Highlights from the Colorado Legislature on Monday:
— Sen. Rollie Heath , D-Boulder, said he would bypass the Legislature and collect signatures to take his tax proposal to voters this fall, asking them to raise the state’s individual and corporate tax rates to 5 percent, up from 4.63 percent. Heath’s proposal would also increase the sales and use tax rates to 3 percent, up from 2.9 percent.
— A partial ban on “crash taxes,” in which local governments recoup fire, ambulance and police costs by fining out-of-town drivers at fault for the accidents, passed the House on a voice vote. House Bill 1059 faces one more vote before going to the Senate.
— The Senate confirmed Gov. John Hickenlooper’s three picks to serve on the Board of Directors for Pinnacol Assurance, the state workers compensation insurance company. The confirmation of John Cevette, chief of staff to Senate President Brandon Shaffer, drew many complaints from Republicans.
— The Senate approved a bill that would ban extended use of “prone restraint,” a method of restraint that has led to four deaths of people in custody in Colorado in the last decade. Senate Bill 49 now goes to the House.
— Both chambers celebrated Colorado’s 150th anniversary of becoming a territory with resolutions marking the occasion.
— The House gave preliminary approval to a voluntary 10-cent donation to help bring movie shoots to Colorado (House Bill 1207).
— Hundreds attended the Colorado Latina/o Advocacy Day, in which Latinos visit lawmakers.
