Smoking debate heats up
Lawmakers are expected to take up a statewide smoking ban on the House floor today. The debate on House Bill 1175 will probably center on whether any establishments should be exempted from the ban. Last session, a similar proposal was killed when lawmakers failed to reach a compromise on where smoking should be banned. If exceptions are carved out this year, the sponsor has promised to kill the bill.
Dems to release records
Democratic House Majority Leader Alice Madden on Thursday released a copy of a letter to Republican Party state chairman Bob Martinez in response to his request for records on $83,000 in contributions to several Democratic lawmakers’ office accounts. The letter, signed by the legislature’s lawyer, says records will be available for review.
“We’re going to review what they disclose with scrutiny. And we believe they have an obligation to tell us why they’re holding back other information that they said they’re not going to disclose,” said John Zakhem, a Republican Party attorney.
Time off for school
Colorado employers would be required to offer unpaid leave to workers who want to attend parent- teacher conferences or other academic activities, under Senate Bill 66, which was approved by the Senate Education Committee on a 4-3 vote Thursday. The measure limits the unpaid leave to five hours in any one-month period, not to exceed 30 hours in any academic year. Chuck Berry, president of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, told lawmakers that the requirements would create an undue burden on most businesses.
“Let’s work with those businesses that are not doing anything, rather than hamstringing all businesses with a one-size-fits-all approach,” Berry said.
A similar bill died in the House last year.
Tater tomfoolery
Sen. Lewis Entz, R-Hooper, provided some San Luis Valley spuds for his fellow senators Thursday.
“This is a very, very important day,” he said. “It is the Colorado potato day. You know the quality is as high as our mountains.” He also gave a word of warning to those planning to dine on the lumpy Purple Majesty spud. “They’re purple all the way through,” he said. “What you do – if you mash ’em – you kind of want to serve them in candlelight so people can’t really see what color they are.”
White-water park limits
New white-water parks would have to keep track of how many kayakers are using the courses and could face some limits on how much water they could use in dry years under a bill backed by a Senate committee Thursday.
Senate Bill 37 is an attempt to clear up some of the legal wrangling that has occurred since the legislature passed a bill in 2001 making recreation an official “beneficial use,” giving it a right to water similar to traditional uses such as agriculture.
In other action
House lawmakers this week killed a measure that would have forced insurance companies, after an accident, to start paying medical bills after the company paid for damage to the car. House Bill 1044 died on a 13-0 vote.
