Senate Bill 15, nearly identical to last year’s unsuccessful proposal,  which failed in the Republican-led House, is again sponsored by Sens. Angela Giron, D-Pueblo and Michael Johnston, D-Denver.

The measure would create a tuition category for undocumented students that costs less than out-of-state tuition but is effectively higher than the rate for Colorado students who receive a stipend toward the in-state rate through the Colorado Opportunity Fund.

The committee’s chair, Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, said extending in-state tuition to undocumented students is a matter of recognizing reality.

“These people are Americans without the paperwork,” said Bacon.

Yet, Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, said the tuition proposal merely masks a larger issue.

“As long as it is not legal to hire a person who is not documented,  these kids will still be in the same predicament,” said Spence. They won’t be able to work, even if they are college grads.”

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Sponsored by Sen. Tim Neville, R-Littleton, Senate Bill 25 would have granted all law-abiding Coloradans, including students and others on campuses, the same concealed-carrying privileges given to those with permits.

Neville said it’s a matter of trust and Second Amendment rights.

“We as legislators need to trust our citizens,” said Neville. “ I don’t believe we should have to carry any permit.”

Yet, Sen. Bob Bacon said law-abiding citizens are prone at times to misbehave.

“The law abiding citizen is not a permanent condition,” said Bacon. “I’m concerned what will happen to students on campuses.”

The measure failed on a party-line vote, with majority Democrats, including Bacon, opposing the legislation.

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At a recent post-session town-hall meeting in Aurora hosted by Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, and Rep. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, the virtues of renewable energy were promoted. The event was promoted as offering, “Tips for saving money and saving the planet.”

The event showcased opportunities for homeowners and businesses to embrace both water conservation and solar-powered utilities. Representatives from the cities of Aurora and Denver and a member of a panel from the Governor’s Energy Office spoke to the small gathering of constituents about programs, rebates, and other efforts that consumers can avail themselves of to make the leap into renewable energy for their homes and businesses.

Carroll said the government incentives coaxing consumers toward considering renewable energy as an alternative to traditional fossil fuels is nothing new and could in fact be less costly.

“Right now we’re spending more for fossil fuels in terms of subsidies than with renewable,” said Carroll. “The rebates and incentives out there for renewable energy sources is dwarfed by the incentives currently in place for fossil fuels.”

Carroll said there also are hidden costs to fossil fuels.

“If you don’t include in the cost of energy things such as coal miners who have died or lost their health, you are not looking at the total cost. Fighting for oil–a war-and-peace kind of thing –is also a cost,” said Carroll.

“In the big picture we need to figure out how to get a clear and total cost analysis to see what we’re really paying.”

Yet, Rep. Randy Baumgardner, R-Hot Sulphur Springs, says the push toward renewables from the government in recent years  ignores market realities and technological progress.

“The science is just not where we want it to be yet,”Baumgardner said. “When the government steps in with mandates before the time is right, it is meddling with the natural course of things and picking a winner.”

Baumgardner’s Republican colleagues offered numerous measures aimed at keeping the costs of marching too fast, too soon, toward renewables in check.  All were defeated.

Another failed measure, with bipartisan sponsorship,  House Bill 1312, sponsored by Rep. Jon Becker, R-Fort Morgan, and Sen. Mary Hodge, D-Brighton, sought to restructure the Governor’s Energy Office to be more inclusive of current energy technologies.

Meanwhile, some Democratic-sponsored measures supporting a shift toward renewable also failed to gather enough support, such as a measure sponsored by Sen. Michael Johnston, D-Denver, Senate Bill 32.  It would have created a loan program for homeowners wanting to install energy-efficient improvements like new windows, doors and insulation.

Still, Baumgardner says the bottom line for him is producing energy that makes sense economically and environmentally until another form lands on top through its own merits.

“We need all types of energy, and we need to stop pitting one form against another form,” said Baumgardner.  “The government has started picking winners and losers to the detriment of costs.  Right now, coal is the cheapest form of energy for our needs, and we’ve figured out how to use it cleaner.”

In the meantime, the legislature passed and the governor approved House Bill 1199, a bipartisan measure sponsored by Rep. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, and Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, that extends the provisions of a previous policy that places a cap on the permit fees for the installation of solar energy devices.

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House Bill 1071, sponsored by Rep. Millie Hamner, D-Dillon, and Sen. Bob Bacon, D- Fort Collins, authorizes the inclusion of Avon’s Roundup River Ranch.

