Reserving parking spots
Drivers would be able to pay to reserve spots in crowded Regional Transportation District parking lots under a measure passed by the state Senate on Monday.
The bill would let RTD hire an outside company to monitor whether cars parked in the lot belong to people who don’t live in RTD’s taxing district and allow the agency to charge out-of-district parkers.
Under Senate Bill 88, 15 percent of parking spaces could be set aside for those willing to pay for reservations.
Foreign flags in schools
The Senate passed a bill that would let school districts put foreign flags on permanent display.
House Bill 1050 was in response to controversy over a Jefferson County teacher yanked from his geography classroom last year for refusing to remove Chinese, Mexican and U.N. flags.
State law says temporary flag displays for instructional or historical purposes are OK, but the principal did not consider the display temporary enough.
It is currently a petty offense to display any flag but the American, Colorado or local flags on public buildings, including schools.
The legislation also would permit the display of prisoner-of-war and missing-in-action flags.
If the bill gets final approval from the Senate, it will return to the House so representatives can consider its amendments.
School-danger hotline
The Senate passed a bill to start a hotline for students to report suspicious or dangerous activity.
When violence occurs in schools, someone other than the attacker knows beforehand 75 percent of the time, said Sen. John Morse, the Colorado Springs Democrat sponsoring Senate Bill 197.
The bill expands the Safe-2-Tell program, ensures anonymity of callers and forwards information to authorities.
The bill is headed for the House.
Teacher tracking system
A measure that would set up a statewide teacher tracking system is headed for the governor’s desk.
Senate Bill 140, which creates a commission to avert future teacher shortages, passed the House.
