Governor Hickenlooper’s desk got a little cleaner last week, as he signed the last of the bills approved by the General Assembly during this legislative session. In total, the governor signed 309 bills this year. He also vetoed one bill, allowed one bill to pass into law without his signature, and allowed Lieutenant Governor Joe Garcia to sign one bill.

And, don’t miss our Legislative Wrap-Up CLE Presentation on July 10 to learn how laws passed this legislative session will affect your practice! Details below.

On Wednesday, June 6, 2012, Governor Hickenlooper signed eight bills into law, including a bill designed to modernize the state’s personnel system. That bill and two others are summarized here.

• HB 12-1321 – Concerning the State Personnel System, and, in Connection Therewith, Enacting the “Modernization of the State Personnel System Act.”
  Sponsored by Reps. Mark Ferrandino and Glenn Vaad and Sens. Mike Johnston and Keith King. The bill establishes a merit pay system to replace the old pay-for-performance system, makes changes regarding separation of state employees, and makes conditional changes to the appointment of state employees.
• HB 12-1272 – Concerning Continuation of Enhanced Unemployment Insurance Benefits for Unemployed Individuals Participating in Approved Training Programs, and, in Connection Therewith, Making an Appropriation.
  Sponsored by Reps. Crisanta Duran and Robert Ramirez and Sen. Linda Newell. The bill extends enhanced unemployment insurance benefits for unemployed individuals involved in approved training programs until June 30, 2014.
• HB 12-1041- Concerning the Creation of an Electronic Death Registration System in the Department of Public Health and Environment and, in Connection Therewith, Making an Appropriation.
  Sponsored by Rep. Jeanne Labuda and Sen. Lucia Guzman. The bill creates an electronic system for reporting of death information to counties and provides an alternative to the current paper-based system that requires families to travel to the decedent’s county of death in order to receive a death certificate.

The governor continued his bill signing efforts on Thursday, June 7, 2012, when he signed two bills, including a criminal proceedings omnibus bill and a bill clarifying CORA. These two bills are summarized below.

• HB 12-1310 – Concerning Changes to Statutory Provisions Related to Criminal Proceedings, and, in Connection Therewith, Making an Appropriation.
  Sponsored by Rep. Bob Gardner and Sen. Morgan Carroll. The bill incorporates several other bills regarding issues of criminal procedure, and affects several areas of criminal law, including sentencing, court proceedings, sex offenses, probation, and parole. It also criminalizes the use of cathinones (bath salts).
• HB 12-1036 – Concerning Clarification of the Exemption from the “Colorado Open Records Act” for Investigative Files.
  Sponsored by Rep. Jim Kerr and Sen. Betty Boyd. The bill clarifies that the exemption from CORA applies to investigative files for all civil, criminal, and administrative proceedings in Colorado, and also clarifies the security and chain of custody for ballots throughout the election season.

On Friday, June 8, 2012, Governor Hickenlooper signed the last bills of this legislative session. He signed 14 bills on Friday, including two bills that help military families in Colorado, HB 12-1059 and HB 12-1350. Five of the bills Governor Hickenlooper signed Friday are summarized here.

• HB 12-1273 – Concerning the Inclusion of Approved Facility Schools Affiliated with a Hospital to the Definition of Child Care Facility for Purposes of the Child Care Contribution Income Tax Credit.
  Sponsored by Rep. Dan Pabon and Sen. Pat Steadman. The bill adds schools that are operated by nonprofit hospital facilities for the benefit of their patients to the list of eligible recipients for the state child care contribution tax credit. Facilities would be eligible to receive donations in 2013 but individuals would not be able to claim the credit until 2014.
• HB 12S-1002 - Concerning Administration of the Unemployment Insurance Program in Order to Stabilize Unemployment Insurance Rates, and, in Connection Therewith, Facilitating the Issuance of Unemployment Revenue Bonds, Accelerating the Creation of the Division of Unemployment Insurance in the Department of Labor and Employment, and Making Technical Changes to Provisions Enacted as a Part of House Bill 11-1288 to Ensure Appropriate Transition to the New Unemployment Insurance Premium Rate Structure.
  Sponsored by Reps. Larry Liston and Dan Pabon and Sen. Cheri Jahn. The bill enables the newly created Division of Unemployment Insurance (UI) to issue revenue bonds on behalf of the UI program. It requires certification from several officials, including the Executive Director of the CDLE, the State Treasurer, and the Governor, regarding the issuance of the revenue bonds.
• SB 12-036 – Concerning Parental Consent for the Collection of Information from Students in Schools.
  Sponsored by Sen. Shawn Mitchell and Rep. Chris Holbert. The bill requires parental consent when schools gather certain information from students, including social security numbers or information regarding religious affiliation.
• SB 12-128 - Concerning Achieving Efficiencies in the Medicaid Long-Term Care Program Through Greater Utilization of Alternative Care Facilities.
  Sponsored by Sen. Ellen Roberts and Rep. Ken Summers. The bill authorizes the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to enhance reimbursements to alternative care facilities for patients transferred from nursing homes and also allows the DHCPF to create a program to identify Medicaid patients who are at risk of long-term nursing home placement and could otherwise utilize alternative care facilities.
• HB 12-1110 - Concerning the Regulation of Appraisal Management Companies, and, in Connection Therewith, Making an Appropriation.
  Sponsored by Rep. Angela Williams and Sen. Morgan Carroll. The bill redefines the legal meaning of appraisal management companies (AMCs) and creates a licensure process in the Division of Real Estate, including establishing licensure guidelines.

For a complete list of Governor Hickenlooper’s 2012 legislative decisions, click here.