Hello everyone,
Even though this was a short week (both the House and the Senate closed Monday in observance of Presidents’ Day), there was a lot of action.
It started Monday evening when Senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis (D-Longmont) abruptly resigned from the Senate. Sen. Jaquez Lewis had been the subject of an ethics investigation concerning her treatment of legislative aides in her office. The controversy concerning her treatment of aides had been going on for more than a year but news that at least one of the letters of support she submitted in response to the ethics complaint was likely fabricated seems to have forced her resignation. Her resignation leaves a vacancy in Senate District 17 for the next couple of weeks until a vacancy committee can meet to elect her successor.
In addition to the resignation, there were some big gun-related bills debated this week. On Tuesday, the Senate passed SB 003 Semiautomatic Firearms & Rapid-Fire Devices on third reading. As amended, SB 003 prohibits the sale of certain semiautomatic firearms with detachable magazines unless the purchaser has met certain training requirements and passed an exam. SB 003 passed the Senate 19 to 15 with all Republicans and three Democrats voting no. SB 003 was introduced in the House and is currently scheduled to be heard in the House Judiciary Committee on March 3rd.
Also on Tuesday morning, the House Judiciary Committee heard HB 1062 Penalty for Theft of Firearms. HB 1062 will change the penalty for theft of a firearm from one based on the value of the firearm to a class 6 felony regardless of value. The House Judiciary Committee referred HB 1062 to the House Appropriations Committee on a vote of 6 to 5 with all Republicans and two Democrats on the committee voting in favor of the bill.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Senate State Affairs Committee heard testimony on SB 158 State Procurement & Disposal Certain Items. SB 158 establishes certain requirements for state agencies concerning the procurement of firearms, ammunition and firearm accessories and requires law enforcement agencies to destroy firearms that are retired or otherwise not in use by the agency. The CSPA is opposed to SB 158. After hearing testimony, the chair laid the bill over so the sponsors can work with the Department of Public Safety to try to address its concerns with the bill.
On Friday, the House debated HB 1133 Requirements for Sale of Firearms Ammunition on second reading. HB 1133 requires ammunition to be stored behind the counter and prohibits the sale of non-rimfire ammunition to anyone under 21 except under certain conditions. House Republicans argued against the bill for more than four hours but given the partisan makeup of the House were unable to prevent its passage on second reading.
However, this week was not only gun bills. On Tuesday, the Senate passed SB 036 State Patrol Bonding Exception, which the CSPA supports and is a State Patrol agenda bill, 34 to 0. SB 036 codifies current practice and exempts all members of the State Patrol from a statutory bonding requirement. SB 036 was introduced in the House and assigned to the House Business Affairs Committee but has not yet been calendared.
So far, there have been 460 bills introduced – 282 in the House and 178 in the Senate. Only 72 more days until the General Assembly is required to adjourn sine die.
Bill Skewes
Lobbyist