Colorado LegiSource

An informational and educational resource for the Colorado General Assembly by the Office of Legislative Legal Services.

Category: Ask OLLS

  • Why is the title of a bill so important?

    The title of a bill provides notice to the public as to the contents of the bill.  Article V, section 21 of the State Constitution requires that a bill contain only one subject and that the subject be “clearly expressed in its title…”.  The title must also state the purpose of the bill.  This means the title must accurately reflect the substance of the bill without being so broad as to violate the Constitution’s single subject requirement.

    The bill title not only tells the public what’s in the bill, but it controls the amendments that may be added to the bill as it goes through the legislative process.  Because the title expresses the single subject and purpose of the bill, an amendment that would add a subject or language that is broader than the title would arguably add a second subject to the bill in violation of the single-subject requirement.  For this reason, the chairperson of the committee in which the amendment is offered may rule the amendment out of order.

    If a bill is introduced with a broad title, a legislator may offer an amendment to narrow the title so that it is more specific as to the provisions in the bill.  A legislator may also try to narrow a bill title in order to control the amendments that can be offered to the bill. Remember, however, that another legislator can offer an amendment at any time to broaden the title back to its introduced form.  So, tightening a title after a bill is introduced, with the goal of limiting the possible amendments, is unlikely to be successful, because another member may amend the title back to the introduced version to allow for his or her substantive amendment.

    A legislator may also try to amend a title to make it broader than the introduced version.  While there’s no actual rule that says a legislator cannot broaden an introduced title, by custom and practice these amendments are generally not allowed.  Logically, if the introduced bill title is a single subject, the effect of broadening it would be to allow for one or more additional subjects — a clear violation of the constitutional single-subject requirement.

  • Does the General Assembly have a set policy regarding public records and e-mail?

    Yes. In addition to the statutory requirements of the Colorado Open Records Act, the General Assembly has adopted specific policies related to public records and e-mail. These policies are available on the General Assembly’s website at the “Open Records Policy & Requests” link near the top of the left side of the page, and are attached here. The policies address issues such as how a person may submit an open records requests, how a person may have access to inspect public records, and what types of documents are considered public records. The policies also provide recommendations to legislators for classifying e-mails for retention or deletion. You may follow these recommendations or you may establish in writing your own system for classifying e-mails.

  • What is the OLLS’ role in the ballot initiative process?

    When a citizen proposes a ballot initiative, he or she must first submit it to the Legislative Council Staff (LCS). At that point, staff from both the OLLS and LCS review the measure and write a memo asking technical questions and substantive questions about the meaning of the initiative. The staff and the proponent then participate in a review-and-comment hearing, which is open to the public, at which they discuss the memo and allow the proponent to explain his or her initiative on the record. After the hearing, the proponent can submit the initiative to the Secretary of State’s office, or the proponent may make changes to the initiative and resubmit it to the LCS for another review and hearing.

    Although we review the proposed initiatives and may raise issues for the proponents to consider, the OLLS has no statutory authority to draft initiative measures for the proponents nor to edit, approve, or reject any initiated proposals.

    Sometimes legislators participate in the initiative process as proponents or as consultants to proponents. Because of the conflict of interest issues involved in having drafters prepare initiative language for legislators, the Committee on Legal Services has adopted a policy that a member of the General Assembly should not ask the OLLS staff to provide drafting assistance for an initiated measure. The OLLS does draft bills and concurrent resolutions that are introduced into the legislative process and that the General Assembly may ultimately refer to the voters.

  • What happens if I make the same bill request as another legislator?

    When the OLLS determines that your bill request appears to be identical or substantially similar to a request made by another legislator, the Office will contact you and let you know that it appears a similar bill request has already been submitted. The drafter can tell you whether the first request was made by someone in the same house or the opposite house of the legislature or by someone in the same party. Because of confidentiality concerns, however, the drafter cannot tell you the name of the legislator who made the first request, unless that request has already been introduced as a bill. The drafter will then ask your permission to tell the legislator who submitted the first request that you are requesting an identical or substantially similar bill.

    At this point, you may choose to withdraw your bill request. Or, you may tell the drafter that you want to proceed with your bill request, and you do not authorize the drafter to tell the first legislator that you are requesting the same or a similar bill. In this case, the drafter will proceed to draft your bill without divulging any further information. However, if you give the drafter permission to talk with the first legislator, he or she will contact that person. With that person’s permission, the drafter will tell you who the first legislator is, and you and the other legislator may discuss how you wish to proceed.

    At this point, you may decide to join efforts as prime sponsors in each house or as prime co-sponsors in the same house. Or you may decide that one of you should be the prime sponsor and the other a cosponsor. You may also decide to go forward with drafting and introducing both bills and let the legislative process determine the outcome. In no event, however, are you required to withdraw your bill request just because another legislator has already submitted the same or a similar request.

  • Can I choose a specific drafter to draft my bill?

    You may request a specific drafter to draft your bill, and we will make every effort to fulfill your request. However, the team leader for each subject matter team has discretion in assigning bills to the drafters on his or her team. Usually, the team leader bases bill assignments on subject matter expertise and workload. But, if you would like to work with a particular drafter, please let us know. If the drafter’s expertise is appropriate to the bill request, the team leader will certainly take the request into account and generally assign the bill to the requested drafter if possible.

  • What are the OLLS subject matter teams?

    There are three OLLS subject matter teams:
    • Business, Health Care, Natural Resources and Environment Team, a.k.a. the Bus Team
    • Fiscal Policy, Infrastructure, Elections, Education Finance, and State and Local Government Team, a.k.a. the Gov Team
    • Civil and Criminal Law, Education, and Human Services Team, a.k.a. the Law Team

    This specialization allows OLLS staff to gain expertise in particular areas of law and allows those persons with the most knowledge and experience in an area of law to address any needs members have concerning that area of law. When you submit a bill or research request, it is automatically routed to the subject matter team with the expertise necessary to draft your bill or answer your question.

    OLLS also has an Administration Team, which includes the front office staff and the Director and Deputy Director, and a Publications Team, which focuses most of its energies on the process for publishing the statutes.