2007 Bills

During the 2007 session I was the prime sponsor of the following bills:

House Bill 1146 requires municipal and county building codes to include energy efficiency standards. Colorado is one of only nine states not to have state-wide standards for energy efficiency in construction. Though many cities, towns and counties in Colorado have adopted energy efficiency standards, many others have not. This means thousands of Coloradans could be saving much of the hard earned money they are spending to heat, cool and light their homes and businesses. By building more efficient structures we can save money, live in more comfortable homes, and avoid the need for costly and polluting new power plants.

House Bill 1037 requires the rates we pay for natural gas and electricity to reward conservation. Investor-owned utilities will be required to spend a percentage of their net revenues on energy efficiency programs, which are projected to save Colorado as much as $1.2 billion between now and 2020. The energy efficiency programs will save the amount of energy required to heat and power up to 160,000 new homes and will prevent the need for a new 350 megawatt power plant.

House Bill 1242 allows public colleges and universities to establish loan repayment assistance programs for graduates who take jobs in the public sector or with nonprofit organizations. Often the burden of student loans prevents graduates from considering lower paying public interest jobs. Law students at the University of Colorado raised funds in the private sector to provide loan repayment assistance to graduates taking public interest jobs. Unfortunately, those funds could not be allocated to graduates without legislative authority. That led to House Bill 1242, which applies to any public college or university.

House Bill 1246 is a land use planning bill that will allow cities and counties to make their master plans binding on future land uses. Existing law stated that master plans were simply advisory documents. With the passage of House Bill 1246, citizens and developers will have greater predictability in the land use process. The work that goes into creating a master plan can be implemented at all stages of the land use process.

Senate Bill 51 requires all new buildings built with state funds to meet high performance building standards. A high performance building standard requires the owner to minimize construction waste, plan the site to minimize storm water runoff and future water needs for landscaping, site the building to maximize passive solar opportunities, install energy and water efficient fixtures, and employ other measures to create an minimize the environmental impact of the building. The most widely used standard is called LEED, which stands for Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design. Senate Bill 51 will apply to new construction as well as renovations and additions to existing buildings, and will apply to all buildings using state funds for 25% or more of the total cost.

Senate Bill 219 allows RTD to negotiate with freight rail companies to use their right of way and existing tracks to build FasTracks. The railroads would not allow passenger service on their tracks for fear of liability since they are not covered by governmental immunity. This threatened to halt implementation of FasTracks and would have prevented other transit providers from using existing railroad corridors. Senate Bill 219 provides immunity to the railroads from punitive damages while leaving in place liability for all other damages for negligence. While FasTracks was the immediate impetus for the bill, it will also facilitate rail on I-70 and on other corridors in the future.

Senate Bill 234 allows voters to apply for permanent absentee ballot status. Under current law, voters must request an absentee ballot during each election cycle, which leads to confusion given our hybrid system of mail ballot and precinct voting elections. Leaving in place existing safeguards for mail-in ballots, Senate Bill 234 will facilitate wider voter participation by those who cannot get to the polls on Election Day or those who prefer to vote by mail.

House Bill 1362 corrected a conflict between the laws governing Common Interest Communities and a recent decision by the Court of Appeals. House Bill 1362 will standardize the information required on a map or plat or in declarations concerning developer rights and homeowner association common areas.

I sponsored three other bills that did not pass the legislature.

• House Bill 1165 would have allowed county commissioners to apply building codes to agricultural out buildings to increase the safety of these structures. The Senate amended HB 1165 to create a task force to study conflicts agricultural uses and development. I chose to kill the bill rather than create what seemed to me to be an unnecessary study.
• Senate Bill 47 was intended to prevent the spread of video lottery terminals to sites outside the existing gambling towns of Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek. Support was lacking in the House for this bill given the opposition of horse racers.
• Senate Bill 248 would have allowed the Insurance Commissioner to review and approve increases in medical malpractice insurance rates before they became effective. The medical community vehemently opposed this legislation. I will continue working with the Colorado Medical Society to address the issue of rising malpractice insurance rates.