Leave it to the state legislature to make a to-do over a quarter of an inch.
The state seal, the little thing that gets stamped on official documents, is too large. Nobody makes the 2 1/2-inch dies Colorado uses for its official seal anymore, so the seal needs to be downsized to fit the more standard 2 1/4-inch die.
Simple, right?
Well, not really. Because the description of the state seal is written into law in minute detail, it takes a bill to change the size, which Rep. Ray Rose, R-Montrose, is dutifully carrying this year at the request of the secretary of state’s office. (His bill would also allow the secretary of state to make future changes to the seal without legislative approval.)
“I’m sure when they put that in state statute and they described the state seal, no one would have had a clue that you would no longer be able to get a 2 1/2,” Rose said.
Every year, amid the heaps of bills on weighty issues like health care, education and transportation, there are those that are a little out of the mainstream discussion.
Here are a few so far from this session.
House Bill 1096: The Canned Hunt.
A bill from Rep. Debbie Stafford — an Aurora Democrat and perennial advocate of animal rights — would outlaw the “guaranteed kill” of animals that have been caged, staked or confined.
About 25 businesses in Colorado are offering confined, farm-raised deer and elk for hunting, Stafford said.
“By selling a guaranteed kill, it becomes a rich man’s hunting sport,” she said. “I don’t think that’s fair hunting. There’s not an opportunity for fair chase.”
The legislation allows exemptions for agriculture and scientific research, such as slaughtering an animal for meat or humanely euthanizing one for health, safety or research.
House Bill 1066: The Make My Day Better bill.
Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, is back this year with a bill that passed in the House last year but failed in the Senate. It would give business owners the same rights to use deadly force against intruders at their businesses as homeowners have under Colorado’s “Make My Day” law.
“I believe everybody has the right to defend themselves,” Gardner said. “I think there’s a lot of paranoia (about the bill). I think people think this will open up violence and make the streets run red with blood. That’s absolutely untrue.”
House Bill 1071: The Scarlet Driver’s License.
Rose is sponsoring a bill that would require people convicted of drinking and driving to have specially colored driver’s licenses. One offense would require a license with a green background. Two offenses in five years would require a red license.
Red licenses already exist, Rose said, and mean that a person can drive only between home and work.
The idea came to Rose from a constituent, whose daughter was killed by a repeat drunken driving offender.
“I’m sure I’m going to hear in testimony about how this discriminates against a DUI offender, and on, and on, and on. I would rather discriminate against a DUI offender,” Rose said, “than have that person kill someone.”
House Bill 1045: The License Plate Ax.
A bill by Rep. Joe Rice, D-Littleton, and Sen. Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora, would place most of Colorado’s specialty license plates under the same set of rules and subject them to the ax if 3,000 plates are not issued by Jan. 1, 2009.
If it passes, specialty plates for Denver firefighters, the Raptor Education Foundation and the Protective Order of Elks would need to get above the mark in order to survive, according to the Department of Revenue.
House Bill 1042: Animal Massage License Exemption
. Rep. Wes McKinley, D-Walsh, and Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, are sponsoring a bill that would exempt people who perform animal massages from needing a veterinarian’s license.
But it only applies if they have earned a “degree or certificate in animal massage from a state-approved or accredited school.”
John Ingold: 303-954-1068 or jingold@denverpost.com.
