Gun-permit bill gets OK
Coloradans wouldn’t be able to use concealed-weapons permits from other states under a bill that won initial approval Tuesday from the state Senate.
Sen. John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, said some residents have been applying for permits from other states, sometimes by mail, because they are cheaper or more convenient. Colorado law requires that people apply in person at a sheriff’s office, be fingerprinted and undergo a background check, which costs $152.50. The permit is good for five years.
“We cannot revoke a Florida permit; we can only revoke a Colorado permit,” said Morse, a former Fountain police chief.
Sen. Dave Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, said lawmakers were acting out of “fear” and that there was no proof that out-of-state permit holders were posing a problem.
The bill passed Tuesday after Republicans Ken Kester and Jack Taylor sided with most Democrats.
The bill must pass another Senate vote before going to the House.
Tobacco-cash plan OK’d
Senators approved diverting $34 million from tobacco-settlement money Tuesday into health-care programs and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
On a 25-10 vote, the Senate passed SB97 by Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Jefferson County, which would give 49 percent of the money to CU. Health-care programs – including rural health care, mental-health and drug-and-alcohol counseling for inmates, and immunization programs – would divide the rest.
Sen. Paula Sandoval, D-Denver, said she voted against the bill because nearly half the money would go to higher education rather than health care.
“There just is so much need, and I really feel strongly that those dollars could be better spent on the needy and disabled,” she said.
Nursing woes reported
Colorado state officials who oversee nursing homes are failing to identify the severity and scope of problems at some homes, according to a state auditor’s report released Tuesday.
In a sampling of 10 surveys by state officials, auditors found that 32 of 123 problems were not properly identified.
The state Department of Public Health and Environment agreed to improve its survey process.
There are 217 nursing homes with 20,252 licensed beds in Colorado.
In fiscal 2006, the state paid $456.5 million in Medicaid reimbursements to nursing homes.
