/ and click on Bill Digest on the left side.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

• Makes Colorado the hub of clean energy use, production, and innovation by doubling the energy standard so that by 2020, 20% of the energy produced by Colorado’s largest utilities must come from renewable sources.
  HB 1281 – Renewable Portfolio Standard – POMMER (Levy co-sponsor)
  
  
• Invests in Colorado’s renewable energy infrastructure by building transmission lines to bring clean energy from rural areas to the marketplace.
  SB 100 – Transmission Lines - McFADYEN
  
  
• Encourages the understanding of tomorrow’s technology and environment by making it easier for schools to install wind turbines on campus.
  HB 1087 – Wind for Schools – A. KERR
  
  
• Establishes the Clean Energy Fund to foster innovation, conservation and efficiency measures. The fund will help the state diversify its energy portfolio.
  SB 246 – Clean Energy Fund - BUESCHER
  
  
• Encourages the construction of buildings that save energy, save water, and cut operating costs. (On average, residential and commercial buildings account for 50% of energy consumed and 70% of electricity used.)
  SB 51- High performance state buildings – LEVY & WITWER
  HB 1146 – Requires energy codes to be incorporated in the building codes of all cities and counties that have building codes – LEVY
  
  
• Creates energy efficiency programs that save consumers millions, eliminate demand for new power plants, and are cost-effective for utilities.
  HB 1037 – Energy Efficiency Programs – LEVY
  
  
• Brings biofuel and bioscience innovations from the labs into the marketplace.
  HB 1060 – Biofuels – RIESBERG
  
  
• Rewards businesses that invest in renewable energy by exempting sales taxes from machinery used to produce energy for purchases finalized before November 2006.
  HB 1279 – Sales Tax Exemption for Renewable Energy Production - McKINLEY

EDUCATION

• Makes preschool a reality for 4,000 more kids in the next four years; expands full-day kindergarten availability; and stabilizes the State Education Fund to ensure that all Colorado kids will have access to quality public education across the state. Accomplished by freezing or reducing local mill levies for school districts.
  SB 199 – School Finance – POMMER
  
  
• Establishes a pilot program that helps kids stay in school and on a track toward college by allowing students to get a high school diploma and an Associate Degree in 5 years.
  SB 148 – Fast College/Fast Jobs – CASSO
  
  
• Helps parents and teachers get a better understanding of kids’ progress by focusing on the individual child’s development throughout the school year through longitudinal assessment.
  HB 1048 – Longitudinal Assessment – MERRIFIELD
  
  
• Funds University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center to keep Colorado’s only medical school competitive and to invest in our future doctors.
  SB 097 – Tobacco Settlement – MADDEN

HEALTH CARE

• Provides needy Coloradans with huge discounts and more options on prescription drugs by allowing the state to purchase generic brand drugs directly from manufacturers.
  SB 001 – Generic Prescription Drugs – MADDEN
  
  
• Promotes prevention and a cure for cancer.
  HB 1301 – Cervical Cancer/HPV Education/Immunization Access – BUESCHER/PRIMAVERA
  HB 1354 – Breast Cancer Income Tax Check-Off – PRIMAVERA
  
  
• Restores vital preventable health programs that had been cut during the last recession such as indigent care, children’s basic health, treatment of drug and alcohol abuse, and mental health programs.
  SB 097 – Tobacco Settlement – MADDEN
  
  
• Helps seniors retain independence and dignity by investing in programs such as Meals on Wheels, legal assistance, shopping shuttles and other services.
  HB 1100 – Older Coloradans Cash Fund – RIESBERG
  
  
• Makes health care more accessible by prohibiting insurers from using two rate bands – health status and claims history – in determining the premium rates for small businesses.
  HB 1355 – Health Care for Small Businesses – McGIHON
  
  
• Allows workers to have a say in their choice of physicians when they are hurt on the job.
  HB 1176 – Doctor Choice – M. CARROLL
  
  
• Protects patients from medical negligence by allowing them to find out the disciplinary history of their physicians.
  HB 1331 – Michael Skolnik Medical Transparency Act – M. CARROLL
  
  
• Helps keep patients safe by encouraging health care workers to report medical errors without fearing for their jobs.
  HB 1133 – Whistleblower Protection – M. CARROLL (Levy co-sponsor)

