WESTERN SKIES - February 26, 2005

*** CAPITOL COVERAGE ***

ERIC WHITNEY: Colorado's legislators were at work on President's Day, and the rest of the week, talking about roadless areas, water law, and public health. Stephen Raher has our regular weekly coverage of legislative news.

STEPHEN RAHER: Colorado appears to be in the midst of flu season, so it's appropriate that members of the General Assembly spent plenty of time last week discussing public health.

SEN. DEANNA HANNA: It is an attempt to prevent any price gouging for emergency situations in the future.

RAHER: Senator Deanna Hanna (a Democrat from Lakewood) is sponsoring Senate Bill 89, which is a reaction to last year's flu vaccine shortage. Hanna's bill would allow the state health department to declare a public emergency if there's a shortage of an important drug or vaccine. During such an emergency, it would be illegal for companies to dramatically raise the price of the drug.

Hanna said eighteen other states have similar laws, but that wasn't much comfort to Republican Shawn Mitchell of Broomfield, a likely candidate for Attorney General.

SEN. SHAWN MITCHELL: This is heavy-handed regulation, it is price control, it is failed government controlled economics, it's unhealthy, it's unhelpful, it's unnecessary. Please vote no.

RAHER: But nineteen of Mitchell's colleagues voted "yes," thus passing Senate Bill 89 out of the Senate and on to the House.

Longmont Democrat Brad Shaffer is sponsoring Senate Bill 87. This legislation would require healthcare professionals to provide patient information to the department of health, concerning childhood immunizations. The department could then contact parents of children who aren't vaccinated.

SEN. BRAD SHAFFER: We are fiftieth out of fifty states in immunizing our kids.

RAHER: Sponsor Brad Shaffer, said he drafted the bill with input from several prominent medical and children's health organizations.

SHAFFER: They all recommended the language in this bill, they all support this bill as it's currently drafted, and as a result I will resist any amendment to it.

RAHER: But Senator Shawn Mitchell offered a successful amendment that requires the health department to also inform parents of their legal right to not immunize their children.

Grand Junction Republican Ron Teck, explained why he supported the Mitchell Amendment.

SEN. RON TECK: My concern is when these health professionals call up parents and advise them, they may slant the discussion away from what the parents' rights are. I think it's imperative that we are totally honest with folks when these kinds of notices are given.

RAHER: Senate Bill 87, as amended, was approved by the Senate and now awaits a committee hearing in the House.

In the waning hours of his final term in office, President Bill Clinton signed new rules protecting large areas of roadless National Forest land, including four hundred thousand acres in Colorado.

But one person's protection is another's obstruction. So it was that the Bush administration proposed new rules that would relax some of the Clinton protections. These rules haven't been finalized yet, but the gist of the Bush plan is this: governors would be allowed to review roadless areas in their state and ask the Forest Service to ease current restrictions.

Republican Josh Penry, a state legislator from Grand Junction, sponsored House Bill 1259, which would establish a task force to do this work and make recommendations to the governor.

The bill was heard by the House agriculture committee on Wednesday the twenty-third. The committee vote was a five-five tie. Usually this means the bill can be taken up later, but Wednesday was the deadline for bills to be reported out of committee, so House Bill 1259 automatically died.

According to sponsor Josh Penry, that's bad news since the Bush rule would only allow a narrow window for governors to submit comments.

REP. JOSH PENRY: The rule says we have eighteen months. If we don't make our recommendations after eighteen months, we can't come back and get around to it another time. We forfeited our right to give our public input and that's why I think it's critical that we have a process in place when the rule is finalized at the federal level.

RAHER: RICD ("riss - id") is an awkward acronym for the equally awkward phrase "recreational in-channel diversion," which means communities can use water rights to keep water instream for recreational purposes. The legislation that created RICDs was designed to allow towns to maintain kayak courses. Senate Bill 62, sponsored by Jack Taylor (a Republican from Steamboat Springs), would limit the amount of water a city could devote to a RICD.

Taylor's bill originally narrowed the definition of "recreation" to include only kayaking. This was broadened to include canoeing, inner-tubing, boating, and rafting, but not fishing. After extensive revisions, Senate Bill 62 passed out of committee and is currently awaiting second reading on the floor.

Senate Bill 23 is known as the Keep Jobs in America Act. It would prohibit the state from hiring a business that outsources any state work to another country. Supporters say it will help the Colorado economy by keeping jobs here. Detractors say it will raise costs and cause many potential contractors to lose interest in doing business with the state.

The bill passed out of committee on Tuesday the twenty-second. Colorado Springs Republican Andy McElhany joined with Democrats on the Business, Labor, and Technology Committee in voting yes. The legislation is now awaiting consideration by the full Senate.

For Western Skies, I'm Stephen Raher. Additional coverage was provided by David Wilson.

FUNDING CREDIT: Coverage of the Colorado legislature is made possible by KRCC members and by Pro Audio Websites, audio distribution sites for music and content professionals - ProAudioWebsites.com.