“The new law will help give Coloradans a chance to contribute to the Roundup River Ranch, a place that provides a respectful, safe and medically supported environment for children with life-threatening illnesses to experience summer camp in the beautiful Colorado outdoors,” Hamner said in a prepared statement.

Lawmakers this year approved 10 charitable organizations to remain on the list or wait in line to be on the list. The list is limited to 15 at a time, making placement on the list a coveted position. Once a charity is on the list, it must be renewed within a prescribed time-frame and meet minimum donation requirements.

The Roundup River Ranch is a member of the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps, founded in 1988 by late actor Paul Newman, and is now the largest family of camps worldwide for children with serious illnesses.

This year’s tax checkoffs passed by the legislature and approved, so far, by the governor are:

• Alzheimer’s Association Fund

• Military Family Relief Fund.

• Goodwill Industries

• Colorado Healthy Rivers Fund

• Colorado Multiple Sclerosis Fund

• 9 Health Fair

• On the governor’s desk:

• Families in Action for Mental Health fund

• Public Education Fund

• Adult Stem Cells Cure Fund

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Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, creates a “knowledge-based economy fund” by scooping up any cash that exceeds revenue forecasts for the state budget through a prescribed formula and funneling those dollars to the knowledge fund.

Democratic Senate President Brandon Shaffer, of Longmont, touted SB 1 in his opening speech on the first day of the 2011 legislative session in January.

The single vote against the measure today when it was heard in the Senate Education Committee came from  Sen. Scott Renfroe, R-Greeley, who said the conditions under which the transfer of funds would occur—a projection of anticipated revenue—is not the right approach. The transfer should occur after the forecast has been realized, said Renfroe.

“We’d be spending money that might not actually be there,” said Renfroe. “We should wait until we know what the actual number is and then make the transfer.”

The second bill of the two bills considered by the education committee, Senate Bill 109, sponsored by Shaffer, takes a different approach, appealing directly to taxpayers. It would add an additional check-off box on tax forms, allowing taxpayers an opportunity to donate a portion of their refund to early-childhood education.

Shaffer said the checked box on a taxpayer’s return would represent an early investment for the future.

“We need to find innovative ways to support the education of our kids,” said Shaffer.  “If we invest in kids’ education in their early years, we expand their future opportunity. Right now funding is limited, and giving Coloradans this opportunity to support schools is a smart way to do more for Colorado kids.”

The check-off would join a list of current tax-checkoffs on state income tax forms but would, under SB109, get top billing, a spot currently obtained on a first-come-first-served basis.

“We need to begin to make the statement that early education is important,” said Bacon.

Sen. Nancy Spence said she agrees with Bacon but has reservations about picking winners and losers for the check-off list.

“Certainly, we all have our favorites, and preschool would be an important item, but not necessarily more important than any other item on the list,” said Spence.

Both measures are now on their way to the Senate Finance Committee for consideration.

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Senate Bill 38, by Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, would have repealed the executive order “before its impact becomes unaffordable,” according to Mitchell. In the current fiscal climate there is zero wiggle room for increasing salaries for state employees, but Mitchell said he believes that one of the goals of  unionization  is to secure higher salaries down the road.

“It threatens to create problems,” said Mitchell. “Nothing was broken and nothing needed to be fixed when the governor signed the order. When the economy improves, the inclination will be to ask for more money for state employees who are already on average 10 percent above their counterparts in other states.”

Speaking in support of SB38 was David Ohmart, a state employee, who started a group called Colorado LOSES—Lousy Options Steal Employees’ Salaries—as a counterweight to the state employees’ union Colorado WINS, or Colorado Workers for Innovations and New Solutions. Colorado WINS was formed shortly after the executive order. Ohmart told the committee that it is his understanding that less than 1,000 of the state’s 31,000 employees have opted to join WINS, indicating that most employees would be indifferent to a repeal of the order.

Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, and Sen. Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood both said that repealing the order through legislation would only create ill will among state employees toward Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, who could do what he wants anyway by vetoing the bill.

“Ultimately its up to the governor.  It’s really in the governor’s court, regardless of what we do,” said Bacon.

Said Boyd, “I’m not comfortable tying the hands of the governor.”

Mitchell responded that the question of whether or not state employees needed the help of an organization such as WINS to pressure the state to protect their interests resides with lawmakers.

“It should be shaped by the legislature and those who elect us to public office,” said Mitchell. “Public policy should be determined by what’s in the public’s best interest, not by a group that wants to expand the state budget.”