CONSUMER PROTECTION

• Protects homeowners/buyers from deceptive homebuilders by preserving basic legal rights. Protects them from contracts that leave them with no right to get a defective home fixed.
  HB 1338 – Homeowner Protection Act of 2007 – POMMER (Levy co-sponsor)
  
  
• Protects homeowners/buyers from mortgage fraud by requiring mortgage brokers to follow basic consumer protection laws.
  HB 1322 – Mortgage Fraud Prevention Act – MARSHALL
  SB 203 – Mortgage Broker Licensing – MARSHALL
  SB 216 – Mortgage Loan Fraud Protection – MARSHALL
  SB 249 – Mortgage Title Fraud Prevention – RICE
  
  
• Protects military service members from fraudulent insurance practices such as denial of coverage and deceptive sale of useless plans.
  HB 1253 – Prohibiting Denial of Coverage for Military Service Members – MADDEN
  HB 1364 – Military Insurance Disclosure – RICE
  
  
• Protects Coloradans from fraudulent home-movers by requiring company officials to go through background checks and to disclose customers’ rights and responsibilities.
  HB 1249 – Household Movers – PRIMAVERA

GOOD GOVERNMENT

• Restores DMV staff in numerous regions to shorten lines for Coloradans to get drivers’ licenses.
  SB 241 – DMV Office Expansion – POMMER
  
  
• Brings transparency to campaign contributions by disclosing the identities of financial backers in Limited Liability Corporations that give money to campaigns.
  HB 1323 – LLC Campaign Contributions Disclosure – GREEN
  
  
• Brings transparency and accountability for 527s that have circumvented our state campaign laws by disclosing information about their donors, expenses, and contact information.
  HB 1074 – The Clean Campaign Act of 2007 – M. CARROLL
  
  
• Helps end the genocide in Sudan by divesting Colorado’s money from corporations that sponsors the Sudanese government’s atrocious military campaigns against their own citizens.
  HB 1184 – Sudan Divestment – ROMANOFF (Levy co-sponsor)
  
  
• Permanent Mail Ballots to increase voter participation while protecting the integrity of ballots.
  SB 234 – Permanent Mail-in Ballots –LEVY

PUBLIC SAFETY

• Protects children from sexual predators by establishing a database with information on the email addresses and online profiles of those convicted of sexual offenses against children.
  HB 1326 – Sex Offenders Email Registration – A. KERR
  
  
• Helps law enforcement crack down on drunk driving by providing more flexibility in gathering evidence.
  SB 154 – Drunk Drivers Test – RIESBERG
  
  
• Helps law enforcement solve old crimes by establishing the Cold Case Team in the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and establishing a centralized database to help solve such cases.
  HB 1272 – Cold Case CBI – RICE
  
  
• Protects domestic violence victims by establishing the Address Confidentiality Program (ACP) to keep their real addresses confidential from public records and thus away from perpetrators.
  HB 1350 – Address Confidentiality Program – ROMANOFF

ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION

• Allows local governments to make their master plans binding regulatory documents to bring reliability and predictability to the planning and development process.
  HB 1246 – Enhancing Predictability of Land Use Decisions - LEVY
  
  
• Diversifies the membership of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to include members that have backgrounds in environmental protection, wildlife and local government representation.
  HB 1341 – Increasing COGCC Membership – CURRY
  
  
• Increases Severance Tax Funds that go to local communities to help pay for energy impacts such as funding fire and police departments, building affordable housing, and fixing roads.
  HB 1139 – Increase Severance Tax Funds for Local Communities – BUESCHER & CURRY
  
  
• Ensures that local communities are able to accurately collect severance taxes from oil and gas companies by making production data available to state agencies tasked with monitoring severance tax revenues.
  HB 1142 – Access to oil and gas statements – CURRY
  
  
• Protects water quality during large transfers.
  HB 1132 – Protect water quality in diversions - McFADYEN
  
  
• Protects forests and watersheds by mitigating damage caused by bark beetles.
  HB 1130 – Forest Restoration Pilot Program – GIBBS (Levy co-sponsor)

Bill Signing for HB 1246

April 30, 2007

There are 9 days left in the session. We are moving into the end-game stage of the session. Shortly each of us will be assessing whether we accomplished what we hoped to accomplish. I will think about the overall direction of this session and whether I helped make Colorado a better place. During the interim period between sessions, I will meet with constituents and interest groups about next session, and attempt to learn what I can do to make a positive difference in your life.

