LESS THAN ONE MONTH UNTIL SESSIONS ENDS
STATUS OF BILLS INTRODUCED BY REP GREEN
TO CONTACT REP. GWYN GREEN, House District 23
gwyngreen@yahoo.com
State Capitol, #271
200 E. Colfax Ave., Denver CO 80203
For complete information on all legislation, please see www.leg.state.co.us.
HB 06-1103 SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR – BECOMES LAW ON JULY 1, 2006. This Residential Care Contracts bill has been introduced various times in the state legislature and gone down. It is sometimes known as the Audacity To Die bill, as it refers to the policy of some long term care facilities of charging the estate of a deceased resident for as much as one year later after the resident dies. HB 06-1103 allows residential care facilities to charge only 30 days at most after a resident dies. Senator Hanna carried it the bill in the Senate.
SB06-180 SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR – BECOMES LAW ON JULY 1, 2006. This bill provides flexibility to the Board of CoverColorado, which offers health care insurance to those otherwise uninsurable. Under present law, Cover Colorado has to charge 150% of the premium rate and it is so expensive that most applicants cannot afford it. For years, those receiving Cover Colorado has stayed at 5000. By allowing the board to charge between 100% and 150% of the average premium rate, more people will be able to afford health insurance who have chronic medical conditions. This will in turn lower the rate of the uninsured and should make health care less expensive for all of us.. It was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Isgar. This bill has been signed into law and will take effect in July 2006.
HB 06-1004 was approved in the House Education Committee. This bill is designed to provide audio textbooks for children in grades K-12 who have difficulty reading. Often, this difficulty is due to dyslexia and these children are so bright that they do not qualify for special education funds. This bill has passed in the House and is awaiting hearing in the Senate Education Committee. The program would be funded through a $300,000 grant.. The bill as amended by Rep. Green amended it to create a subset under Read To Achieve so that the textbooks will be available to children K-12.
HB 06-1126, Children’s Product Safety, was heard and passed the House with bipartisan support. The bill protects children ages 1-6 from recalled baby products such as cribs, strollers, bath seats, playpens, walkers, and car seats. It mandates manufacturers to notify retailers whenever there is a recall, and for retailers to make this information readily available to consumers. It also requires manufacturers to provide information on recalls to the Colorado Department of Social Services and for Social Services to then notify all child care facilities. 90% of recalled items are never turned in or the manufacturer is never notified of receipt of notice and request for repair. 65,000 children were brought to the Emergency Room nationally in 2005 due to injuries from products for children ages 1-6, and there were 50 deaths. This bill has passed the House and is awaiting committee assignment in the Senate.
HB 06-1116 prohibited infamous non-compete agreements between the state, cities or counties and tolling authorities. Non-compete agreements refer to the agreement to divert traffic to a toll road by creating congestion on a parallel road, through such tactics as not maintaining or repairing the road, unnecessary signal lights and unnecessarily lowering the speed limit. This bill unfortunately failed, with the committee choosing double taxation in preference to protecting taxpayers.
HB 06-1090 on Unlawful Sexual Behaviors is a response to the failure of the Judicial Department and the Department of Corrections to evaluate sexual offenders for Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) status. It mandates pre-sentencing investigations for any sexual offender for SVP status and requires the offender participate. It also requires education on how Colorado residents can protect themselves on any web site which posts an official registry. It requires an annual report to the legislature by both the Judicial Department and the Department of Corrections on how many SVPs they evaluated and their disposition. It lifts the civil statute of limitations for sexual crimes against children. This bill is scheduled to be heard on Second Reading in the Senate on April 25.
HB06-1251 on prohibiting Price Gouging – This bill has been sent to a Conference Committee. Sen. Tochtrop is carrying the bill in the Senate.
HB06-1257 on Noise Mitigation along State Highways has passed the House and is awaiting hearing in the Senate Transportation Committee, where it is carried by Sen. Keller.
HB06-1361on Bioscience Research Subsidy has passed the House and is awaiting hearing in the Senate Finance Committee, where it is sponsored by Sen. Shaffer.
SB06-017 on the Healthy Business Health People Program. This bill was killed in the Senate, where it was sponsored by Sen. Keller.
SB06-020 on the Interstate Nurse Licensure Compact is scheduled to be heard in the House Appropriations Committee. It will allow Colorado nurses to practice in other states that are signatories to the Compact, and for nurses in other Compact states to come here to practice. This will be especially helpful in event of any health crisis, particularly in rural Colorado.
SB06-44 on Health Care Services for Adults has passed the Senate and will be heard in Health And Human Services April 24. It will provide medical primary care for working class adults.
SB06-206 on Human Smuggling. It has passed its Third Reading in the Senate, where it was introduced by Sen. Groff. It will be heard in the House State, Military And Veterans Affairs Committee shortly.
I have also introduced HJR06-1007 which urged restoration of funding to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It passed both the House and the Senate, where it was sponsored by Sen. Keller.
I cosponsored with Sen. Traylor SJR06-012 recognition of Colorectal Cancer Month. This pass in both the House and the Senate.
I will be introducing a Tribute in May for Peace Officers Day.
Please contact with any concerns and comments that you may have.
Rep. Gwyn Green