Juvenile-offender hearing delayed
A legislative hearing on a proposal that relaxes life-without-parole sentences for juvenile offenders has been postponed until next week to allow state district attorneys time to notify relatives of victims, said State Rep. Lynn Hefley, sponsor of the bill.
The legislation, House Bill 1315, will be heard in the House Judiciary Committee at 1:30 p.m. on March 16. It would allow prisoners already convicted as juveniles – and future offenders – a shot at parole after four decades.
The District Attorneys Council opposes the bill and its provision for retroactively applying it.
Sixteen groups around the state have rallied for reforms in the handling of juveniles by adult courts.
Higher-ed funding “not done”
The Joint Budget Committee dealt with the 2006-07 funding requests of higher education Monday – sort of.
By offering state schools less of a per-student stipend than the Colorado Commission on Higher Education had requested but granting CCHE’s desired tuition cap, the committee has not yet met universities’ needs, said JBC chairman Rep. Tom Plant, D-Nederland.
Lobbyists representing various universities and colleges gasped as the committee voted, but Plant said the JBC will take up the issue again when other agencies’ needs are known.
“We’re not done,” he said. “We’ll be back.”
In the campaign for November’s Referendum C, officials promised funding increases for priorities that included higher education.
Ethics panel to seek pay records
An ethics committee investigating a complaint against former House Minority Leader Joe Stengel agreed to ask for the pay records of the current leadership when the legislature wasn’t in session and the records for previous leadership over the past five years.
They also want Stengel to provide calendars, records and e-mails showing his activities while the House was in recess. Stengel has until Monday to respond in writing to the complaint.
The five committee members – three Democrats and two Republicans – also signed a letter telling their colleagues that they won’t be talking about the ethics probe.
Bills of note
The House approved a measure prohibiting price gouging during an emergency for goods or services on which a person’s life depends, despite objections that it could subject businesses to significant penalties for minor infractions. The measure, House Bill 1251, was approved on a 33-31 vote and now goes to the Senate.
The House approved a plan allowing soldiers, Peace Corps workers and missionaries to vote by e-mail under a pilot program run by the secretary of state’s office. The measure, Senate Bill 62, goes back to the Senate for consideration of amendments.