I don't know if you have noticed this in the media reports on the legislative session, but there has been a noticeable change in tone. For roughly the first two months both parties were intent on passing legislation and accomplishing what the voters made quite evident they wanted accomplished. Democrats and Republicans worked together on renewable energy. We enacted good reforms to ease burdens on small businesses. Prescription drug bills were passed with bi-partisan support. We worked across the aisle to help address problems of returning Iraq war veterans. In short, there was palpable good will.

That all changed around the beginning of April. The Republican members of the House began contesting most everything and taking what seemed to be wildly inconsistent positions for the mere purpose of obstructing what Democrats were trying to accomplish. The tone shifted from policy to politics; scoring points in the media instead of passing good legislation. Democrats stayed on message and continued to work on the platform that led to a wider Democratic margin in the legislature and to a Democratic governor: affordable and accessible health care, renewable energy and energy efficiency, high quality educational opportunities for all, and fiscal responsibility.

Here's a quick run down on some notable legislation from the past week.

Both chambers passed and the governor signed SB 210, which established the ethics committee necessary to implement Amendment 41, the Ethics in Government Amendment. SB 210 also directed the ethics committee to dismiss a complaint that was not based on a public official's use of office for private gain. Although the legislature sought an opinion from the Supreme Court on whether restricting the scope of the ethics committee's jurisdiction was constitutional, the court declined to provide such an opinion. My personal view is that the direction given to the ethics committee may indeed be consistent with the intent of Amendment 41 for purpose of when a sanction should be imposed. I do not believe the limited circumstances under which a sanction can be imposed also narrows the clear proscription of a public official's acceptance of a gift. Thus, while Amendment 41 may not require a penalty for accepting a lovely loaf of fresh baked bread from my neighbor, it nonetheless clearly states that I may not accept it unless it is a special occasion (which being presented with a fresh baked loaf of bread clearly would be by definition!). I would be interested in your views on whether the absence of a sanction or penalty within the language of Amendment 41 implicitly means the behavior is allowed.

The legislature finalized a bill expanding and altering the make up of the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. This was a bitterly fought battle on the part of conservationists and ranchers to bring some balance to the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which is responsible for overseeing drilling permits and regulating the activities of drilling companies. The bill created a seat on the Commission for the Director of the Department of Public Health and Environment and for the Director of the Department of Natural Resources.

Both chambers agreed on a compromise to close the casino exemption to the smoking ban. Under the compromise, the smoking ban will take effect on January 1, 2008. A bill is still pending concerning the exemption for so-called cigar bars.

The House passed and sent to the Senate House Concurrent Resolution 1001 to make it more difficult to amend the Colorado Constitution and also to prohibit legislative changes to citizen initiated statutory changes during the first five years after passage unless approved by a 2/3 majority. If approved by 2/3 of the Senate, the measure will be placed on the ballot in 2008 and would govern voter approved constitutional amendments in the future. I voted in favor of HCR 1001, believing that initiated measures generally belong in statute not in the constitution.

Both chambers have now passed a bill I sponsored to allow negotiations to move forward between RTD and the private freight railroads from which RTD would lease tracks and right of way to implement FasTracks. There had been a stumbling block over whether the railroads would be liable for punitive damages in the event of an accident involving passenger rail service. Though the idea was distasteful to me, it was clear that FasTracks could not be built without limiting that liability. SB 219 is now on its way to the governor's desk.

A paragraph cannot do justice to the issues wrapped up in the school finance act, which the House passed last week. It became controversial because the governor's proposal to freeze the local school district portion of property taxes was included as an amendment. The governor made his proposal because every year the state's share of funding has been increasing and the local share has been declining because of a quirk in the law passed in 1993. The state currently pays about 60% of the cost of education and school districts pay 40%, which is opposite what it was in 1992. All school districts were assessed at 40 mills when the law changed. Over time, those with rising property values have seen their mill levy decline so as not to increase the overall amount of tax collected, while those with flat or declining property values have had their mill levy hold steady. SB 199 halts the decline in mill levies in the wealthiest school districts and reduces mill levies in the poorest districts. It will begin to redress the imbalance in the extent of state funding so that K-12 education does not require an ever-larger share of the state's general fund.

