Sen. Hudak honored for law requiring mandatory reporting of elder abuse

DENVER -- Today, Gov. Hickenlooper signed into law the bill sponsored by Sen. Evie Hudak (D-Westminster) requiring mandatory reporting of elder abuse.  Sen. Hudak has worked on this legislation for two years, creating the Elder Abuse Task Force last year to determine what provisions are necessary to make the law work in Colorado.

“We need a culture that protects our parents and grandparents as they age -- a culture that respects people in their later years, when they are most vulnerable.  The elderly are easy targets for predators.  We need to ensure that these predators are found and stopped, and mandatory reporting helps us do that,” said Sen. Evie Hudak.

Sen. Heath helps businesses grow

BOULDER  -- Gov. John Hickenlooper signed an enterprise reform bill (HB 13-1142) into law, creating significant change to Colorado’s enterprise zone tax credit system. Boulder-area legislators Sen. Rollie Heath (D-Boulder) and House Majority Leader Rep. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst (D-Niwot) sponsored the bill, which was signed at the Boulder Chamber of Commerce, yesterday.

Colorado’s Rural and Urban Enterprise Zone system is intended to provide incentives for job creation in rural or economically underperforming areas. However, the prior system allowed certain larger companies to receive large credits, raising questions about the efficiency and effectiveness of the credits as an economic development tool.

Breakfast does a brain good

DENVER -- Today, Gov. Hickenlooper gave the final ok to legislation by Sen. Angela Giron (D-Pueblo) that will ensure kids do not go hungry throughout the school day.

The Breakfast after the Bell Nutrition program phases in a requirement that schools -- where at least 80 percent of the students qualify for federal free or reduced lunch -- serve breakfast to all students after the official start of school, beginning in 2014/2015.  By 2015/2016, every school with at least 70 percent of students who qualify for federal free or reduced lunch, will participate in the program.

Five essential child protection bills signed into law

DENVER -- Today, Gov. Hickenlooper signed five essential child protection bills into law.  Sen. Linda Newell (D-Littleton), Sen. Jeanne Nicholson (D-Gilpin County), and Sen. John Kefalas (D-Fort Collins) stewarded the legislation through the process.

Child welfare reform is needed in Colorado.  Within the past six years, there have been 202 child deaths due to abuse and neglect, and 75 of those fatalities had previous involvement with the system.

It’s a law: Keeping Coloradans and the economy healthy

DENVER -- Today, alongside Sen. Irene Aguilar (D-Denver), Gov. Hickenlooper signed legislation that will give an additional 160,000 uninsured Coloradans health coverage.

The legislation expands Medicaid eligibility from 100 percent of the federal poverty level to 133 percent of the federal poverty level.  133 percent equates to $31,322 for a family of four, and it will affect about 20 percent of the total number of uninsured people statewide.

A dog day at the legislature

DENVER --  Amid barking and cheers, today, Gov. Hickenlooper gave the ok to two laws affecting Colorado pets.

Sen. Andy Kerr (D-Lakewood) and Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Lakewood) worked together to name shelter and rescue dogs and cats as the official state pet.  The idea for the legislation was thought up by a student from Rooney Ranch Elementary in Lakewood and students from Peakview School in Walsenburg.  The students worked with the legislators see it through.

The Senate’s top ten list

Senate Democrats put policy over politics, move Colorado families forward

DENVER -- The Senate has adjourned the first regular session of the sixty-ninth General Assembly.  The legislative session started on Wednesday, January 9, and ended exactly 120 days later as scheduled, today, May 8.

In total, 613 bills went through the legislative process, and about 440 were passed into law.

The Senate Democrats used four policy areas as a compass:  the economy, sustainable planning, public safety, and equality.

“Through our work, we have touched the lives of every Coloradan -- rural and urban, women and men, and gay and straight Coloradans.  We, Democrats, work for the people.  We believe in lifting everyone up, and giving them a safe environment in which to excel.  I think we made a lot of progress toward that goal this session,” said Majority Leader Morgan Carroll (D-Aurora).

Senator Kerr Creates Jobs in Colorado...again

DENVER – Today, the Colorado Careers Act of 2013 (HB 13-1004), also known as the Re-Hire bill, got final approval from the full Colorado Senate on a bipartisan vote of 20-15. The bill, sponsored by Senator Andy Kerr (D-Lakewood), forms a career pathways program that will help unemployed and underemployed individuals obtain or improve the skills necessary for securing a job. Colorado is still working its way out of the Great Recession, and bills like HB 1004 will help Coloradans who are still looking for full-time employment.

By offering private sector employers and nonprofit agencies support in creating jobs for up to 30 weeks under the program, the bill will prepare the unemployed for full-time, permanent jobs and save the state the cost of keeping them on the unemployment rolls.

Giron’s bill to re-purpose Ft. Lyon facility sent to Governor

Facility will serve the homeless and create jobs

DENVER -- Tonight, Sen. Angela Giron (D-Pueblo) has successfully shepherded legislation to reinvigorate the economy in rural Colorado while helping the homeless.

SB 13-210, another corrections related bill sponsored by Sen. Giron, was amended to include the project to convert the former Ft. Lyon correctional facility into a transitional homeless community after the original Ft. Lyon bill died in committee.  The amended bill was passed in the House of Representatives this morning before coming for a vote before the full Senate this evening.  The legislation passed with bipartisan support 21 to 14.

Republicans vote against harsher punishments for perpetrators who commit crimes against pregnant women

Republicans use legislation to try to strip away basic rights from women

DENVER -- The Senate Republicans used the entire morning to debate against harsher punishments for perpetrators who commit crimes against pregnant women -- crimes that cause the termination of a pregnancy.

The Senate Republicans chose to use the legislation as a political football to establish “personhood.”  Fetal “personhood” is a notion that Colorado voters rejected twice.  It would criminalize abortion and most forms of birth control.

The legislation survived, nonetheless, in the Democratic run senate on a 21 to 14 vote.  One of the only two Republican women voted for the bill.