Lawmakers considered nearly 700 bills affecting education, health care and a variety of other topics during the legislative session that ended late Tuesday. Here’s a snapshot of the more important proposals that triumphedor tanked — at the hands of legislators. Many bills await the signature of Gov. Bill Ritter, who says he will spend the next month making his decisions. The Denver Post
EDUCATION
•School kids can expect new standards and tests starting in 2011 when the state’s education leaders realign K-12 courses to better prepare students for college. The bipartisan, governor-backed SB 212, which set ground rules for the revamp this year, awaits the governor’s signature.
•In the meantime, high-schoolers will continue to face dreaded CSAP tests, since a plan to replace the exams with the more cram-worthy ACTs (HB 1357) failed in a Senate committee.
•Clusters of schools will get room to experiment with everything from hiring practices to teaching methods, if Ritter signs SB 130, which allows chosen schools to bypass state, district and teachers union rules.
•Pending Ritter’s signature, HB 1335 will provide dilapidated schools $1 billion in state and district money to repair leaky roofs, heating systems and the like.
State colleges have $700 million coming to them over the next decade under SB 218 if Ritter signs the measure to fund campus construction.
TRANSPORTATION
•Drivers won’t pay additional car registration fees, as SB 244 died. The bill would have raised charges by up to $97 a year for some drivers and paid to fix dilapidated bridges.
•Democratic leadership refused to entertain a last-minute Republican plan to divert future education money to transportation.
•Skiers and mountain folk alike will continue to face gridlock on Interstate 70, though they also dodged two new tolls laid out in unsuccessful Senate Bills 209 and 213.
HEALTH CARE
Private health insurers will get to compete to provide Colorado’s uninsured with low-cost plans if Ritter signs SB 217.
•Health-insurance carriers, under the to-be-signed HB 1389, would have to get the state’s OK before raising premiums.
•If signed by Ritter, SB 160 would provide access to health insurance for more poor children.
•Harmed patients won’t be able to sue for higher awards in medical malpractice suits after the death of SB 164.
•Colorado will remain the only state in the nation that doesn’t require morticians to be licensed after lawmakers put HB 1123 six feet under.
STATE GOVERNMENT
•Voters will decide in November whether citizen groups should face a higher bar for constitutional changes through ballot initiatives after SCR 3 cleared both chambers.
•Lawmakers agreed on a $17.6 billion budget in the face of an economic downturn that included money for in-progress construction projects and slots for 1,334 new state employees.
•County clerks got the go-ahead to run their elections using electronic voting machines, following the defeat of SB 189, which would have required almost all paper ballots.
•An attempt to solve longstanding state budget woes by relaxing TABOR and ending education funding guarantees failed in the House but could reappear this year as a citizen-backed ballot initiative.
•Lawmakers made state employee strikes illegal with HB 1189, which Ritter signed.
ENVIRONMENT
Water providers will be able to charge customers more and use the money to protect forests from dangers such as pine beetles under SB 221, aimed at protecting future water supplies.
•Homeowners can get low-cost loans from the state or local governments to buy solar panels or other green energy products for their houses under HB 1350.
Homebuilders will first have to show they’ve got the water to support new subdivisions if Ritter signs HB 1141.
MISCELLANEOUS
Gay and lesbian Coloradans will be protected from discrimination in housing and public accommodations if Ritter greenlights SB 200.
•The state will help import foreign agricultural workers for temporary jobs on Colorado farms following the passage of HB 1325, which awaits Ritter’s signature.
•Renters will have more recourse against negligent landlords if Ritter signs the new Tenants’ Bill of Rights outlined in HB 1356.
•Shoppers can by wine, liquor and full-strength beer on Sundays starting July 6 following the passage of SB 82.
Payday lenders can continue conducting business as usual after the demise of HB 1310, which was aimed at capping loan-interest rates.