The identical proposal passed a Republican-controlled legislature in 2004. The non-partisan Office of Legislative Legal Services issued an opinion in 2004 and again in 2007 that this proposal was not a tax increase under TABOR. Attorney General Suthers weighed in at the 11th hour with an internal office memorandum, not an official Attorney General Opinion, stating that SB 199 violates TABOR and is a tax increase. The theory is holding the mill levy steady is actually a tax increase because market forces may increase property values in some areas, which will result in higher property taxes being collected using the same tax rate. That is similar to arguing the state has raised your taxes when you receive a raise because the state collects more income tax even though Colorado has a flat income tax rate. The sad thing about the debate was that it focused on a narrow ideological discussion of what constitutes a tax increase without any discussion of the needs of education, competing demands on the state's budget, and the need for tax equity between the wealthy and poor districts.

Today the House passed SB 25 to prohibit work place discrimination based on sexual orientation and religion. I received a large volume of e-mail opposed to the bill on the grounds that sexual orientation is a matter of choice and that business owners should not be burdened with the risk of litigation over hiring and firing decisions for a matter of choice. Sexual orientation in fact is not a choice. It is something we are born with. It does not affect performance on the job; it is a private matter; and is an impermissible basis on which to make employment decisions. During floor debate, those opposed to the bill attempted to exempt religious organizations that receive tax dollars from the definition of employment. They also attempted to add to the bill a prohibition against discrimination based on physical appearance in a vain effort to juxtapose so-called "immutable" characteristics with what they believe is a "life style choice". The bill passed and is on its way to the governor's desk.

My last bill will come to the floor Tuesday. SB 234 will allow voters to choose to receive absentee ballots for all coordinated elections instead of having to request a mail-in ballot for each election. Ample provisions are in place to protect the integrity of the ballot. The goal is to increase turn out and facilitate voting for people who find it difficult to get to the polls. I expect it to pass by a healthy margin.

Other bills of note that await final action are: a constitutional amendment to allow persons 21 years of age or older to serve in the state legislature; a bill to prevent mortgage fraud; a bill to provide tax-exempt financing through a newly created renewable energy and infrastructure authority; SB 36 to require health insurance to cover certain mental illnesses on par with physical illnesses; and a host of other bills you can review by opening the calendars for the House and Senate at http://www.leg.state.co.us.

The Iraq War memorial also awaits action. The version passed by the House was not as strong as the Senate version. Rather than concurring with the House version, the Senate voted to adhere to its version, thus setting up a conflict. If the House adheres as well, the memorial will die. At this late date, additional debate over the memorial would be unproductive. I predict the House will adhere as well rather than spend several hours in debate. Alas.

I will send a wrap up newsletter after we know what bills the governor has signed. Enjoy the fine summer weather and the greening landscape. Continue telling me what you think about legislation. And, send me your ideas for the 2008 session. It has been a privilege to represent you and to participate in the fascinating process of making laws and setting policy for our beautiful state.

State Representative Claire Levy
House District 13
303-866-2578

April 15, 2007

It’s time for another update from the Capitol. Why is there a photo of my

Quandary Peak

family and me on top of Quandary Peak? Simple: I like the photograph. My brother and sister in law were visiting from Portland, Oregon and had never climbed a 14er. They reached the summit, no doubt in part because they did not wish to be bested by my daughter, Ellie, who was 10 years old at the time.

Town Meeting Scheduled for April 21. Join me in Lyons on April 21 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. at the Shirley F. Johnson Council Chambers of the Lyons Town Hall, 432 5th Avenue. I will be discussing the budget, recent legislation, and your thoughts about the remaining four weeks of the 2007. legislative session.

Gardening Report.

Since my mention of rhubarb in my last letter elicited more comment than anything else, I have decided the first part of my newsletter should be a gardening report so those of you who are interested don’t have to wade through the legislative stuff to get to what you really want to read.

Last year’s lettuce seeds sprouted in the vegetable garden but we turned them under when we added the compost. The creeping flox and purple rock cress are adding splashes of color, as are the hardy primrose and pansies. The tulips are beautiful. The rose bushes are looking very strong this year. I think it is going to be an excellent year for veggies and flowers!

Legislative Report.

HB 1338, Homeowner Protection Act of 2007 by Rep. Jack Pommer (D-Boulder) The bill preserves basic protections for homebuyers from contracts that leave them with no right to get a defective home fixed.
STATUS: Awaiting the governor’s signature

HB 1345, School Accountability by Rep. Michael Merrifield (D-Colorado Springs) The bill makes it easier for parents to understand and access School Accountability Reports (SARs) to identify their children’s performance in school. It streamlines multiple reports into one, using easy to understand language, and offers the SARs online.
STATUS: Referred to House Appropriations Committee (3/26/2007)

SB 051, High Performance State Buildings by Rep. Claire Levy (D-Boulder) The bill requires that new state buildings meet high performance sustainability standards.
STATUS: Governor Ritter will sign on April 16.

