Back in Session

Now that the state’s lawmakers are officially back to work, the economy and Colorado’s resulting financial woes will likely remain their highest priority.

Still, the rough waters won’t stop local lawmakers from focusing on local issues during the 2009 session of the Colorado General Assembly.

Perhaps most notable in Fort Collins is a possible ban on the use of cell phones while driving, which a Boulder legislator is already carrying but which took on extra weight in Northern Colorado after two bicyclists were killed in the past several months.

Another involves possible changes to laws governing local land use disputes, an issue that emerged from the Timnath-Fort Collins flare-up last summer.

And with a Fort Collinser in the ruling Democratic Party’s House leadership, the city is sure to get some extra recognition.

Other topics with more regional reach will likely include funding for Northern Colorado’s two universities, which will, by almost all accounts, face funding cuts this year.

Cell phones in cars

Sen. Bob Bacon and Rep. Randy Fischer, both Fort Collins Democrats, plan to sponsor a bill that would create a penalty for talking or texting on a cell phone while driving. Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, will be the bill’s primary sponsor, having already crafted a version before Bacon and Fischer.

Area interest in the measure is the result of crashes that claimed the life of two Fort Collins residents in the past seven months, including a CSU employee and a 9-year-old girl who died from her injuries on Thanksgiving.

Fischer, who will be the Democratic Party’s deputy whip, said the bill has been a long time coming, however. State lawmakers took up a cell phone bill in 2007, but it didn’t make it past a committee hearing. In 2005, a similar measure passed that dealt with young drivers who had instruction permits.

The bill would ban use of hand-held cell phones and in its current form, it would make such use a primary offense. That means drivers could be pulled over for holding their phones to their ears.

Motorists could still talk on their phones if they have hands-free devices, but they would be barred from sending text messages or Web surfing.

There’s already a law on the books dealing with distracted drivers, but nothing in state law specifically addresses the use of cell phones.

Fischer said eight states have banned hand-held cell phones and text messaging; still more states have banned texting on the road.

He’s on the House Transportation Committee and said he would push for progress this session.

“I’m hopeful that the wireless communications companies will work with us on this and realize that their technology is advancing at such a rapid pace, we really need to get out in front of this with some meaningful public policy,” he said. “We should have addressed this 10 or 15 years ago.”

But there’s the perennial problem of the “fiscal note,” a memo explaining costs that gets attached to every bill.

Bacon noted that any legislation creating a new penalty also creates the need for more jail space.

“If it involves jail time or prison time, especially if there is a death, that costs money, and we don’t have it,” he said.

Law enforcement

Jail space is one other regional issue that will draw lawmakers’ attention.

Sen. Scott Renfroe, R-Greeley, plans to carry a bill that would impact the Platte Valley Youth Services Center. Some Larimer County youth who are sentenced as juvenile offenders are sent to Platte Valley, which is one of only 12 such centers in the state.

Renfroe’s measure would require employees at youth detention facilities to notify local police when there is an alleged assault or abuse.

The Associated Press reported three youths were injured in altercations at the center in the past year; two were hurt in dust-ups with security personnel, and a third was attacked by other detainees. Investigations into the three incidents found no wrongdoing by the staff.

Current law doesn’t require youth centers to notify local police about such incidents.

Renfroe acknowledged that workers are detaining youths who have been in trouble and can become violent, so workers may be required to restrain them. But children should be protected from abuse or mistreatment when they’re in the system, he said. His bill would require disclosure of assault or abuse reports and make nondisclosure a crime.

Higher education

Bacon said he hopes higher education remains a priority, despite dismal economic forecasts that likely will lead to cuts. This week, Colorado State University’s interim president, Tony Frank, said CSU will probably have to lay off some employees in the face of state budget cuts.

In the past two years, Bacon labored to get state funds from the governor’s Energy Office, which is partly funded by gaming revenue, and use it as leverage for federal grants. Research universities like CSU can get federal grants worth four times what the state invests.

Bacon said he plans to try for more state funds this year, but knows he faces an uphill climb. Last month, the nonpartisan Legislative Council predicted a $600 million shortfall, a figure almost equal to the amount Colorado puts toward higher education funding each year.

“We can’t cut prisons, we can’t cut K-12 because it’s constitutionally mandated,” he said. “The area that is most likely to be cut would be higher ed, because it’s not Medicaid, it’s not corrections, it’s not K-12. And so many of the other programs are so small that if you cut them even 10 percent, that wouldn’t gain that much money.”

In other words, 2009 could be a rough year for higher education.

Land issues

Changes to laws governing land disputes between municipalities might not cost much, however.

