Highlights from the Legislature on Monday:
— The House gave initial approval to a plan to ask voters to make it more difficult to propose constitutional amendments. Under the measure (Senate Concurrent Resolution 3), backers of constitutional changes would have to collect 50 percent more signatures than those just seeking a change to state statute.
— The House approved and sent to the governor a measure (House Bill 1344) that would require the state education department to provide criminal history information about teachers to a school district or charter school within 10 days of a request.
— The House approved and sent to the governor a bill that would prohibit bringing aquatic nuisance species, like zebra mussels, into Colorado and allow authorities to inspect vehicles, boats and trailers for them if they have a “reasonable belief” such a species is present (Senate Bill 226). Earlier this month, state natural resources chief Harris Sherman said the mussels are now confined to Lake Pueblo State Park but it could cost millions of dollars to control them if they spread beyond there.
— The House accepted Senate amendments to a bill (House Bill 1180) that would allow military spouses to collect unemployment insurance when their family members are transferred.
— The House approved Senate amendments and sent to the governor a bill (House Bill 1161) that would require miners to prove that they will restore groundwater aquifers before they are allowed to use the in-situ leach mining technique.
— Landlords would have to provide basic services like heat and hot and cold running water under a measure given initial backing by the Senate on Monday. Under the measure (House Bill 1356), tenants would be able to withhold their rent if landlords fail to fix such problems after giving them two written notices of the problem.
— The House approved Senate amendments and sent to the governor a measure (House Bill 1208) that allows teens charged as adults to request a hearing before a judge.
— The Senate backed a measure (Senate Bill 246) that would allow retailers to sell a wide range of discounted prescription drugs. The bill would change the state’s anti-monopoly law to say that overhead costs no longer have to be considered in calculating whether a retailer is selling below cost. It now heads to the House for a hearing.
— The Senate delayed a vote on a proposal that would bar health insurers from paying doctors to switch patients’ drugs, a practice critics call a form of kickbacks. Opponents succeeded in sending it to the appropriations committee because of changes made to the bill last week.
— The Senate gave initial backing to requiring the state to regulate oil and gas exploration and waste disposal facilities. The measure (House Bill 1414) would require that the sites be at least a half mile from homes, schools and parks and that fabric is used to line pits to prevent waste from getting into groundwater. Some facilities now use clay liners and Sen. Jack Taylor, R-Steamboat Springs, said the change would hurt small operators.
— People could take their health insurers to court if the companies denies a legitimate claim under a measure (House Bill 1407) given initial backing by the Senate. If a claim is illegally denied, the company would have to pay an amount equal to twice the benefits.
— The Senate backed a measure that would require health insurance firms to get prior approval for rate hikes, punish them for improper denial of claims and encourage efficiencies. The plan has been dubbed the Fair & Accountable Insurance Act (House Bill 1389). It now heads back to the House because of changes made in the Senate.
— The Senate voted 20-15 to reject a non-binding resolution asking the state oil and gas commission to do an economic impact analysis of its proposed new rules for the industry. All Republicans voted for the measure (Senate Concurrent Resolution 22) and all Democrats voted against it. The commission is already working on a study.
— The Senate gave initial backing to requiring health insurers to provide coverage for colorectal cancer screenings even though the proposal (House Bill 1410) wasn’t reviewed by a commission that is required by law to look at health-care mandates. The commission hasn’t been meeting much because it’s been difficult to get enough members together to hold meetings to report back to lawmakers in time for them to vote on bills. Senators changed the bill to require it to be reviewed by the commission after they pass the bill.
— New housing developments won’t be able to test the impacts of collecting rainwater for use in their lawns and gardens. The House scrapped the idea and simply have a water committee study the idea this summer. The Senate agreed to concur with those changes to the measure (Senate Bill 219).
