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Senator King speaks on a resolution to raise awareness on human trafficking.



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Today, Senator Roberts’ (R-Durango) bill that gives school boards the authority to allow their school board members to participate in school board meetings electronically passed the Senate on voice vote.

“This common sense option gives rural school boards and their members a greater chance to contribute to their school board,” Roberts, the sponsor of Senate Bill 15, said. “In several counties, it could take a school member well over an hour or even longer to drive to their local board meeting in severe weather conditions. This measure allows members to participate over their computer or phone if they are unable to make the drive.”

Senator Steve King (R-Grand Junction), a co-sponsor of the bill, added, “This bill allows our school boards to be more responsive to the needs of our children and ensures greater board participation in rural areas when roads are sometimes impassable in difficult weather.”

Senator Ellen Roberts (R-Durango) presents Senate Bill 83 and Senate Bill 82. Both bills were recommended by the Lower North Fork Fire Commission.

Senate Bill 83 bill sets standards for prescribed burn standards for the state. Senate Bill 82 creates an interim committee, the Wildfire Matters Review Committee, to review and propose legislation related to wildfire prevention and mitigation in the state.





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Yesterday, the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs blocked Senator Randy Baumgardner’s (R-Cowdrey) clean energy bill that would incentivize utilities to use Coal Mine Methane gas as part of their renewable energy portfolio.

“This bill encourages companies to invest in Colorado’s future and improves the environment that we live in by building Methane Capture facilities,” said Baumgardner, the sponsor of the Senate Bill 3. “The capture of Coal Mine Methane (CMM) gas benefits Coloradans by making beneficial use of a source of energy that would otherwise be wasted, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and provides jobs and revenues to local communities.”

The EPA estimates that coal mines account for around 10 percent of annual methane emissions in the United States and that inactive coal mines can emit gas for up to 90 years after their closure. The bill died on a party line vote.

Today, Senate Democrats in the State Affairs Committee abandoned their “jobs, jobs, jobs” mantra when they decided to shoot down Senator Kevin Grantham’s (R-Cañon City) bill to classify the Waste-to-Energy process as a renewable energy. Currently 26 states, the federal government and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado consider this technology a renewable energy.

Creative Energy Systems, a Colorado energy company, had planned to create fifty jobs as well as make a $40 million dollar investment in La Junta, Colorado, if this legislation had passed.

Ron Davis, Director of Economic Development for the City of La Junta testified that, “This was about jobs in Colorado, not just for La Junta, but for the entire state.”

Bryan Bryant, Otero County Economic Development Coordinator added, “This was a shovel ready project. This would create jobs now for people in Otero County.”