Hello everyone,
Over 100 days down in the 120-day legislative session. We can see the light at the end of the tunnelโฆor is that a train coming down the tracks (just kidding).
We had a big win last week! On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee finally killed HB 1037 Ban Govโt Purchase of Personal Data from Third Party. HB 1037 would have prohibited law enforcement from purchasing or obtaining personal data from third parties in exchange for anything of value, with certain limited exceptions. All Colorado law enforcement was opposed. The Judiciary Committee heard HB 1037 back in February. At that time, after hearing more than seven hours of testimony, the sponsors of HB 1037 asked to lay the bill over so that they could work on amendments to address the law enforcement concerns. As we anticipated back in February, the sponsors were unable to find any amendments that would address law enforcement concerns so instead they tried a last-minute attempt to send the issue to the ballot and let voters decide. Thankfully, the House Judiciary Committee killed the bill. We will likely see this issue again in the future.
The budget is still working its way through the legislative process. Friday was the deadline for the House and Senate to adopt the conference committee report on the Long Bill; however, that deadline has been extended to tomorrow. Last Thursday, the JBC met as the Conference Committee on the Long Bill. They did not approve any additional money for CATPA. While the Conference Committee will meet again today to finalize the conference committee report, it is unlikely there will be any additional General Fund monies for CATPA next year. The budget bills, including the Long Bill, should be on their way to the Governor for his consideration by the end of the week.
So far, there have been 602 bills introduced โ 423 in the House and 179 in the Senate. Only 16 more days until the General Assembly is required to adjourn sine die.
Bill Skewes
Lobbyist