DENVER – Colorado Senate Democrats attempted to join 10 other states and Washington, D.C. in an agreement to cast electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote on Wednesday but the measure was killed in committee.
Senate Bill 99, which would have joined Colorado to an agreement with other states to elect presidents on national popular vote rather than cast electoral votes on state-specific results, was killed in a 3-2 party line vote in the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
Sen. Owen Hill, R-Colorado Springs, said he was concerned this bill would affect the relationship between states and Washington, D.C., and trade state-focused policies for ones focused on special-interest groups.
“I don’t know that’s a healthy trade,” Hill said.
Suzanne Staiert, deputy secretary of state for Colorado, was among those who testified against SB 99.
Staiert said her office felt it was bad public policy to enter into the agreement and would be damaging to Colorado’s voice on a national level.
“It would dilute Coloradans’ votes because the compact binds the state’s electoral votes to voters in states other than Colorado,” Staiert said.
The agreement this bill would have entered Colorado into would not have immediately gone into effect, said bill sponsor Sen. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood. “Nothing changes until enough states have adopted it to actually equal or exceed 270 electoral votes.”
Bills similar to S.B. 99, also sponsored by Kerr, had previously passed the Colorado House of Representatives in 2009 before dying in the Senate. The measure also passed the Senate in 2006 and 2007, but it did not clear the other chamber.
Kerr said he brought the bill forward because of constituent outreach, not as a response to the latest election.
A common sentiment from overwhelmingly supportive public testimony was the need to bring equity to an electoral process that has seen five presidential elections decided contrary to the popular vote.
In other action, SB 150, which would prohibit the practice of nepotism by public officials, was also heard Wednesday by the same committee, and it also died on a 3-2 party-line vote after objections were raised about the bill’s wording and questions about its ability to achieve its goal.
This bill was filed in response to President Donald Trump’s appointment of Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, as a senior adviser, and it also was brought to Kerr by his constituents, he said
“People want the power throughout districts, throughout the state, throughout the country. They don’t want it concentrated in one family, in one small group of people,” he said.
lperkins@durangoherald.com
House hears effort to push back last call for alcohol
DENVER – A bill that would allow last call to be extended in Colorado bars was debated in the state House of Representatives on Wednesday before passing third reading on a 39-26 vote.
House Bill 1123, would allow local jurisdictions to ignore current law, which prohibits the sale of alcohol from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m., and instead extend the hours during which alcohol can be sold for on premises consumption.
Some voiced concern it could contribute to drunken driving and moral rot.
“Do we really need to let the bars stay open until 7 o’clock in the morning? Think about it. That’s when kids are going to school and people are going to work,” said Rep. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs, who voted against the bill in committee.
Proponents of HB 1123 said the bill represented an opportunity for increased local control over liquor laws.
“The very best decisions happen locally,” said Rep.
Steve Lebstock, D-Thornton
. “Your local city council, or your local county commissioners working with either your sheriffs or your chiefs and the business community, frankly, should be determining when bars and restaurants close, not some arbitrary number from some state legislator.”
The bill will be sent to the Senate, where it is sponsored by the
Majority Leader Chris Holbert, R-Parker
, in the coming weeks for consideration.
In addition to HB 1123 seven bills passed third reading between the House and Senate. Also, 18 appropriation bills cleared committees Tuesday and were adopted by the House after second reading.
In committees 36 bills were scheduled for hearings. Among those bills:
SB 128 would require higher education institutions that receive College Opportunity Fund revenue to have policies in place addressing sexual assault.
“What this bill does is very simple it will put it in statute that every college and university must have a policy to address campus sexual assault,” Fields said. The bill does not outline what the policy must contain just that a policy should be present.
The bill came up because as many as 1 out of every 5 female college students experience sexual assault in some form during their academic career, Fields said.
The bill was heard by the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee and died on a 3-2 party line vote that saw Republicans opting to not place the requirement in statute as all the Colorado universities receiving COF funds already have such policies.
HB 1099 would have required higher education institutions that receive state funding to submit an annual report confirming it had not participated in the “purchase or trafficking of aborted human body parts in the previous year” or lose state funding. It was heard by the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, and it died on a 6-3 party line vote.
Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains said the measure aimed to “mix up the conversation,” on abortion services and stigmatize access to it.
lperkins@durangoherald.com
