Sen. Nicholson works to protect Colorado from catastrophic wildfires with a “tree-o” of bills

DENVER -- Today, Sen. Jeanne Nicholson (D-Gilpin County) stewarded three catastrophic wildfire safety bills through the Senate on third-reading.  The “tree-o” of bills helps protect Coloradans, neighborhoods, the environment, wildlife, and trees!

“Rural Colorado is my home, and I will do everything possible to protect it from wildfires.  It was devastating watching families hurt by the disastrous wildfires in the past few years,” said Sen. Nicholson, a prime sponsor on the three bills.

Together the three bills give the state flexibility to take preventative action to reduce forest fuels and biomass and determine how to fight a particular wildfire. 

Missy Franklin Honored in Senate Chamber

DENVER -- Today, Senator Linda Newell (D-Littleton) paid tribute to Olympian Missy Franklin on the Colorado Senate floor. “We would like to recognize the superlative accomplishments of Ms. Melissa Franklin, affectionately known as Missy, as both an extraordinary athlete as well as a professional young woman who serves well as a role model for others in sportsmanship, humility, and positivity. From her academic and athletic excellence at Regis Jesuit High School and culminating in representing the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, where Missy set six Olympic records, three world records and came home with four Olympic gold medals. Missy is not only an inspiration to Coloradans and Americans, but to athletes and young women everywhere,” said Senator Newell. “This woman looks so good without makeup!”

Sen. Todd has two transportation bills signed into law today

DENVER -- Today, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed two of Sen. Nancy Todd’s (D-Aurora) bills into law.  The bills directly affect the Aurora community.  Specifically they provide more parking at RTD transit stations and direct funds to construction projects that will reduce traffic on state highways.

Sen. Todd, who never tires, was busy on the Senate floor today and could not attend the signing ceremonies.  She has had an exceptionally busy session prime-sponsoring 23 bills and five resolutions.

Coloradans can’t afford to lose their jobs because of discrimination

DENVER -- Tonight, the Senate Democrats voted for civil rights protections in the workplace.

The Job Protection and Civil Rights Enforcement Act puts muscle behind existing anti-discrimination policy because it provides employees a way to achieve recourse, and it extends protections to workers at businesses with fewer than 15 employees.  Under law, employees have rights against discrimination based on disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, national origin, or ancestry.

Senate committee votes to improve Colorado elections

DENVER – Late tonight, Colorado voters came one step closer to a modernized state election system that will improve voting options while saving taxpayer dollars.

The Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act, HB 13-1303, was passed by the Senate State, Veterans, and Military Affairs committee on a party line vote of 3-2. The bill expands voting options by allowing voters to choose how they wish to vote. To minimize confusion, every eligible voter will receive a mail ballot. Voters can mail it in, take it to a service center and drop it off, or vote in-person during early voting or on Election Day.

Keeping the roads safe and reducing the number of uninsured drivers

DENVER -- Getting into a traffic accident is rough, but getting into an accident with a driver who doesn’t have automobile insurance can be a financial disaster.  The Colorado Road and Community Safety Act (SB 13-251) addresses that problem and other public safety problems such as training and properly ID-ing all Colorado drivers.  The Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police and the County Sheriffs of Colorado back the legislation as a public safety effort.

“We need to hold everyone accountable for their actions on the road and driver’s licenses help us do that.  Licenses help peace officers quickly identify people and allow drivers to get insurance.  In fact, with this legislation, we can expect that up to 150,000 more Colorado drivers will get insurance,” said Pres. John Morse (D-Colo. Springs), the bill’s co-prime sponsor. 

Fighting against discrimination for all working Coloradans

DENVER -- Today, the Senate Judiciary committee fought for all Coloradans, moving forward anti-discrimination legislation on a 3 to 2 decision.

In Colorado, an employer cannot discriminate against an employee because of disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, national origin, or ancestry, but under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act the employee has no remedy if their rights are violated.  This legislation updates the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act and outlines a way for victims of discrimination to get recourse if they suffer discrimination in the workforce.

Sen. Andy Kerr completes a legislative hat trick

Kerr gets three significant bills through the Senate

DENVER -- It was an exceptionally busy day for Sen. Andy Kerr (D-Lakewood) today, who worked to get three significant bills through the Senate.

SB 13-224, the Protect Our Rivers license plate, passed 26 to 9 with co-prime sponsor Randy Baumgardner (R-Cowdrey), and now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.

HB 13-1135, Voter Preregistration for 16 year olds, passed 20-15, and now goes back to the House of Representatives for concurrence on amendments.

HB 13-1119, Veteran Designation on Identity Documents, passed 32-3, and now goes back to the House of Representatives for concurrence on amendments.

Bill to improve safety and payroll transparency in Dept. of Corrections moves forward in Senate

DENVER – Today, the Colorado Senate gave initial approval to SB13-210, which would require the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) to release information on staffing levels and other important metrics related to safety within DOC. In addition, the bill proposes a significant change to the way the department tracks and accounts for time worked and overtime accrued.

Fixing a significant injustice in the law to protect rape victims

DENVER -- Today, the Senate worked to fix Colorado law that allows convicted rapists to torment and coerce rape victims.  Colorado is one of 19 states that does not have a law on the books to address the parental rights of convicted rapists.  Current law fails to protect rape survivors from having to co-parent with their rapist.