HB 1288, Sustainable Resources Economic Opportunity by Rep. Judy Solano (D-Thornton) The bill will promote new jobs and build strong small businesses by creating a commission that will promote recycling and economic development.
STATUS: Passed House, Sent to Senate Health and Human Services Committee (4/4/2007)

HB 1354, Breast Cancer Income Tax Check Off by Rep. Dianne Primavera (D- Broomfield) The bill creates the Colorado breast and women’s reproductive cancers fund in the state treasury. The Fund would be added as a voluntary state income tax donation check-off program.
STATUS: Passed out of House

SB 154, DUI Enforcement Bill by Rep. Jim Riesberg (D-Greeley) The bill gives law enforcement more flexibility in gathering evidence to crack down on drunk drivers by allowing the State Patrol to administer more than one DUI test in the first two hours.
STATUS: Passed House (3/28/2007)

SJM 002, Stop The Escalation of War in Iraq by Rep. T. Carroll (D-Denver) The memorial states that Colorado supports and honors the members and veterans of the U.S. armed forces and their families. It urges Congress and the President to protect our armed forces and secure the interests of both the American and Iraqi people by bringing an end to the escalation of the war in Iraq.
STATUS: Passed House (4/5/2007)

SB 239, State Budget by Rep. Bernie Buescher (D-Grand Junction) The bill appropriates the Colorado state budget for the fiscal year starting on July 7th, 2007.
STATUS: Passed House (4/5/2007)

General musing:

I spoke yesterday at Boulder’s Step it Up rally to stop Global Warming. Though the topic at hand was renewable energy and energy efficiency, I think the conversation has to expand to include other aspects of our lifestyle. Addressing climate change requires more than simply developing alternative fuel sources and reducing carbon dioxide emissions. We are confronted with a man-made change in the planet’s climate because the way in which we have organized our lives assumes unlimited resources and an unlimited capacity of the atmosphere and oceans to absorb CO2. Reducing dependence on single passenger vehicles requires planning our communities to make use of transit viable. As long as we build suburban subdivisions and separate residential uses from retail uses and employment opportunities, people will depend on cars for transportation. Higher density mixed-use development within already urbanized areas leaves a smaller footprint on our planet. Not only does it consume less land, but it produces less storm water runoff, requires less energy to build and maintain, saves money on constructing and maintaining infrastructure, fosters use of transit, and makes it possible to walk to many destinations. The conversation initiated by Governor Ritter on transportation funding must acknowledge that looking at more lanes is an obsolete solution to mobility and congestion. It is time to think in terms of a 50 year planning horizon and put alternative modes of transportation on the planning boards for every corridor. The shape of our communities is determined by your local government. State statutes have given local governments all the tools necessary to build compact, livable and walkable communities. It is up to all of us to demand that our built environment untether us from our cars. See you in two weeks.

Claire Levy

P.S. As always, please feel free to give me a call at 303-866-2578 or send me an e-mail at Claire.Levy.House@state.co.us. I can’t do my job unless I hear from you!

April 01, 2007

There are five and a half weeks left in the 2007 session. Next week in the House we will debate the “long bill,” a 659 page bill that appropriates all funds for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. Knowing it would take great fortitude to get through the last quarter of the session, I headed directly from the Capitol to my favorite shoe store on Friday afternoon. Two pairs of shoes later, I’m ready for anything!

First, let me share with you the status of my bills (my favorite subject):

1. House Bill 1246 is one of two of my bills that have passed the House and the Senate and are ready for Governor Ritter’s signature. Many people asked during the campaign what I intended to do about sprawling development. The real work to reign in sprawl will involve marrying transportation and land use planning, strengthening regional planning, and making the cost of serving low-density, auto-dependant development more transparent.
   
   House Bill 1246 addresses none of these issues directly. It does give cities and counties an important land use tool by allowing them to make their master plans binding documents to control future development. Communities put huge effort and a great deal of thought into creating a master plan. Developers and existing neighborhoods alike rely on them to know what land uses will be allowed in the future. It is dismaying to all parties when the master plan is not adhered to in the heat of a battle over a particular development, or when a community relies on its master plan to say “no” to a development and have the decision challenged on that basis. House Bill 1246 ALLOWS, but does not require, a city or county to make its master plan binding by incorporating it into their other land development regulations.
   