Fischer is working on two bills dealing with regional cooperation and land-use planning. He said the bills would address the fight between Fort Collins and Timnath over a chunk of land that Timnath tried to annex this summer, despite its presence in Fort Collins’ growth management area boundary. Fort Collins made a few zoning changes to block the annexation, which led to mediation between the two towns, which is ongoing despite a tentative agreement announced last month.

Fischer wouldn’t comment on specifics, saying he didn’t want to compromise the mediation process. But he said the need for more cooperation is clear.

“I think the Timnath situation really underscores the need for something on greater regional cooperation, and having some processes and procedures in place so that these don’t have to be a nuclear war along I-25 — they can be a much more reasoned approach to resolving differences, and also recognizing other communities’ interests,” he said. “By the time we get anything done through the legislature this year, the specific issue between Fort Collins and Timnath will probably be resolved one way or the other, so it won’t necessarily have an impact (here). But it exemplifies the way we don’t want things to happen.”

He acknowledged it could be a tough sell, because there’s a constant battle between local control and state interests in land-use planning.

Jobs

In the neighboring city of Greeley, Rep. Jim Riesberg, who will chair two powerful House committees this year, said he’ll work on rural health care, bioscience grants and the Capital Development Committee, which prioritizes funding for state-owned buildings.

During the past two legislative sessions, Riesberg has labored to get funding for various construction and remodeling projects at the University of Northern Colorado. He succeeded last year, only to see funding streams halted in September when Gov. Bill Ritter initiated a building and hiring freeze, responding to the collapsing economy.

This year, he said he’d focus on job creation, especially in biosciences, where he has created grant programs during past legislative sessions.

“Those are well-paying jobs in a growing industry,” he said.

He’s also working on health care access, as the new chairman of the House health care committee. He’s looking into grant programs or tuition reimbursement programs for health care providers willing to work in rural areas, and he is examining grants for rural broadband access so telemedicine can be expanded.

In that way, access to health care is also about jobs, which is likely to be legislators’ main focus.

Rep. Kevin Lundberg, who hopes to become a state senator to replace Fort Collins Republican Steve Johnson, said he may be in a holding pattern, but his bills are not.

One of his bills would provide 20 percent severance tax breaks for oil shale companies who hire new workers and start production by Jan. 1, 2012.

“We’re trying to encourage the oil shale industry to start putting commercial production in place. Recognizing that this is still a multi-year process, I want them to kick into gear sooner rather than later, and start doing something, and start hiring people,” he said.

Another measure would provide families a $1,000 property tax credit for moving from public to private schools. Lundberg said per-pupil costs in public schools range between $6,000 and $10,000, so a move to private schools could save the state money.

“We’re going into some real economically challenging times, and we need to have some creative solutions to this,” he said.

... More Jobs

At a forum with reporters last month, legislative leaders said the 2009 legislative session will be about three things: jobs, jobs and jobs.

They already created a special committee to create “jobs by June,” and lawmakers have been hearing from businesses and public institutions about how to do that.

When the state is in the midst of its own hiring freeze, however, it will be hard for lawmakers to do much other than try not to make things worse.

Sen. Bacon, D-Fort Collins, said lawmakers hope the incoming Obama administration would offer a federal stimulus or public works project that would create new jobs.

“Any economic stimulus would be beneficial for the state, so people will buy and pay sales tax and income tax and not access unemployment and Medicaid,” he said.

Health Care

Several coalitions have been working on health care access for the past two years, including citizens’ groups and a blue-ribbon panel appointed by the governor.

Lawmakers would love to see some of those ideas come to fruition this year, but there’s no way to pay for them.

Still, Rep. Fischer, D-Fort Collins, said he hoped the state would continue trying to expand coverage.

Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, is the new chairman of the House health care committee, and said he and other lawmakers don’t want to wait for news from president-elect Obama.

Universal health care advocates note that nearly 800,000 Coloradans have no health insurance, but the biggest obstacle is access, he said. Lawmakers can work on that problem without having to wait on Washington.

“Even if we could wave the magic wand and give every one of them a policy, if they don’t have a provider in those (rural) areas, they still wouldn’t have coverage,” he said.

Environment

Fischer said he plans to carry a bill that would form a statewide electronics recycling program. The program, administered through the state Department of Public Health and Environment, would be funded by electronics manufacturers. Fischer said he’s been meeting with recycling advocates and industry representatives to forge a compromise bill before it gets introduced.

Bacon plans to offer a plan to extend an emissions control program in Larimer and Weld counties. The region is out of compliance with Environmental Protection Agency standards for ozone, and Bacon said a vehicle emissions reduction program could help. Both counties stopped requiring vehicles to have basic emissions tests in 2007.

About the Session The Colorado General Assembly opened for business Wednesday, Jan. 7. The legislature must end its session by midnight May 6, but lawmakers can end it earlier, which they did last year.