State lawmakers are sprinting to a Monday finish after acting on a slew of critical bills in the final days of the 65th General Assembly. Legislators watered down a sex-abuse bill, wisely reached a compromise with the governor on the public employee pension plan and – sadly – killed a measure designed to provide a buffer for the state during economic downturns.
Also passed were solid bills aimed at improving public safety for children and consumers, including useful measures toughening laws on Internet predators, curbing identity theft and keeping better track of sexually violent criminals.
Despite the Senate’s killing of the “rainy day fund,” the final week was generally productive, capping a successful session in which legislators scaled back their ambitions to balance the budget in the wake of the passage of the Referendum C fiscal reform last fall. Though the legal deadline for the 120-day session is midnight Wednesday, majority Democrats hope to adjourn Monday and save taxpayers $15,000 a day for the final two days. It’s a fine goal as long as all the important work is done.
Still awaiting action
As of late Friday, several major bills were awaiting final action, including two solid measures, SB 51, which would ban donations and gifts to elected officials’ office accounts; and SB 138, which will require 75 percent of all gasoline in Colorado to contain 10 percent of ethanol after July 1, 2007.
A third high-profile bill, HB 1090, was pending in the Senate after House lawmakers stripped a provision that would have allowed past victims of sexual abuse file lawsuits against the employers of their abusers, such as the Roman Catholic Church or public schools. City and county organizations had expressed concern about changes the law would have made opening up local governments to more lawsuits.
On the key issue of making the public employee pension plan solvent, a last-minute compromise with Gov. Bill Owens saved lawmakers from a special session. The deal approved Friday would allow higher education employees to opt into a defined contribution plan, similar to the popular 401(k) plans. Stabilizing the pension plan, which theoretically faced an $11.3 billion shortfall over 30 years, was a major achievement.
Unfortunately, the Senate killed a plan to sell off part of future tobacco settlement payments to establish a rainy-day fund to cushion the state in future economic downturns, as well as bolstering police and fire pension plans and aiding poor school districts with their capital construction needs. Lawmakers passed a good measure that would let voters decide if same-sex couples should be granted legal protections such as inheritance and property rights, and required lobbyists to be more transparent.
House Speaker Andrew Romanoff described the session as “enormously productive and bipartisan” despite the headline- grabbing stories about “investigations, allegations and resignations.” During the 120-day session, a Democratic member of the Senate resigned her seat, while a Republican member of the House resigned his leadership post – both in the wake of ethics charges. Romanoff also noted that legislators passed a wide-ranging economic development package that will give a boost to tourism, bioscience, higher ed and transportation.
Last-minute flurry of bills
After plenty of angry debate on illegal immigration, lawmakers came together late in the session on several bills, more than in any other session and certainly more than what federal lawmakers have managed. The bills include making it a crime to smuggle illegal persons into the U.S. or Colorado and to traffick in humans, and requires the State Patrol to create a division to deal with both. A bill signed into law this week requires local law enforcement to report suspected illegals to federal authorities.
Legislation that could lower prescription drug costs for uninsured Coloradans while saving the state money on Medicaid expenses was given final passage and sent to the governor on Thursday for what we hope is a signture, not a veto.
A late effort by Sen. Ken Gordon, D-Denver, to have Colorado participate with other states in changing the way the U.S. president is elected was defeated this week. And a bill to create a process to encourage the formation of competitive congressional districts was pulled by Gordon early Friday.
Earlier in the session, there also were important successes. After a two-year battle, lawmakers passed and the governor quickly signed a bill to ban smoking in public places, including bars and restaurants. A bill to fund pre-school education for 2,000 at-risk children also passed.
If the legislature does adjourn Monday, the election season will begin in earnest on Tuesday. Lawmakers can hit the campaign trail with the satisfaction of a job well done.
