An informational and educational resource for the Colorado General Assembly by the Office of Legislative Legal Services.
by Patti Dahlberg
Once the 2013 Legislative Session winds to a close, you may be looking for some tools to help you review and decipher the products of the last one hundred twenty legislative days. The OLLS is already working on several publications to organize and present the legislation that results from the First Session of the Sixty-ninth General Assembly. (more…)
by Jennifer Gilroy
By this point in your career as a legislator, you know that, under Amendment 41, you may not accept a scholarship or reimbursement for travel, hotel accommodations, and registration expenses to attend a conference, even one directly related to your public duties as a member of the General Assembly, unless: (more…)
by Patti Dahlberg
Thirty-six years ago, Colorado became the first state in the country to allow a taxpayer to “check-off” a voluntary contribution to a state program. That’s right — the Colorado Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Fund became, in 1977, the first state income tax check-off fund in the United States. Today, across the country and in nearly every state, there are hundreds of check-off funds. Colorado was also the first state to have a collaborative, statewide public awareness campaign — Checkoff Colorado — supported by all of the nonprofit programs that are included on the state income tax form. (more…)
by Julie Pelegrin
Throughout Colorado people like to open their homes to take advantage of the 300-plus days of sunshine the state gets each year. By law, Colorado’s government is required to open its meetings to let the sunshine — and the public — in. (more…)
by Julie Pelegrin
As committees begin hearing more bills and considering more amendments, it’s likely that more questions will arise around bill titles. What is the single subject of this bill? Does this amendment fit within the bill title? Should I amend my bill title? Can I amend my bill title? Following are some quick Q&As designed to help understand the use and application of bill titles in the Colorado General Assembly. (more…)
by Chuck Brackney and Bart Miller
You may first encounter the Colorado Open Records Act, or CORA (§24-72-200.1, et seq.), as an unfamiliar e-mail in your inbox. The message may come from someone you’ve never met or even heard of, and it may contain a rather startling request for copies of “all e-mails sent or received by Representative Smith, as well as all telephone records, for the period January 1 to May 1, 2013.” Believe it or not, all of these records of communications are potentially subject to release in response to an open records request. (more…)
by Bob Lackner
With the start of the legislative session, the memory of your months of electioneering are beginning to fade, but there is one continuing, nagging concern: What to do about the leftover money in the campaign account? You may be worried about the legal consequences of possessing these moneys and confused about what, if anything, you can do with the money. This article gives guidance to legislators in answering these questions. (more…)
by Jennifer Gilroy
Bravo!! You’ve just realized that the invitation you received today to participate in a legislative conference in Las Vegas, or a business luncheon in your district, or a tour of the southwestern Colorado river basins may actually present an ethics issue that you need to consider before immediately accepting. You are momentarily pleased with yourself for recognizing the ethics issue, but then trepidation sets in as you begin to ponder the many sources of ethics laws in Colorado. Suddenly you are overwhelmed and confused. There’s something about gifts over $53, refusing all gifts from lobbyists, conflicts of interest, and undue influence. The sources of ethics laws in Colorado seem so complicated and confusing and, frankly, you’re really not sure if you understand them well enough to evaluate your situation accurately. Where can you turn for guidance when you are faced with an ethics dilemma? (more…)
by Julie Pelegrin
The opening day of the First Regular Session of the Sixty-ninth General Assembly is just around the corner: Wednesday, January 9, 2013. For many legislators and legislative watchers, the hoopla and falderal will be old hat, but for those who are new to the process, here’s a quick overview of what to expect and some explanation of why they do what they do. (more…)
by Jane Ritter
The Licensed Personnel Performance Evaluation Act (Act), Article 9 of Title 22, C.R.S., created in 1984, addresses licensed personnel evaluations for K-12 educators. Minor amendments to the Act were made over the years, but until 2010, the essence of the Act remained untouched.
In 2010, the General Assembly passed the controversial S.B. 10-191, the majority of which focused on a sweeping overhaul of the Act and the way teachers, principals, and other licensed educators are evaluated. (more…)