DENVER—A measure allowing Colorado State Fairgoers to carry around an alcoholic beverage and another that inserts the word “people” in some legislation instead of using stigmatizing labels are among 165 new laws going into effect Wednesday.
Also under the new laws, people who bury human bodies in private cemeteries must file the location with the county clerk, seniors can buy a lifetime state parks pass and retailers will be barred from charging service fees for gift cards.
The new laws are going into effect 90 days after the end of the session because of a state law that allows voters to challenge any measure not vital to the “health, safety and welfare” of the state.
Under that provision, if a bill is challenged, the new law is put on hold until after an election can be held.
It was a pet project for former state Rep. Douglas Bruce, who railed against almost every bill that contained that provision.
“It’s for one reason only, to deprive us of our right to petition,” Bruce said.
The practice began in 1933, a year after voters overturned a 10-cent tax on margarine to protect butter producers. Lawmakers retaliated by inserting the clause in every bill and it was upheld by the state Supreme Court.
Although the law has often been abused by lawmakers—one time lawmakers put the safety clause on a bill naming a state fish—most lawmakers respected voters’ rights. In 2007, for instance, the year before Bruce took office, there were 120 bills with the provision. The year before there were 86. In 2008, when Bruce railed against almost every bill with the clause, the number jumped to 197 when Bruce’s colleagues got tired of him calling them names.
Other examples include a law regulating bingo, providing art for juvenile facilities and a declaration for Gov. Ralph Carr Day.
Metro State political science professor Norm Provizer said lawmakers need a safety valve to allow laws to be challenged and voters have to rely on the consciences of lawmakers not to abuse it.
“If you have it, will it be abused? The answer is certainly yes. To lawmakers, all of their bills are critically important,” Provizer said.
New laws this year that were deemed less important include a bill that allows state fair patrons to wander the fairgrounds without compromising the regulations governing liquor licensees.
Currently, a patron who purchases a beer at the State Fair may not carry that beer into the Agriculture Pavilion or another building that is consigned to a different liquor licensee.
There is also the new people first law, allowing the revisor of statutes to change any disrespectful, insensitive, or outdated terms that appear in the Colorado Revised Statutes and to replace those terms with “people first” language.
For instance, the new law bars language that a person is “disabled,” “mentally ill” or “learning disabled.” Instead, they must be referred to as persons with disabilities, persons with mental illness and persons with autism.
