DENVER – The House of Representatives approved a new district judge for Durango and Pagosa Springs in a unanimous vote Thursday.
House Bill 1073 would add a fourth judge to the 6th Judicial District, which covers Archuleta, La Plata and San Juan counties. The sponsors are Rep. J. Paul Brown, R-Ignacio, and Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango.
The Legislature already had set aside money to pay for the new judge. In 2007, legislators added 43 judges across the state, but Jefferson County is not going to use one of the judges it was allocated.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Bender supports moving the Jefferson County judge to the La Plata County Courthouse.
In other news from the state Capitol:
Drug tests for welfare – Republicans in the House moved to require applicants to the Colorado Works program to pass a drug test before they could receive welfare benefits.
Under HB 1046, people who fail a drug test cannot reapply for benefits for three years. Applicants would have to pay for the test, although they would get reimbursed if they pass. The bill would cost counties an estimated $482,600, according to the Legislature’s fiscal analysts.
It passed the House Health and Environment Committee on a 7-5 party-line vote.
PERA bills die– Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee turned down two Republican attempts to change the Public Employees Retirement Association.
Senate Bill 82 would have delayed full PERA benefits for new employees until they reach the Social Security retirement age. Currently, state employees can get full retirement benefits as early as age 50, depending on when they were hired. Social Security benefits start between age 65 and 67.
SB 119 would have cut benefits if PERA’s finances get worse, and it would have prevented future increases in state and local government payments toward their employees’ PERA benefits.
No Medicaid cuts– Senators also turned back a Republican bill that would have repealed all new Medicaid benefits the Legislature has enacted since 2006.
Those benefits include an expansion of children’s coverage for families with modest incomes, cervical cancer immunizations for girls and women younger than 20, and over-the-counter medication coverage. The bill would save $156 million by 2014.
“We’re making things worse by trying to make them better,” said the sponsor, Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield.
But other Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the idea. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee killed the bill on an 8-0 vote.
