By Marianne Goodland
Legislative reporter 

Legslative session closes; 67 bills introduced in final 3 weeks

 


The 2020 legislature session that ended on June 15 was unlike any other and not in a good way.

In the session’s final three weeks, 67 bills were introduced in the House and 20 in the Senate. The House’s list included 42 bills tied to the 2020-21 budget plus the School Finance Act.

That meant a lot of rushing and it did not sit well with State Senator Jerry Sonnenberg, Sterling. He pointed out that one measure was introduced at 7:45 p.m. one evening, was through its only committee hearing by 8:15 p.m. and with a preliminary vote by 8:30 p.m. That measure, Senate Bill 224, was to prohibit landlords from disclosing a tenant’s immigration status.

Such a process led Sonnenberg to question “why the rush?” That day, June 10, was the 79th day of a session that could have gone on for another couple of weeks and would have allowed time for the public to weigh in, Sonnenberg explained.

“The public doesn’t have the opportunity to testify on bills” with a process like this, Sonnenberg said.

“That is no way for a legislature to act. It’s inappropriate to shut out the public.” He acknowledged that there were bills that had to be done by July 1, such as the budget and the school finance act, but those bills got done. “We can still do good work.”

Sonnenberg noted that some lawmakers, due to concerns over COVID-19, are participating remotely, and the same should have been extended to the public.

Sonnenberg was the lone “no” vote in the Senate against Senate Bill 217, a police accountability and transparency bill that came out of the protests over the death of George Floyd of Minneapolis, Minn., and other deaths of black individuals at the hands of police.

Sonnenberg’s opposition is not because he is opposed to what the bill would do. Lawmakers should “absolutely” address issues like police brutality, he said. But the bill’s unfunded mandate, which includes requiring police departments to purchase body cameras, will be a cost issue for rural police departments. Small departments, such as in Haxtun or Hugo, he said, will struggle to maintain their police forces if they must spend money on body cameras, when they already do not have enough.

He also did not agree with the bill’s provision on liability. Under SB 217, a police officer loses qualified immunity in some cases and can be personally liable for up to $25,000 in cases when a police officer has not behaved lawfully.

“Where else in society do we make someone and their families personally responsible?” Sonnenberg asked. Mistakes are made by people who drive for a living and that sometimes cost lives. “We don’t make those people personally liable.” The company and insurance take care of that.

Sonnenberg and his House counterpart, Representative Rod Pelton of Cheyenne Wells, had more success than some of their Republican colleagues in 2020, even in the session’s final weeks.

Of the 21 bills Sonnenberg sponsored in the House and Senate, 10 went to the Governor for signing. That included a bill to save construction projects at public colleges and universities, Senate Bill 219. Sonnenberg pointed out that there are three building projects on hold due to a lack of State funding. He likened it to building a house, putting up the boards but then not putting up the siding to protect those boards. Those projects were in mid-construction, he explained. Thanks to working out a deal with the Capital Development Committed and the State Treasurer, those buildings will be funded by certificates of participation, which is like a bond and will be completed.

Another measure, House Bill 1421, will allow county treasurers to temporarily waive interest on delinquent property taxes. This will help small businesses struggling with the pandemic, he said. “That’s a key bill” that won unanimous approval in both chambers despite efforts by a lobbyist to hijack it. The bill is permissive, meaning that the county treasurer does not have to waive the interest.

The one that got away in 2020: Conservation easements. The bill, and its $147 million cost, was in trouble before the General Assembly went on a 73-day hiatus. Sonnenberg said, “I was willing to amend it until we had money again to do reparations, but I wanted to put the tools in place, while we had the momentum,” he said. A second bill was waiting in the wings but never got introduced that would have allowed a process for taking care of orphan easements and to continue work on alternative ways to value easements.

Pelton sponsored 15 bills in the House and Senate and seven have made it to the Governor. That included House Bill 1029, which allows county commissioners to accept lower pay, a bill that won more favor due to the budget crisis. A commissioner can accept lower pay for up to 50 percent, under a compromise between the House and Senate versions.

It also stands out as a bill whose prime sponsors were both Republicans. That is not often a recipe for success in a Democrat-controlled legislature.

In the session’s final days, Pelton led the charge for changes to a bill that initially intended to raise more than $408 million in taxes on business to help backfill the cuts to K-12 education.

Among the bill’s provisions: repealing an exemption on taxes for diesel fuel, which Pelton said would hurt ag producers on the Eastern Plains. “Some of the big ag producers in my district will blow through several transports of diesel in a month,” he said.

The bill, which faced a threatened veto from Governor Jared Polis, was substantially amended in both the House and Senate, which reduced the bill’s potential revenue down to $94 million and the section dealing with sales and use taxes on energy was removed in its entirety.

Pelton, along with Rep. Julie McCluskie, Dillon, also won approval for House Bill 1293, to increase the surcharge on wireless phone service that will improve service for 911 calls made by cell phones. The amount of the surcharge will be determined by the Public Utilities Commission.

The bill will pay for improved 911 technology in rural Colorado, as well as strengthening local broadband infrastructure for those calls.

 

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