Hello everyone,
Only a little of over three weeks left in the legislative session. Last week was budget week in the House.
On Tuesday morning before the House convened, the House Appropriations Committee met as the committee of reference on the Long Bill (SB 206) and the 63 orbital bills (orbital bills make statutory changes related to the budget). House Appropriations referred all the bills to the House floor. Later that morning, both the House Democratic and Republican caucuses met separately with their representatives on the JBC to discuss the budget bills. Representatives then had until 4:00 pm to submit any amendments they wanted to offer on the Long Bill or any of the orbital bills. This year, representatives submitted 74 amendments to the Long Bill. The number of budget amendments differs from year to year, but in the House, it is usually between 75 and 125.
On Wednesday, the House heard the Long Bill and all the orbital bills on second reading. After debating the orbital bills for about seven hours, the House debated the Long Bill from about 3:15 pm to just after 9:00 pm. The House adopted ten amendments (five of which were the same as amendments adopted by the Senate). One of the amendments adopted takes $1 million from CATPA to increase funding for the Tony Grampsas Youth Services Program. While the Tony Grampsas Youth Services Program is a good cause, we will work to ensure CATPA is kept whole. Three other amendments would have increased funding for Victims Assistance and 911 services, but they were not approved.
On Thursday, the House passed the Long Bill on third reading on a vote of 44 to 21. This week, the JBC will meet as a conference committee to work out the differences between the House and Senate versions. The legislature will try to adopt the conference committee report in both chambers and send the final Long Bill to the Governor with more than 10 days left in the legislative session to ensure it is on the 10-day clock. If the Long Bill is on the 10-day clock, the Legislature will have the opportunity to override any vetoes. If they send the Long Bill to the Governor with less than 10 days left, it will be on the 30-day clock and the Governor can wait until the legislature adjourns to make any vetoes preventing the legislature any chance to override. Vetoes in the Long Bill are rarely partisan and usually concern separation of powers issues between the executive and legislative branches.
Also on Thursday, the Senate Health & Human Services Committee heard SB 273 14 Days Hospital Retain Blood Draws for Investigations. SB 273 would require health care facilities to retain blood draws or admission blood samples for 14 days when a law enforcement officer serves a retention form on an attending physician or health care facility within 24 hours after the individual is presented to the facility. The CSPA and the State Patrol support SB 273. During the hearing, the ACLU and the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar testified in an amend position. Both organizations testified that the bill as written is unconstitutional and should only be limited to death investigations. After hearing testimony, the chair of the
committee laid over SB 273 for action only. The Committee will likely take up SB 273 later this week.
So far, there have been 620 bills introduced – 331 in the House and 289 in the Senate. Only 23 more days until the General Assembly is required to adjourn sine die.
Bill Skewes
Lobbyist