   By way of background, in the hey day of the property rights movement in Colorado the land use planning statutes were changed to limit master plans to an advisory role. This I was in response to several instances in which local governments denied new development because it violated their carefully crafted master plans. The courts ruled that master plans could not trump existing zoning and subdivision regulations unless they were adopted as binding regulatory documents. To assure that could not happen, the legislature specified that master plans were advisory only.
   
   Fortunately, interests on both sides of development issues recognize that planning is better than politics as a method for making land use decisions. I am pleased that the American Planning Association, Colorado Counties, Inc., Colorado Municipal League, the Home Builders Association, Colorado Environmental Coalition, and the Colorado Association of Realtors supported the bill (some organizations more ardently than others, obviously). HB1246 passed both chambers by wide margins.
   
   
2. The second bill that is on its way to the governor’s desk is House Bill 1242. This bill allows state colleges and universities to establish programs to provide student loan repayment assistance to graduates who enter public service jobs. The idea for the bill originated with the University of Colorado Law School. The law students had raised funds from private sources to create a loan repayment assistance program and then learned there was no statutory authority to spend these funds on individuals who were no longer enrolled. The bill allows any public institution of higher learning to create such a program and to develop the guidelines for using the funds. In the case of the law chool, the funds would assist graduates who work for non-profit organizations or take certain public sector jobs, among others.
   
   Some 200 law schools across the country have created similar programs. CU graduates may have as much as $80,000 in loans to repay upon graduating. The types of job that would qualify one for repayment assistance typically pay less than $40,000 per year, far less than sufficient to pay living expenses and repay student loans. The low salaries in public interest jobs discourage people from taking those obs. While the program can only help a small number of students with a portion of their loan burden, it will make it less of a financial burden to follow one’s dreams into the non-profit sector.
   
   
3. I have two bills that require energy efficiency in buildings. House Bill 1146 establishes for the first time a state wide requirement that local governments include energy efficiency in their building codes. It had wide support from environmentalists but received a rather tepid response from local governments, who generally do not like to be told what to do, even if it is something they know they SHOULD do. The Homebuilders Association was neutral, thanks to an early meeting with them to get their input. At the last minute the Building Owners and Managers Association requested changes regarding renovating existing buildings. This resulted in the bill passing the House and the Senate in slightly different forms. After the bill passed the Senate, Boulder County became concerned that the new language restricted their authority to require existing structures to be made energy efficient. Differences in the versions of the bill passed by the House and the Senate as well as the need to address Boulder County’s concern required a conference committee to iron out the differences. I presented a proposed solution to the conference committee this past Wednesday morning, which was accepted unanimously. Now the bill returns to each chamber to decide whether to accept the conference committee report and repass the bill.
   
   
4. My second energy efficient building bill is Senate Bill 51. Ken Gordon originated the bill in the Senate. It requires all buildings supported with state funds to be certified as achieving a high performance standard. That translates to a requirement that state buildings be environmentally friendly from the standpoint of energy usage, water consumption, generation of construction waste, storm water discharge, indoor air quality and other factors. Those of you who are familiar with the LEED program will recognize the criteria that will apply to new state buildings. The major victory of this legislation is securing the support of representatives of higher education, who have been most strapped for cash and who were concerned about any additional costs. They appreciated that high performance standards will save operating and maintenance costs in the long run. Senate Bill 51 passed the House Committee on Transportation and Energy unanimously on Thursday and will be heard by the full House next week. (A third bill I sponsored, HB1037, to require utilities to create programs to reduce demand is waiting for its first hearing in the Senate.)

That’s probably enough about my bills. You can track these bills and all others on the General Assembly website, http://www.leg.state.co.us/Clics/Clics2007A/csl.nsf/BillFoldersHouse?openFrameset. Please contact me if there are particular bills you are interested in. I am always happy to discuss them and explain my position about a bill.

Before I sign off and attack the Long Bill, I want to pose several questions. Why, if Referendum C allows the state to retain approximately $5.35 billion dollars more than TABOR would have allowed between 2006 and 2011, will Colorado’s state colleges and universities receive approximately $800 million dollars LESS than they need for merely mediocre funding? Why does the state spend only $1 million on affordable housing? Why will transportation receive $2 billion dollars between 2006 and 2011, most of which the General Assembly cannot redirect to fund other needs? The answer is the statutory and constitutional revenue and spending limits that have most of our budget on autopilot.

