A Republican bill to cut costs by making it easier for doctors and patients to deal with insurers passed a Senate Committee Thursday after picking up support from the governor's office.

Senate Bill 135, sponsored by Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, would require health insurers and health-care providers to develop and use a standardized card that contains vital information about patients’ health coverage. Currently, widespread clerical errors--due to insurance cards that are difficult to read--are believed to result in paperwork snafus that drive up insurance costs.

All Coloradans with private or public health insurance would be issued the electronically scannable card, which would immediately inform doctors and hospitals of the details of the patients’ insurance.

“I am proud to carry this bill to make health care better, more convenient and less expensive,” Mitchell said after the vote.

Mitchell believes that it is important that all stakeholders be involved in crafting a standardized health-benefits card because it affects everyone in the system.

A Democrat bid to raise the stakes in lawsuits against physicians squeaked through the Senate today by one vote despite objections from Republicans--and even a dissenting Democrat--that it would drive up health care costs and drive docs out of rural Colorado.

Republicans are calling Senate Bill 164 "payback" to the trial-lawyers lobby, a key Democrat ally, because it hikes statutory caps on lawsuits to the benefit of lawyers--at doctors' expense. Doctors credit the caps under the current law with reining in their liability insurance rates so they can afford to continue practicing medicine.

The bill drew a stinging rebuke from Republicans on the Senate floor who pointed out the irony of raising the cost of doing business for doctors at the same time that both parties are looking for ways to curb spiraling health-care costs.

"Our vital priority is expanding access to health care," said the GOP's Sen. Shawn Mitchell, of Broomfield. "This bill goes in exactly the wrong direction." 

Mitchell recounted how Democrat Gov. Bill Ritter, among other leaders in his party, have repeatedly called for cutting health-care costs.

"There was not one word in the governor's (State of the State) speech about increasing damages awards for plaintiffs," Mitchell said. "This bill quadruples recoverable damages."

A Republican-inspired, Democrat-authored ban on state employee strikes passed a Senate committee today with bipartisan, but lukewarm, support amid GOP concerns that the measure needs stiffer penalties.

House Bill 1189, sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Dan Gibbs, D-Silverthorne, won a 4-1 vote in the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee--after the committee's Democrat majority killed Republican efforts to make the measure tougher.

Legislative Republicans had called on Democrat Gov. Bill Ritter to endorse a strike ban last fall after the governor issued his controversial executive order giving unions the power to collectively bargain for wages and benefits. Republicans now say the governor delivered on the ban but fell way short of the mark on the ability to enforce it.

"Obviously, this bill wouldn't have been introduced at all if Republicans hadn't urged the governor to do the right thing and assure taxpayers their vital public services wouldn't be jeopardized by the threat of a strike," the GOP's Sen. Bill Cadman, of Colorado Springs, said after the committee vote.

"Unfortunately, what we got from the governor and his allies in the legislature was a bare, minimum kind of guarantee," Cadman said. "This thing is enforced with a wet noodle."

With only four "no" votes, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a Republican plan today helping employers screen for illegal immigrants in the work force. Senate Bill 139, authored by Sen. Dave Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, would require the state to notify employers that they can participate in the federal "E-Verify" program, which lets them check if a newly hired employee is in the country illegally.

Schultheis says while federal law bars knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, many employers aren't aware of their options for verifying an employee's status.

"Most employers want to comply with the law," he said after the vote. "This measure will empower them."

Schultheis noted his bill places no mandates on employers, instead apprising them of a tool that they may not know about. SB 139 requires the state Department of Labor and Employment to regularly remind employers of the federal law and that they can participate in E-Verify. The bill also requires the Secretary of State's Office to include the information on its Website.

The only members voting against the measure in the Senate were Sens. Gail Schwartz, of Aspen, Stephanie Takis, of Aurora, Jennifer Veiga, of Denver, and Sue Windels, of Arvada--all Democrats.

A GOP bill making it easier--and more cost-effective--to install solar power on homes and businesses won a final, unanimous vote of approval from the state Senate today.

