An informational and educational resource for the Colorado General Assembly by the Office of Legislative Legal Services.
by Kristen Forrestal and Julie Pelegrin
When a legislator crafts a bill, most of the drafting choices center on the substantive policies that the legislator is proposing. However, there are a few nonsubstantive, but important, questions that a drafter is likely to ask the bill sponsor. This article is intended to help bill sponsors decide the answers to some of these questions by explaining the outcomes of various options. (more…)
By Chuck Brackney
Colorado has in place a number of mechanisms that seek to ensure the public has access to the workings of its state government. For example, the GAVEL amendment to the state constitution requires that every bill introduced in the General Assembly have a hearing and that party caucus meetings be open to the public. Two laws in particular exemplify this focus on open government. (more…)
by Julie Pelegrin
One of the most challenging aspects of being a legislator is learning the legislative rules. Even if you are not a committee chair or serving in a leadership role, you need at least a general understanding of the legislative rules to be an effective legislator. The rules are at the heart of the legislative process. They are the framework that helps ensure that the legislature’s process for creating public policy is open, balanced, and efficient. A legislator’s facility with properly using the legislative rules can mean the difference between a bill signing ceremony and a vote to postpone indefinitely. (more…)
by Jery Payne
Imagine you are judging a court case. The Wildlife Commission held a hearing to award a grant for an endangered species. Both the Whooping Crane Association and the Black-Footed Ferret Foundation applied. The commission gave the grant to the ferret folks, but it didn’t have a legally required quorum. The crane crew sues to make the ferret folks repay the grant. (more…)
by Kate Meyer
Bill drafting is the most visible function that the Office of Legislative Legal Services (OLLS) performs, yet the actual process of getting a bill from idea to introduction is a lot more complicated than many people realize. How does the drafting process work (i.e., why does it take so long)? (more…)
by Jery Payne
The 14th amendment to the United States constitution forbids states from denying “to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” That seems simple enough. Right? (more…)
by Kathy Zambrano
You’re flipping through the 2013 C.R.S. book looking for that amended section that was key to getting a bill passed last session, and there it is, in black and ecru, but you also find stuff following the section. What is that stuff and why is it there? (more…)
by Jennifer Gilroy, Revisor of Statutes
It seems that most people who are involved in the legislative process in any way whatsoever have heard about the revisor’s bill — a bill viewed as a legislative means of “fixing” problems in the statutes or in legislation. But very few people really seem to have a clear understanding of what the annual revisor’s bill can and, more importantly, cannot include. To some, it seems to be a mystical piece of legislation over which a solitary individual (the Revisor of Statutes) randomly (or so it seems) grants (or not) inclusion of a provision they need “fixed”. To others it’s simply a boring, technical bill that shows up on the calendar late in the legislative session and is only important to legislative drafters. Well, it’s really both of these things and neither of these things…at the same time. The following are a few facts about the often misunderstood revisor’s bill. (more…)
by OLLS Staff
The 2013 legislative interim has kept several interim committees busy considering myriad issues ranging from wildfires to the legal representation of juveniles to the treatment of mentally ill offenders to transportation to water to early childhood education. Colorado LegiSource will be summarizing the activities and bills of each committee that is recommending bills. The Legislative Council will meet November 14, 2013, to approve the interim committee bills that will be introduced during the 2014 legislative session.
This week’s article discusses four of the eight committees that are recommending bills. In two weeks, Colorado LegiSource will summarize the bill output of the other four committees. (more…)
By Esther van Mourik
Did you know that the General Assembly is now SMARTer? It is! Last session the General Assembly passed House Bill 13-1299, which repealed and reenacted the “State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act”. (more…)