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Senate Bill 12, by Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, would make changes to the law governing what school districts can and cannot do when it comes to medication taken by students.

Currently, children who need medication during school hours must have an official treatment plan approved by a physician which stays on file with their school in order to take medication.  Brophy says he would like to see what he believes would be a more commonsensical approach involving less paperwork.

“This bill is about ending a two-day bureaucratic nightmare for parents to get permission for their child to take life saving medication,” said Brophy.

Brophy told the committee he became aware of the issue when his wife asked him why their son was not allowed to have an inhaler for his asthma without going through multiple hoops.  Even after the plan is in place, the Senator believes there can still be gaps in treatment.  Brophy told the committee his son’s inhaler was inaccessible when the school nurse was not available at his rural school, which must share school nurse time with other schools nearby.

The legislative chair for the Colorado Association of School Nurses, Kathy Reiner, told the committee the safety and well-being of children was their prime concern, and that having the treatment plans in place, even for over the counter drugs, is the only effective way of ensuring safety.

“When a student comes to school, there needs to be a plan in place because the student or school personnel may not be knowledgeable enough to know how to administer the drug,” said Reiner. “The school is acting as the ‘parent’ for the child and needs valuable information to keep that child safe.”

Bruce Caughey, speaking for the Colorado Association of School Executives said they were supportive of streamlining the process for parents, but also had serious concerns about relaxing the treatment plan protocol.

“The unintended consequences of opening it up too wide are too great,” said Caughey.  “We take care of kids just like parents would and care about their safety.”

Committee chairman Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, said he was sympathetic to Brophy’s bill, but after considerable discussion it was decided to postpone action on the bill and retool the measure with more input from school nurses and administrators.

Brophy said he is willing to rework his bill, but he wants to empower the students and parents to manage their medication needs.

“I want to flip the assumption that most kids will abuse prescription drugs,” said Brophy.  “Most kids can be trusted to self-administer medication that they need.  And, moms love the idea.”

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Four land parcels were OK’d under the arrangement, intended to accommodate wildlife; two are donations in the form of conservation easements, which give the land’s owners a tax break, and the other two are purchases of land at appraised market value.

The parcels sought by the Wildlife Division include a migration path for elk as well as habitats for prong horn, white tailed deer, mule deer, elk, black bear, mountain lion, and for birds that are on the division’s Colorado Endangered, Threatened and Species of Special Concern list, such as the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, and the greater sage grouse.  The easements are just north of Hayden and southwest of Grand Junction.  The properties for purchase are located just west of Pueblo.

The conservation easements were approved by the legislative Capital Development Committee with little discussion.  However, the proposals to purchase land, one for $227,000 and the other for $3, 865,000, received more scrutiny from a Republican member of the panel, Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, of Sterling.

Unlike conservation easements, the state’s outright acquisition of property means property taxes would not be collected by local governments, notably school districts, although counties can apply for an Impact Assistance Grant whereby the DOW reimburses the county for lost revenue.  The counties must pro-actively apply for the grants. Pueblo County did not apply for the grant last year, according to DOW staff, which triggered a line of questioning from the Sterling lawmaker.

Sonnenberg surmised that if the counties forgo the grants, the state will be stuck with the tab for the K-12 portion that isn’t covered by the counties revenues.

“For education and schools, the property taxes aren’t collected and the state will have to back-fill those property taxes for education,” asserted Sonnenberg. “When we take this amount of land off of the public tax rolls, when we’re struggling in the state to meet our funding obligations, and we have to back-fill because you have purchased property, and  the county doesn’t ask for the tax money, we have to back-fill that–and that’s always a concern. “

Committee chairman Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, affirmed Sonnenberg’s concern.

“You are right. If the tax moneys don’t come in for the school district then, because of equalization, we do have the general fund that is making it up for the schools – you’re right. “

Speaking for the Wildlife Division, Grady McNeill said that the agency makes the grant process very accessible to the counties and that the counties are not required by law to seek the money.   The money funding the grants comes out of revenue generated by the division through fees and not out of the General Fund’s tax revenue.

Sonnenberg took his line of questioning a step further, wondering if the department’s policy of advertising for land acquisition might further exacerbate the problem of the state having to back-fill education revenue as a result of the land purchases.

“The process you use  (soliciting landowners to sell) may not be landowners that particularly want to sell,” he said. “They see the opportunity for a proposal and that may stimulate them to sell.”

