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2010 General Assembly Convenes
The Second Regular Session of the
Sixty-seventh General Assembly of Colorado
convened on Wednesday,
January 13, 2010.
The Legislature will meet for a
constitutionally mandated limit of 120 days,
with adjournment sine die occurring
no later than midnight on Wednesday, May 12,
2010.
On Wednesday, the majority and minority
legislative leaders delivered their
opening-day addresses, setting the tone for
the Senate and House of Representatives.
In his first opening remarks as Senate
President, Sen. Brandon Shaffer called for
bipartisan efforts, to listen and to
compromise. He quoted Franklin Roosevelt in
saying, “Our greatest primary task is to put
people to work.”
President Shaffer said legislators will
consider bills allowing job retraining
accounts for employees offering tax benefits
for education and retraining, health care
loan programs for rural communities, a new
renewable energy standard and a plan to fix
the struggling state employee pension fund.
House Speaker Terrance Carroll said in his
speech that the Legislature must pass a
“bold initiative” to increase from 20 to 30
percent the amount of power that utility
companies will be required to generate from
“green” sources by 2020. “The linchpin of
our economy is small business. And nothing
is doing more to drive the creation of small
business than a New Energy Economy,” Speaker
Carroll said.
Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry said state
government was "inexplicably unprepared" for
an economic crisis, with no rainy day fund,
no savings strategy and no plans to deal
with it. He warned against plans to suspend
or eliminate $132 million in tax exemptions,
including some $90 million that would affect
businesses directly. He said, “Any moves
that increase the cost of business will lead
to job losses rather than job creation.”
House Minority Leader Mike May said the
challenges facing lawmakers this year "are
nothing compared to what some families and
businesses have experienced during this
historic recession. We cannot ever lose
sight of the fact that every decision we
make has a real-world impact,” he said.
This morning (Thursday), Governor Bill
Ritter delivered his fourth and final State
of the State Address, calling on lawmakers
“to set aside the weaker impulses of
partisanship” and remain focused on job
creation, economic recovery and keeping the
state budget balanced.
“While this has been a tough time, and while
there will be setbacks, we are making
progress,” Gov. Ritter said. “Colorado has
one of the best business climates and
economic outlooks in the country, and if we
stay disciplined and determined, we will get
our economy back on solid footing. I know we
can do this, because we’ve been doing it.”
The Governor outlined his top priorities for
the legislative session, including:
·
Keeping the state budget balanced, saving
money and making government more effective
through proposals such as the Medicaid
Efficiency Act.
·
Creating jobs and growing Colorado’s New
Energy Economy through proposals such as an
increase to the state’s renewable energy
standard, boosting it from the current 20
percent by 2020 requirement to 30 percent by
2020, and increasing demand for Colorado’s
cleaner-burning natural gas.
·
Making the Colorado State Park system the
first in the country to use zero net energy.
·
Modernizing teacher and student assessments,
including replacing the CSAP test with a new
assessment tool by 2011 or 2012.
·
Strengthening public safety through
legislation to regulate and rein in abuses
in Colorado’s voter-approved medical
marijuana program, toughen penalties for
repeat drunk-driving offenses, and improve
the state’s child-protection system.
·
Shoring up the state’s Public Employee
Retirement Association pension fund.
Gov. Ritter first unveiled his legislative
priorities for 2010 at a pre-session press
conference with Senate President Brandon
Shaffer and House Speaker Terrance Carroll
on Tuesday, January 12th. These
legislative priorities can be found
here.
The full text of the 2010 State of the State
address may be downloaded
here.
Of the several hundred bills that will cross
the desks of lawmakers this session, a
number will have fire and life safety
implications or will potentially impact
local fire departments. It is for this
reason that the Colorado State Fire Chiefs’
Association (CSFCA) follows legislative
activity in the General Assembly very
closely.
During the session, the CSFCA Executive
Director and Legislative Liaison review and
analyze all bills introduced in the General
Assembly to determine if they have
implications for the Colorado fire service.
Any bill with potential impact will be
referred to the CSFCA Legislative Committee
for recommended position. The recommended
position to be taken on a legislative
proposal shall then be approved by the Board
of Directors. This is a new approach
adopted by the CSFCA Board for dealing with
legislative matters
in the new year.
For more information on CSFCA’s legislative
approach for 2010, go
here.
How Can You Help?
The Association’s success in advancing its
legislative agenda and in minimizing the
impact from other bills is dependent upon
participation by our members. All bills of
interest to the fire service will be made
known to the CSFCA membership by way of
legislative updates and the Legislative Page
on the Association’s website. Several bills
of interest were introduced on the first day
of the session, and have been posted to this
page
here.
It is very important that legislators hear
from their fire chiefs on issues that affect
the Colorado fire service. For this reason,
members will periodically be asked to
contact their House or Senate member(s) and
express their views on a particular bill.
When asked to contact your legislator,
please do so. Oftentimes, one vote will
make the difference between an initiative
passing or failing. Your phone call may be
the one that locks in that needed vote.
Also, in order for the CSFCA to effectively
represent you on legislative issues, we must
have your input. If you have input on any
piece of legislation please contact the
Association’s Executive Director or the
Chair of the Legislative Committee.
If you have any questions, feel free to
contact me or Steve Pischke, Legislative
Committee Chair at
spischke@aol.com.
Posted 01-14-10 |