Senate Bill 117, authored by Broomfield Republican Sen. Shawn Mitchell, would cap exorbitant permit fees charged by some cities when property owners go solar.

Mitchell says that by lowering bureaucratic hurdles to a key renewable resource in the new energy economy, SB 117 encourages both energy conservation and economic development in the surging renewable-energy market--without spending tax dollars.

"It's a good thing anytime you can ease government's burden on the average citizen, encourage energy efficiency and stimulate the economy--all at the same time," Mitchell said after the vote.

The measure now goes to the House, where it will be sponsored by Rep. Frank McNulty, a Highlands Ranch Republican. McNulty, regarded as a policy expert on energy and resources issues, is a former official of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources.

A Republican proposal making it a class 2 misdemeanor to sell or distribute pornographic material to a minor was nearly gutted today by ruling Democrats in the Senate. In the end, Senate Bill 125, sponsored by the GOP's Sen. Ted Harvey, of Highlands Ranch, passed in tact before being sent to the Appropriations Committee.

Colorado is one of just seven states that do not have a law against selling or giving pornographic material to a child.

An amendment offered by Democrats would have kept porn sales to children legal, instead turning the bill into what Republicans dismissed as a less effective prohibition  on using pornography in the commission of sex crimes against children. 

"I consider (the amendment) to be a shame," Harvey told fellow senators.  "The average citizen would think it's illegal to sell porn to a minor, but it's not."

Republicans were able to rally with a timely counter-amendment by Republican Sen. Mike Kopp, of Littleton, who resurrected the bill's original intent. It combined the Democrat version with the original Republican one, winning lopsided approval.

A measure to ensure high school graduates can communicate—in English—won the approval of the Senate Education Committee today, even picking up two key Democrat votes.

Sponsored by Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, Senate Bill 98 would require high school students to demonstrate their proficiency in the English language in order to graduate from high school.  The measure is part of the GOP's legislative agenda for 2008.

"This is a call for accountability,” Mitchell said after the vote. “This bill is a prohibition on educational fraud.  If we are awarding diplomas in this state, we need to make sure students can speak English.”

Mitchell said he has spoken to parents in his Senate district who have told him of their desire to have their kids be competent in English so that they will be able to succeed in life. He also added that students need English proficiency in order to fill out a school or work application.

After raising a clenched fist in mock defiance and declaring "Solar power to the people!" on the Senate floor Thursday, Republican state Sen. Shawn Mitchell beamed as fellow lawmakers overwhelmingly approved his bill making it easier to go solar.

Mitchell, whose Senate Bill 117 would cap exorbitant permit fees charged by some cities for solar-system installations on homes and businesses, says his measure is a win-win because it lowers bureaucratic hurdles to a key renewable resource in the new energy economy.

"It's good for the economy, it's good for our energy independence, and it's good for our environment," Mitchell said moments before the vote. He also urged the Senate to embrace a bill that, “knocks down barriers by local governments and creates a fair playing field for everyone who wants to harness solar energy.”

Republican State Sen. Tom Wiens, R-Castle Rock, and U.S. Senator Wayne Allard met today with federal officials at the State Capitol in hopes of averting a disaster in Leadville that could cost hundreds of lives and foul the Arkansas River.

The key lawmakers sketched out a plan to drain toxic water that has pooled underground and now threatens to burst through a decaying barrier and flood parts of the historic mountain town as well as the nearby Arkansas' headwaters.

 “We need to have a real discussion today, we need an immediate fix, and a permanent solution.” Wiens said to open the meeting.

Allard echoed Wiens' demand for action. “We are all concerned, and we want a plan,” the veteran senator said.

Allard and Wiens were joined by the Lake County commissioners, and a host of federal officials representing key agencies that must play a role in planning for the emergency.

Frustrations have grown with the federal agencies involved. 

"We are angry, we’re damned angry.  We have three (federal) agencies over here— agencies I'm terming ‘The Three Stooges,’” said Lake County Commissioner Mike Hickman.

He added, “Almost four years ago we knew what the problem was, and you (the federal agencies) are still pointing fingers in every direction, the people of Leadville deserve more.”