The vote to approve the land purchases fell along party lines with Sonnenberg and fellow Republican Scott Renfroe of Greeley voting against the proposal.

The Conservation Easements:

Red Hawk Ranch Too Conservation Easement (1,000 acres)

Taylor Flat Conservation Easement (640 acres)

The land acquisitions:

Clift property (279 acres) for $227,000.

El Estate de Dos Hermanas . (4,069 acres) for $3,865,000.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 3, which has bipartisan sponsorship–Democratic Senator Abel Tapia of Pueblo and Republican Al White of Hayden, is being touted by Tapia as the “new and improved” Referendum O,  a previous ballot measure which failed by about two percent of the vote in 2008. Tapia said that SCR3 is much less complicated and was crafted with the added benefit of hindsight.

“The intent was to bring something very simple—something that people can understand, and get behind,” said Tapia as he presented the resolution to the Senate State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee.

Currently, for a citizen’s initiated measure amending either the constitution or state statutes, the law requires a certain number of signatures from registered voters–five percent of the total number of voters who voted in the most recent Secretary of State’s race.

Referendum O asked to raise the number of signatures required to eight percent, and required that those signatures come from each congressional district rather than from the state at-large.  The current proposal leaves the requirement at five percent, requires signatures from each congressional district, and adds a provision that if a measure asks to amend the constitution it must receive at least sixty percent of the vote in the election to pass.

Sen. David Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, questioned whether or not the enhanced requirements would disenfranchise citizens from the initiative process who may not have financial resources that larger more prosperous individuals would have in order to overcome the additional hurdles.

“We don’t want to make this a rich person’s process,” said Schultheis. “I think everyone needs to have an equal opportunity.”

Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, agrees that everyone should have an equal opportunity, but maintains that the higher bar encourages citizens to look at amending laws before looking at the constitution.

“I think the constitution should have a higher standard than just statutes,” said Bacon.

Schultheis said that he could not support the resolution because he believes that the motivation behind the referendum is an attempt to prevent citizens from enacting measures such as the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rghts (TABOR).

“I’m convinced in my own mind that this is an end-run to undo TABOR,“ Schultheis asserted.  “I don’t feel that it’s right to take away this right to tell people “yeah you have the right to petition the government but were going to make it so tough on you that you really don’t have the right.”

Fellow GOP committee member Bill Cadman of Colorado Springs also said he opposes the resolution arguing that it dilutes the right of the people to petition government when they disapprove of legislative action or lack of action.

“They’re more afraid of what we do to them than what they do to each other,”  said Cadman. “This is their power, their authority.”

Democratic Chairman Rollie Heath of Boulder couldn’t help but point out the irony that he found in the results of focus groups asked to express their opinion on making it more difficult to amend the constitution.

“When Eight-nine percent of Colorado Springs thinks we need to do this, and only seventy-nine percent of Boulder [thinks we should pass this], it’s an overwhelming statement,” said Heath.

The resolution passed in committee with a 3-2 vote—a simple majority vote—but it must receive a super majority vote of two-thirds in both the house and senate before it can be put on the ballot.  Concurrent resolutions are not sent to the governor for signature.

Tapia said he ultimately believes that the will of the people will not be thwarted because “the bottom line is the electors are going to have the final say on this bill,”

The previous version of the bill would have given police the authority to approach a child, along with an adult accompanying the child, inform them of the helmet requirement, and hand them a brochure stating safety guidelines.  The updated version eliminates any requirement for juveniles to wear helmets, thereby eliminating any policing aspect.

The remaining portion of the bill now only requires the Department of Transportation, in collaboration with the Department of Education and the Department of Public Safety, to provide schools with existing educational curriculum regarding the safe use of public streets and public places while riding a bike, skateboard, or scooter.

House Bill 1147, sponsored by Democratic lawmakers John Kefalas in the House and Bob Bacon in the Senate–both from Fort Collins, was twofold in its original purpose: reducing head injuries to children, and education.  The consequence of not wearing a helmet would have amounted to a friendly nudge from a police officer along with educational materials according to Kefalas.

“It’s kind of like restorative Justice.  A violation has occurred but we don’t want to punish—we want them to learn about safety,” said Kefalas last February, when his bill was closer to its original version and still in the House.

The helmet requirements and policing issues aren’t settled business, however.  HB1147 now heads back to the House for final approval.  The House will have the opportunity to accept or reject the Senate version and could, with cooperation from the Senate, restore the bill to its original form.