Highlights from the Legislature on Wednesday:
— The House Judiciary Committee approved a bill (Senate Bill 192) that would require protesters to keep moving, establish restrictions on the size and number of signs that picketers can carry, and specify the distance from a residence that picketers must remain. It now goes to the full House for debate.
— The Senate Health and Human Services Committee voted 5-1 to back a proposal (Senate Bill 217) that would ask health insurers to come up with some scaled-down insurance plans with an eye toward mandating coverage for all Coloradans. It still faces a series of hurdles, including some political ones, before it could possibly take shape two years from now. It will be considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee next.
— The Senate gave initial backing to a bipartisan measure (Senate Bill 135) requiring health insurance companies to issue standardized cards detailing coverage for each member. A doctor would be able to swipe the card to instantly find out the details of what’s covered by a patient’s health care plan and what the co-payments are. Companies would have to issue the cards for new members in 2009 but would have another year to issue cards for existing members.
New bills:
— Allowing the water resources and power development authority to issue bonds for projects protecting watersheds and forest health (Senate Bill 221).
— Directing how and when mental incompetence is raised and determined in criminal charges (House Bill 1392).