The first line of defense against the wildfires that regularly ravage Colorado's forests and threaten Front Range homes is often the beleaguered volunteer fire department. Now, a couple of GOP lawmakers at the statehouse are planning to send in some reinforcements.

Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, and Rob Witwer, R-Genesee, are putting forth a legislative package of four bills and two resolutions in an effort to anticipate future wildfires and to bolster the work of community firefighting programs.

"My hope with these bills is not only to give the men and women of the Front Range much-needed assistance, but also to send a message that these communities have allies here at the Capitol who understand and care about creating and maintaining healthy forests," Kopp said  "We will do everything in our power to make sure areas most threatened by wildfires will be better prepared when fire season rolls around again."

A Republican bill that would require Colorado students to demonstrate proficiency in the English language in order to graduate high school will debut before a senate committee Thursday. 

Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, will present Senate Bill 98 to the Senate Education Committee. Essentially the same bill passed the Democrat-led Committee last year when it was sponsored by Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, and passed the full Senate as well but later died in the House. 

SB 98 is part of the Republican legislative agenda for 2008 that was unveiled last fall. 

Waving off pleas to give parents more educational options for children with special needs, majority Democrats on a Senate committee today thwarted a Republican bill offering tuition assistance so those kids can attend private schools.

Senate Bill 142--authored by assistant Senate GOP leader Nancy Spence, and sponsored in the House by Republican Rep. Spencer Swalm--would have started a pilot program in Denver Public Schools granting $3,000 in public funding toward the private-schooling of any child who isn't being well served by a neighborhood school.

"Parents will be given flexibility and choice for the first time," Spence told members of the Senate Education Committee, on which she is the ranking Republican member. "(This has) been an area where the state and federal governments have failed to provide adequate resources."

Two hours later--after extensive testimony--the committee's four Democrats voted to kill Spence's bill over Republican objections. The bill was part of the the Republicans' legislative agenda for 2008.

Special-needs children will have the opportunity to receive scholarships to attend a school of their parents' choice--one that would more adequately address their needs--under a bill being presented Wednesday in the Senate Committee on Education.

Senate Bill 142, sponsored by assistant Senate Republican leader Nancy Spence, of Centennial, and Rep. Spencer Swalm, R-Littleton, would establish a pilot program for Colorado children with disabilities in kindergarten through 12th grade.

The measure is part of the Republican legislative agenda for 2008. 

As the ranking Republican member on the Education Committee, Spence says there are too many disabled children whose needs simply are not being met by the public school system.

"My hope with this legislation is to alleviate one of the many burdens that parents of special-needs children face," Spence said.  "These parents need meaningful options."

A seemingly routine Democrat bill making its way through the legislature would change the mission of the state Public Utilities Commission to the detriment of utility ratepayers, the Senate's top Republican charged today.

House Bill 1227, introduced in the House by that chamber's majority leader, Boulder Democrat Alice Madden, would bring other cabinet agencies in the Ritter administration into the deliberations of the quasi-judicial regulatory board.

The bill also would require the PUC to consider "economic, social and environmental" factors in matters that come before the body. Right now, the PUC's members are supposed to consider price and access when regulating the rates and quality of service of telephone, gas, electric and water utilities in the state. 

"Apparently, the people behind this bill think we don't pay enough to heat our homes, so they want to help the PUC drive the price even higher," said Senate GOP leader Andy McElhany.

Some of Colorado's leading voices on health policy--representing both parties and wide-ranging views--spoke out in unison today against a Democrat bill they said would drive up health-care costs and drive out doctors. They said the legislation, which just emerged Friday and is being fast-tracked through a committee today, comes ironically at the very time the state is trying to reform health care and rein in soaring costs.

Bill Lindsay, who chaired the bipartisan "208 commission" on health care reform, the GOP's Sen. Josh Penry, of Grand Junction, and Sen. Bob Hagedorn, an Aurora Democrat,

appeared at a morning news conference at the Capitol to denounce Senate Bill 164 as a gift to trial lawyers at the public's expense.