In my view, the most important problem to attack in the next five years is enacting permanent and major reform of TABOR and ancillary statutes that have taken spending decisions out of the hands of your elected representatives. The state has pressing needs. We must reduce the growth in our prison population, reform the health insurance system, improve public education and make it more flexible, invest heavily in transit to relieve the pressure on our crumbling highways, restore funds to higher education, create a stable revenue source for transportation, fund affordable housing programs, and on and on. You may have a different list. None of this can be achieved within current constraints. I hope to receive your help in this effort.

Claire Levy

P.S. I hope your rhubarb is beginning to grow and that your peonies are poking up above the mulch like mine are.

March 18, 2007

The legislative session is moving very quickly. The House has completed work on almost all of the bills that we originated and are now working on Senate bills. In two weeks we will attack the "long bill," which is the spending blue print for the next fiscal year. A hand full of bills have made it to Governor Ritter's desk.

Here are a few highlights from the past week and a look at what is coming up.

Amendment 41: The House passed HB 1304 to clarify the new Ethics provisions in the Colorado Constitution so that it does not affect bona fide scholarships, to further define when gifts are prohibited, to define several other terms and to establish the ethics commission required by Amendment 41. HB 1304 will not go into effect unless the Colorado Supreme Court rules that its provisions are a permissible clarification of the language of Amendment 41. That way, the legislature would not be limiting or changing the provisions of Amendment 41 in conflict with voter intent or in conflict with its plain meaning. HB 1304 also provides that it will be referred to the voters for an up or down vote, which will allow the voters to weigh in on whether they intended the apparently board scope of the literal language of Amendment 41.

While I had misgivings about simply passing a bill to narrow the scope and application of Amendment 41 because I felt its terms were quite clear, I voted for HB 1304 because it provided strong protection against the legislature overstepping its authority and interfering with the intent of the voters.

Adoption: House Bill 1330 passed the House by a vote of 39 to 25. It allows a child to be adopted by a second parent when that child has only one existing legal parent or guardian without regard to whether the parents are married to one another. It allows same sex partners to adopt each others children, and also allows a number of other second parent adoptions such as unmarried heterosexual couples or a grandparent of a child of a single parent.

Renewable energy portfolio: HB 1281, which doubles the amount of renewable energy required investor-owned utilities ("IOUs" are required to provide, has now passed the House and the Senate and is headed for the governor's desk. HB 1281 brought the rural electric cooperatives under its scope and eliminated their ability to opt out. In essence, HB 1281 requires IOUs to obtain at least 20% of their energy from renewable sources 2020. Rural electric cooperatives must obtain no less than 10% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020.

Emergency contraceptives: Governor Ritter signed Senate Bill 60 this past week, which requires a health care facility that provides emergency care to a victim of sexual assault to inform the victim of the availability of emergency contraceptives.

You can read the full text if these bills by going to http://www.leg.state.co.us/ and opening up the bills folder on the home page.

During the week of March 19, you may be interested in tracking the progress of the following bills:

• SB 34 to prohibit residents of Colorado to use a concealed weapon permit issued by another state will be heard in Judiciary on March 20.
• SB 151 would make failure to use a seat belt a primary offense such that law enforcement can stop a vehicle for visible failure to use a seat belt. SB 151 will be in the Transportation & Energy Committee at 1:30 on March 20.
• HB 1284 will be heard in the Education Committee on Thursday, March 22. It prevents schools from being penalized when students do not take the CSAP test and also excludes from calculation of a schools academic performance rating the scores of students enrolled in special education.

March 05, 2007

March 12 will be the mid-point of the 2007 legislative session. This is a great time to review where we have been and where we are still going.

So what have I been up to during the past 60 days? First, let me say that this is a great job! I arrive at the Capitol every morning, usually before 8:00 a.m., energized and ready to work. The day flies by too quickly and before I know it, Friday has come and another week has gone.

No two days are the same. I cast votes on the floor of the House, join in debates on bills that are on the floor, delve into the details of bills in committee, shepherd my own bills through committee hearings and floor votes, meet with constituents and interest groups, respond to e-mails, inform myself about important bills of other legislators, keep up with the massive amounts of information that lands in my in-box (in the form of snail mail and e-mail), and attempt also to reflect on what work still needs to be done.

