DENVER – Colorado lawmakers frantically are trying to push dozens of critical bills over the finish line in the final three days of the legislative session.
School testing is perhaps the greatest issue facing the Legislature, motivated by a mandate from parents across the state to reduce the burden. But lawmakers have found the issue to be vexing as they navigate a maze of political pressure, including a national outcry over federal standards.
Lawmakers made their greatest progress yet late Friday night, advancing two centerpiece bills on the subject. One bill began in the House and another in the Senate. Both bills advanced out of their respective chambers. The House version conforms more to recommendations made earlier this year by a task force charged with studying the issue. The Senate bill wanders from the recommendations, offering greater local control and flexibility in ninth grade.
There is a lack of consensus on ninth-grade testing. Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, has made it clear that he wants to preserve the state’s evaluation and accountability system, pointing out that ninth-grade tests are critical to that.
Law enforcement takes center stage
Lawmakers began with a package of 10 bills, complete with a news conference promoting the bills. Of those measures, six bills were killed by the Legislature, with only three modest measures on the way to the governor. The bills address a citizen’s right to record police incidents, data from officer-involved shootings and disclosures about an officer’s past employment history.
Bills that died would have made progress on unlawful orders, body cameras, banning chokeholds, restricting racial profiling, police training and requiring special prosecutors to prosecute police officials in cases of misconduct. The one bill that remains would require greater transparency after officer-involved shootings. A compromise committee has been assigned to work out differences between the House and Senate amendments to the bill.
Red-light cameras and photo radar is in the spotlight again this year, as lawmakers try to pass a bill that the governor might sign. Hickenlooper told lawmakers that he wants to see a bill that is restrictive, while lawmakers are wrestling with an outright ban or requiring local voter approval if a city wants to use the technology.
Finally in the law-enforcement category, supporters of a felony drunk-driving offense believe this is the year to make progress. The bill would make a fourth DUI conviction in a lifetime a felony. It is making its way through the process, with a good chance of becoming law now that money has been set aside.
Budget and state reforms
While not quite as exciting of a topic, lawmakers have taken up a call by Hickenlooper to advance budget reforms. Facing refunds under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), the governor proposed a plan to save the money, rather than refund it. The plan hinges on a fee paid by hospital providers that is expected to climb past $689 million annually.
Refunds are paid to taxpayers when the state takes in excess revenue. The hospital provider fee only adds to that excess, which is why lawmakers have proposed a bill that would reclassify the fund to exempt it from TABOR.
By lowering total revenue, the state would not have to pay refunds, which would allow lawmakers to retain the money and apply it toward education and transportation. That bill was given initial support Friday by the House.
Another financial restructuring proposal being debated aims at addressing the state’s $23 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. Under pending legislation, the state would be allowed to issue as much as $12 billion in bonds to shore up the shortfall by taking advantage of low interest rates. The bill made it out of the House on Friday and now heads to the Senate.