"This is the wrong step for Colorado at absolutely the wrong time," Lindsay said.

Lindsay, Penry and Hagedorn said the bill would drive up costs throughout the health-care system by loosening the current statutory restraints on lawsuits against doctors--creating a litigation-friendly climate that would drive up docs' liability-insurance premiums.

In a letter to Gov. Bill Ritter and President Bush, Republican Senator Tom Wiens demanded swift action to avert a catastrophic blowout which could cost hundreds of lives, and the contamination of the Arkansas River.

In response, federal and state emergency response officials are preparing to make money available and to take action at the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel , following the demand from Wiens and the Lake County commissioners. 

“The situation at the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel is severe and the time has come for an immediate fix. The federal government is responsible for this property and needs to fix it,” Wiens said. “Federal funds must be made available and the United States Bureau of Reclamation authorities must be required to take immediate action to relieve the pressure inside the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel.”

The governor's push to unionize the state government employees will leave legislative budgeters in a bind as payroll costs soar, the Senate's No. 2 Republican told a group of business leaders today.

"The budget will break as unions swell," said assistant senate GOP leader Nancy Spence, of Centennial, addressing a Denver-area gathering of the Colorado Republican Business Coalition. 

Spence chided Gov. Bill Ritter for his executive order last November allowing unions for the first time to bargain for state employee's wages and benefits.  Spence said it will create additional pressure on the budget--and ultimately on taxpayers--to pony up union demands.

"Collective bargaining is a shakedown from any angle, not only for the taxpayers who foot the bill but also for the additional state employees who wind up paying dues," Spence said. "Almost the only ones who come out ahead are the union bosses."

A proposal preventing the state from spending the money it collects under Gov. Bill Ritter's property tax hike--in case it has to be repaid under a pending lawsuit--was killed Wednesday on a party-line vote in the Senate Committee on Finance. 

Sen. Scott Renfroe, R-Eaton, the author of Senate Bill 137, proposed the legislation because he says saving money generated from the governor's tax hike in an account for schools is the only responsible course of action.

"I don't care which side of the TABOR vs. Mill Levy Tax Freeze issue you are on, it makes fiscal sense to put this money aside in an account until the courts decide if we legally can collect and spend the increased tax revenue," Renfroe said. 

A breakthrough Republican effort to reward the best and brightest teachers throughout the state has won the support of Colorado's Democrat governor and the bipartisan blessing of some onetime opponents. On Wednesday, assistant Senate GOP leader Nancy Spence's Senate Bill 65--also sponsored by Democrat Sen. Sue Windels--picked up the unanimous approval of the Senate Education Committee.

Spence's proposal to fund performance incentives for teachers was announced last fall as part of the Republican legislative agenda for 2008. The administration of Gov. Bill Ritter, himself a supporter of teacher performance pay, embraced Spence's effort and offered to collaborate on her bill and help find majority Democrat co-sponsors--some of whom had opposed and killed a performance-incentive bill Spence carried last year.

This week, both parties--though not the state teachers union--welcomed the proposal as Spence presented it in committee. The veteran lawmaker from Centennial, the committee's ranking Republican, told fellow committee members that there is a national movement to change the way teachers are paid.

"Governors across the nation are taking the lead in teacher compensation reform," Spence said.

A Senate committee embraced a Republican proposal today that expands the use of renewable energy by lowering bureaucratic barriers. Sen. Shawn Mitchell's Senate Bill 117--which would cap exorbitant permit fees charged by some cities for solar-system installations on homes and businesses--won unanimous, bipartisan approval in the Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Energy Committee.

Solar-energy advocates, including representatives of the industry as well as environmentalists, testified to the need for Mitchell's proposal, and they pointed to how demand for alternative power sources is surging across Colorado.

They said the fees charged in Front Range cities vary dramatically--from $59 in the city and county of Denver to as high as $1,345 just next-door in Aurora--deterring plenty of home- and business owners from going solar.

Mitchell's bill caps what cities and counties can charge for solar permitting fees at $300 dollars for residential and $1,000 dollars for non-residential permits.

