We have fewer than 10 working days remaining in the session, and the pace has accelerated accordingly. My bills that have passed the House continue their progress in the Senate.
House Bill 1119, my crop donation bill, passed out of the Senate Finance Committee, and HB 1313, the rabies bill, passed the Senate and will now be signed by the governor. My predecessor was asked to carry this bill by Colorado Counties Inc., but he refused, despite serving as a county commissioner for one term. I am pleased to be sponsoring this bill to enforce and strengthen existing laws to reduce the rabies epidemic we are facing on the Western Slope. HB 1291, which allows charter schools to hire armed security officers who have a concealed weapons permit, also passed the Senate and is waiting for the governor’s signature. So far this session, five of my bills have passed the House and Senate, and I have three others working their way through the legislative process.
In the House, the Judiciary Committee passed HB 1322, the omnibus probate measure. Each year, the Colorado Bar Association selects a member of the Judiciary Committee to sponsor an update of the uniform probate code, and I was honored to be selected this year. I am sponsoring this bill with Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango. The measure updates our probate code to reflect the recommendations of the Colorado Commission on Uniform State Laws after it reviewed the decisions of our state courts over the past year.
I am also sponsoring Senate Bill 174, the Rural Prosecution Fellowship program with Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver, which will be heard in the House Appropriations Committee. The bill will create fellowships for district attorneys in rural communities to incentivize more prosecutors to move to rural areas. The University of Colorado and University of Denver law schools will have three fellowships per year, and those fellows will begin their career as prosecutors in rural judicial districts across Colorado. The District Attorneys Council will oversee the fellowship program. This will introduce young prosecutors to rural communities and encourage them to remain there, as I did after I started as an assistant district attorney in Durango in 1974.
Last week, I outlined the terms of SB 1, the College Affordability Act, which will invest $101 million into higher education. On Monday, it passed the House Education Committee, and on Wednesday, it passed the House Appropriations Committee. It will accomplish two goals: First, it will cap tuition increases at 6 percent per year – a one-third reduction from the previous cap of 9 percent. Second, it will significantly restore funding to higher education, which suffered large budget cuts after the recession began in 2008. It will make college more affordable and help students reduce their college debt. Under the bill, Western State Colorado University will receive $1,050,000, Fort Lewis College will receive $1,051,000, and our community colleges will get a funding boost as well.
Although much of what we accomplish in the Capitol is done on a bipartisan basis, sometimes politics is unnecessarily inserted into our floor debates. One example of this was a recent debate regarding a resolution for Equal Pay Day. The resolution was designed to highlight that, for every dollar a man is paid, a woman is paid 71 cents. You would think that the Colorado House of Representatives, which includes more women than any other state legislature in the country, could agree that women, under no circumstances, should ever receive less than a man for the same job. Unfortunately, there were mean-spirited amendments offered, which were designed to embarrass President Barack Obama, U.S. Sen. Mark Udall and politicize the entire debate instead of focusing on the main issue: equal pay for women for equal work. I was disappointed the debate became a political side-show but was proud to vote for the resolution.
I remain honored to serve as your state representative from House District 59.
McLachlan represents House District 59 in Colorado’s General Assembly. The district encompasses La Plata, Archuleta, San Juan, Ouray and Hinsdale counties and part of Gunnison County. Call McLachlan at (303) 866-2914 or email mike.mclachlan.house@state.co.us
