An informational and educational resource for the Colorado General Assembly by the Office of Legislative Legal Services.
by Chuck Brackney
This post inaugurates a LegiSource series focusing on the workings of state government. Our goal is to bring to legislators’ attention the many and varied functions of state government in Colorado. We begin with a look at the state Department of Regulatory Agencies.
by Julie Pelegrin
Using public moneys to pay the tuition at a religious school does not violate Colorado’s constitutional requirements for separation of church and state. At least that’s what the Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled. The Court recently reversed a district court opinion and held that the Douglas County School District’s choice scholarship program is constitutional. In addition to providing guidance for interpreting several sections of the constitution, the opinion also provides interesting rulings concerning the ability of a taxpayer to enforce state law and the standard for interpreting school district policies. (more…)
by Chuck Brackney
Can the U.S. Congress strip immigrants of the ability to challenge the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s interpretation of a law that barred the ability of legal permanent residents to apply for a waiver of deportation? Can a city seize, by eminent domain, private homes and transfer them to a private property developer for a local economic development project? (more…)
by Jennifer Gilroy
While you were watching the political sparring on topics as newsworthy and controversial as voter registration, school finance, and renewable energy, another matter with noteworthy implications slipped quietly through the legislative process: workplace harassment. (more…)
by Julie Pelegrin
On May 23, 2013, the Colorado Supreme Court issued its ruling in the case of State v. Lobato (Lobato II), finding that the Public School Finance Act of 1994 is constitutional. The opinion holds that the statutory school funding system is rationally related to the General Assembly’s constitutional duty to establish and maintain a “thorough and uniform” statewide system of free public education. But the opinion actually does much more. The opinion defines the phrase “thorough and uniform”, implies that the constitution does not require a minimum level of funding for education, and further clarifies school districts’ local control authority. Most importantly, Lobato II demonstrates that a majority of the Court strongly supports the separation of powers and will not interfere with the General Assembly’s plenary authority to set education policy. (more…)
The Colorado LegiSource will be taking a break for the next several weeks. We expect to resume weekly postings on June 27. In the meantime, if you have questions you would like answered or issues you would like to see discussed on the Colorado LegiSource, please contact us using our feedback form.
by Julie Pelegrin
The General Assembly closed out one hundred twenty days of legislative activity yesterday, May 8, by adjourning sine die at 3:40 p.m. in the Senate and 3:44 p.m. in the House. The first regular session of the Sixty-ninth General Assembly was one of the busiest in recent memory. The legislators introduced bills on many difficult, complicated, and contentious issues which led to more late-night sessions and early-morning committee hearings than the General Assembly has experienced in recent years. (more…)
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 Patti Dahlberg, Matt Dawkins, and Julie Pelegrin
We’re in the last few days of the 2013 regular legislative session and things seem to be moving faster. Actually, that’s not just your imagination. Due to some automatic suspensions in the legislative rules, things can and do move faster toward the end of session so that the General Assembly can get the work done before the clock strikes midnight on the one-hundred-twentieth legislative day – May 8. (more…)
by Julie Pelegrin
The second house has amended your bill and returned it to the first house. Now, you have a decision to make. Do you concur with the second house amendments and readopt the bill? Do you reject the second house amendments and request formation of a conference committee? Or, do you reject the second house amendments and adhere to the version you passed in the first house? The fate of your bill may hang on your decision. (more…)
