It’s that time of the year, the merry month of May, when state lawmakers step up their pace in order to resolve a flurry of bills before their scheduled adjournment, which is May 9 – next Wednesday.
As of yesterday morning, a total of 153 bills needed action. Among them are the governor’s proposed property tax freeze to stabilize education finances, a constitutional amendment asking voters to make it harder to change the state constitution, and a bill requiring group health insurance policies to cover certain mental disorders. The mental health bill mandates that coverage for mental disorders be similar to coverage for a physical illness. It also expands coverage provided through the Indigent Care Program of the Children’s Basic Health Plan. All three bills are critical and we urge lawmakers to pass them without delay.
A bill to close a loophole in the cigar bar exemption to the state’s smoking ban is hanging by a thread and is likely to be extinguished for good this week. “We’re not going to resolve it this year,” the sponsoring senator, Betty Boyd, told us. The bill started as an effort to extend last year’s statewide smoking ban to cigar bars. But after a justifiable uproar – after all, if you can’t smoke in a cigar bar, where can you smoke? – the bill was amended to require cigar bars to undergo certification and utilize on-site humidors. The bill is an effort to prevent mom-and-pop taverns from trying to get around the 2006 Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act by claiming a cigar bar exemption. Current law says an exemption requires that 5 percent of sales come from tobacco. The provision was geared to cigar bars, but mom-and-pop bars have been counting the change in cigarette machines to try to reach the 5 percent. The 2006 statewide smoking ban applies to most indoor workplaces, with the exception of airport lounges, cigar bars and casinos. Last week, lawmakers eliminated the exemption for casinos but gave them until Jan. 1, 2008, to comply.
Also last week, the legislature approved a bill to add 43 more judges to the district, county and appeals courts. That’s a smart move given the increased caseloads, and backlogs, in our courts. Lawmakers also smartly voted to modify the membership and mission of the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission, emphasizing protection of public health, wildlife and the environment. The casino, judge and oil-gas bills are headed to the governor’s desk, where we hope they will be signed.
Lawmakers have suspended procedural rules in the final days of the session so legislation can move quickly from committee rooms to the chamber floors. Lawmakers said Monday they expect to wrap up before May 9, saving taxpayers $15,000 for each day they leave early.