Here's the scorecard on the bills I sponsored.

House Bill 1146 will establish statewide standards for energy conservation in all new construction in Colorado. For the first time, all local building codes must include energy efficiency standards. New construction will be more energy efficient, reducing the need for additional power plants and saving consumers money. The bill passed out of the House on a vote of 53 to 11 and is awaiting final passage in the Senate.

My bill to establish energy efficiency programs for heat and hot water is working its way through the House. House Bill 1037 will create a new program for gas utilities such as Excel Energy that will fund programs such as energy audits, rebates for upgrading appliances, and additional insulation. House Bill 1037 is expected to save consumers up to $600 million dollars on the utility bills over the next 20 years.

I sponsored a bill, House Bill 1242, to allow public colleges and universities to establish Student Loan Repayment Assistance Programs, known as LRAPs. These programs use private funds to help repay the student loans of graduates who choose public interest jobs such as working for non-profits and jobs in government. House Bill 1242 passed out of the House on a vote of 62 to 2 and has been assigned to the Senate Committee on Education.

At the request of Boulder County and Colorado Counties, Inc., I sponsored a bill to allow counties to require agricultural buildings to meet minimum building standards. Some counties had experienced problems with agricultural out buildings collapsing, blowing away, and not meeting fire codes. House Bill 1165 allows counties to require building permits for these buildings if they choose to do so. It passed on a vote of 63 to 2 and awaits a hearing in the Senate Committee on Agriculture.

The last bill that I sponsored that originates in the House is House Bill 1246, which will allow local governments to adopt their master plans as binding regulatory documents. Citizens and developers alike rely on master plans to know how their cities and neighborhoods will be developed. They are a critical component of being able to plan for future growth. House Bill 1246 will elevate the role of master plans as a guide for future growth, and will provide desirable predictability. It passed unanimously and is awaiting hearing in the Senate.

I am the House sponsor of three Senate bills. That means I will be responsible for getting these bills through Committees and the floor of the House. Senate Bill 151 will require new buildings built with state funds to meet a very high level of energy efficiency and sustainability. Senate Bill 47 will confine so-called Video Lottery Terminals (electronic slot machines) to the towns in which gambling is now legal so they do not proliferate. The last bill has yet to be introduced, but it will facilitate the use of railroad right of way for Fastracks. This is an important part of building out the promise of transit in Colorado as many of the best corridors for rail are owned by rail road companies, who are worried about exposure to liability from passenger service.

Finally, I want to mention several other bills that I am co-sponsoring and have worked to support.

• I am co-sponsoring a bill to close the smoking loophole for gambling so that all indoor venues are smoke-free in Colorado. At a town meeting in Gilpin County I heard from workers and gamblers who do not wish to be subjected to second hand smoke. This is a fairness issue as well as a health issue.
• I co-sponsored Representative Dan Gibbs' bill to increase penalties for truckers who do not put their chains on and who then cause lanes to be closed. Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald has help find funds to increase the safety and number of chain up areas to make compliance with the chain law easier.
• Along with many others, I co-sponsored Representative Pommer's bill to double the amount of renewable energy consumed in Colorado by the year 2030. By 2030 Colorado will be getting a minimum of 20% of its energy from renewable sources.
• I am proud to sponsor House Bill 1330 with Alice Madden, which will allow a second parent to adopt a child when the couple is unmarried. This will allow same sex couples to adopt children together.
• Last but not least, I was the first to sign on to Speaker Romanoff's bill to require the Public Employees Retirement Association to divest funds from the Sudan.

In the House Committee on Transportation and Energy we have worked on other bills to support renewable energy and construction of the transmission lines necessary to bring that energy to market. We passed a bill to require motorcycle riders under the age of 18 to wear a helmet. We are working on taxi cab deregulation. We will hear a bill to help low-income residents with their utility bills. And, we passed an important bill to simplify the identification necessary to obtain a drivers license or a state identification card, which will help those who are homeless be able to obtain important services.

In the House Judiciary Committee we have heard a variety of bills pertaining to the courts, juvenile justice, corrections, and civil liability, including a bill to repeal the death penalty, a bill to increase the number of judges, a bill to support restorative justice for juveniles, and a bill to stop fraudulent use of state funds and allow whistle-blower protection to those who report such abuse.

Much more work has been done in many other areas, including education and children's health. I invite you to call or e-mail me at Claire.Levy.House@state.co.us about any and all of the above.