CHEAPER TEXTBOOKS ONLY A SIGNATURE AWAY

College Textbook Affordability
Act Clears Senate

DENVER—Today the Senate gave final approval to Senate Bill 73, sponsored by Senator Ron Tupa (D-Boulder) and Representative John Kefalas (D-Ft Collins), which would help lower the cost of textbooks in Colorado.

The College Textbook Affordability Act will prohibit college professors from ordering textbooks until they know how much the publisher is going to charge for those textbooks. The proposal also requires publishers to disclose changes made to each new edition of their textbooks. The bill will also prohibit publishers from bundling textbooks with additional materials such as CD-ROMs, as they are rarely used by instructors or students but significantly increase the price of textbooks.

“Passage of Senate Bill 73, the College Textbook Affordability Act, will save students and their parents hundreds of dollars a year in college expenses,” Tupa said. “This bill is an important piece of legislation that reduces the overall cost of higher education, by injecting competition into the otherwise “closed” college textbook market.”

Tupa represents Boulder, which has the highest student population in the state. Many of his constituents are already making enormous financial sacrifices to even enroll in colleges and universities.

The bill next heads to the Governor for signature.

EAGLES SPREAD WINGS, PASS SENATE

DENVER—Today the full Senate gave final approval to HB08-1304, which would make it illegal to hunt, take, or illegally possess bald eagles in Colorado.

Sponsored by Senator Gail Schwartz (D-Snowmass), the bill would make each violation an unclassified misdemeanor that would carry a fine of $1,000 to $100,000, up to one year imprisonment in a county jail, or both. Additionally, a fine of 20 points could be assessed against a violator’s hunting license.

Although the bald eagle will continue to be protected under the federal “Bald Eagle Protection Act” and the “Migratory Bird Treaty Act,” once the bald eagle is not listed as threatened or endangered, the penalties for illegally taking or possessing bald eagles will drop significantly.

“The recovery of the bald eagle in America is a major conservation accomplishment,” said Schwartz. “It is imperative that Colorado maintain its aggressive protection of bald eagles so that future generations can enjoy these magnificent symbols of America.”

The bill next heads back to the House for concurrence.

BACON BRINGS HOME….THE BACON

Senator Completes
Hat Trick in Senate Ed

DENVER—Today Senator Bob Bacon (D-Fort Collins) successfully steered three bills through the Senate Education Committee. In a single afternoon, Bacon passed bills to allow more financial independence for schools, set parameters for charter school classification and clarify current education statutes.

“It was a good day to have three excellent successes and have in depth discussion on significant education issues,” Bacon said.

-HB08-1002 would grant investment authority and fiduciary responsibility to the Board of Trustees at Mesa State College and to the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University.

-HB08-1159 would establish good neighbor policies between the Charter School Institute and school districts to exchange information and create a process by which districts are granted and denied chartering authority. The bill would set guidelines on addressing interactions between a school district's local board of education, the State Board of Education, and the State Charter School Institute.

-HB08-1079 would amend Colorado statute by replacing the term “vocational education” with the term “career and technical education” to conform to federal law. The bill would amend money counted toward enterprise status for the Community College Board, and mitigate the likelihood of community colleges going in and out of enterprise status depending on the level of capital construction funding in any given fiscal year.

Bacon plans to spend his evening in an easy chair.

WILLIAMS KEEPING PEACE IN COLORADO COMMUNITIES

DENVER—Today the Senate State Affairs Committee passed SB08-192, which would create guidelines for residential picketing.

Sponsored by Senator Suzanne Williams (D-Aurora), the bill would prohibit targeted residential picketing, establish restrictions on the size and number of signs that picketers can carry and specify the distance from a residence that picketers must remain.

“This bill is about peace and privacy for Colorado families,” said Williams. “The parameters created in this bill support and guide law enforcement in their efforts to keep our communities safe.”

Williams introduced a similar measure in 2001 that was killed by the Republican-controlled House. SB08-192 differs from the 2001 measure by providing additional clarification for law enforcement officers keeping the peace in residential areas. Violators could be charged with an unclassified misdemeanor and be subject to up to $5,000 in court fees.

The bill next heads to the full Senate for consideration.

UNUSED MEDS BILL PASSES COMMITTEE

Bill Could Help Keep Pharmaceuticals
Out of Colorado’s Drinking Water

DENVER—Today the Senate Health and Human Services Committee passed Senate Bill 190, which requires pharmacists to re-dispense certain unused medicines in licensed care centers.

Sponsored by Senator Lois Tochtrop (D-Thornton), the bill requires pharmacists, including those who are Medicaid providers, to re-dispense Medicaid medications that are returned and meet certain criteria related to packaging, proper storage, and expiration dates. Currently, pharmacists are not required by law to re-dispense returned medications.

“This bill will go a long way to alleviate some of the concerns about pharmaceuticals in Colorado’s drinking water,” Tochtrop said. “When pharmacists re-dispense unused drugs it saves taxpayer dollars in Medicaid costs and reduces the amount of pharmaceuticals going out in the garbage.”

The bill comes amid concerns that pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking-water supplies of at least 41 million Americans.

The bill next heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration.

ROMER POSTS WIKI-BILL

Draft Bill Open for Comments, Criticism

DENVER—Today Senator Chris Romer (D-Denver) announced that he has posted a draft of the bill that will give every Coloradan the historic opportunity to help craft legislation to ease weekend traffic on Interstate 70.

Last month Romer launched an online forum to gather suggestions, comments and criticism on his proposal. Some of the bill’s provisions are a direct result of the information collected from citizens.

"We expect a certain amount of pushback from the trucking industry," Romer said. "Though small, this group has a powerful voice at the state Capitol, and it's time for the public to have their say."

Log on to view and comment on the Wiki-Bill at:

http://groups.google.com/group/fixI70now

INNOVATIVE SCHOOLS ACT GETS PASSING GRADE

DENVER—Today the full Senate gave initial approval to SB08-130. Sponsored by Senate President Peter Groff (D-Denver), the bill would allow schools and school districts to innovate in their approach to improving student performance by creating Zones of Innovative Performance (ZIPs).

If schools’ applications are approved by their local board of education, they could be granted the power to control budgets, hiring, curriculum, length of the school day and teacher compensation, for example. Upon local board approval, these schools would submit the innovation plan to the State Board of Education for designation as an innovative school or zone of innovation.

The bill serves as a tool to allow schools to assess their particular needs and to remove barriers by implementing strategies based on individual school assessments.

“A status quo approach is no longer working and in fact is hindering our ability to graduate our students with the skills they need to succeed in a global economy,” said Groff. “With passage of this bill, we have new tools to improve student performance and close the achievement gap by allowing more innovation in the way we educate our kids.”

The bill will next be considered by the Senate on third and final reading.