"It's good for the environment, and it pushes back government barriers and bureaucrats," Mitchell said after the committee's vote.

A bipartisan bill intended to shore up the right of Coloradans to defend themselves from imminent violence was killed in a Senate committee Monday by majority Democrats.

Senate Bill 115, authored by Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, would have given an individual injured in an attack in a “gun-free zone” the right to bring a civil action against a government agency that designated the zone if possession of a firearm could have helped the law-abiding vicitm defend himself.

“Gun-free zones serve one purpose--to disarm law-abiding citizens," Brophy said. "That is why I prefer to call them, 'criminal-safe zones.' Let's face it, they offer an additional guarantee to thugs that they can get by with just about anything."

The measure was co-sponsored by a host of Republicans in both chambers as well as one Democrat--Sen. Lois Tochtrop. 

A Broomfield state senator is taking on city hall in his bid to expand the use of renewable energy. Senate Bill 117 would cap what Republican Sen. Shawn Mitchell says are "indefensibly high" permit fees charged by some local governments when solar-energy systems are installed on homes and businesses.

Mitchell says there is a patchwork of wide-ranging fees for solar installations from one Front Range city to the next; fees can be as low as $59 in the city and county of Denver and as high as $1,345--right next-door in Aurora.

Mitchell will present his bill to the the Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources & Energy Wednesday.

"One of the easiest things we can do to promote more efficient, renewable forms of energy is to move bureaucracy and red tape out of the way," Mitchell said. "And it begs for an explanation when you see fees in some cities in the metro area that are 10 and 20 times higher than they are for the very same permits right next-door."

Mitchell added, "Frankly, it casts doubt on some cities' claims that they are just trying to cover their administrative costs in processing permits. You have to wonder if they're really using the permits to subsidize overall operations at city hall."

Republican Sen. Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, stood by Gov. Bill Ritter and other Democratic legislators today as he introduced a bill that consolidates the state government's information technology infrastructure--a bill initially crafted and championed by Cadman and retired Sen. Ron May.

Cadman, who was named to replace May by a vacancy committee late last year, said he was elated that the bill is finally going to see the light of day.

"This is a great long-overdue legislation," Cadman said. "It streamlines our state's IT system and it does so without just shifting resources from department to department. "

Despite renewed calls by the public to secure the state's elections, majority Democrats on a House committee shut down a proposal Thursday to require proof of citizenship for those seeking to vote.

On a party-line vote, the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs committee killed the Republican-authored House Bill 1177, which would have required people registering to vote to show one of several commonly held forms of identification to prove citizenship.

The bill's sponsors--Republican Rep. Frank McNulty, of Highlands Ranch, and Senate GOP leader Andy McElhany, of Colorado Springs--expressed dismay at the vote.

“We have an obligation as state lawmakers to protect the integrity of our voting process against election fraud,” McNulty said.   “I am saddened by the fact that Democrat leadership made this common sense proposal a partisan issue. ”

McElhany expressed near-disbelief at the action by House Democrats.

"You would think this was one issue that both parties could agree on," he said.

A leading Republican senator ran into a wall of union solidarity in a Senate committee today when he tried unsuccessfully to stop the governor's controversial executive order extending the reach of organized labor deep into state government.

The GOP's Sen. Shawn Mitchell, of Broomfield, pleaded with ruling Democrats on the

VIDEO: Pro-union order draws fire

Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee to consider the order's longterm cost to the state's budget and the taxpaying public. He also told committee members that since Gov. Bill Ritter signed the order last fall--granting collective-bargaining power to unions representing state employees--union reps have been aggressively soliciting new members by contacting state employees via mail and even in person at their homes.

Nevertheless, Mitchell's Senate Bill 86, sponsored in the House by Rep. Cory Gardner, of Yuma, was voted down along party lines. The measure would have repealed the executive order.

"This leaves taxpayers holding the bag," Mitchell said.

A proposal that would have let employees opt out of union-shop workplaces--potentially boosting Colorado as a draw for new employers--was shot down Monday by the Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs committee on a party-line vote.

SB 56 would have made it illegal for any union to force employees to become a member or pay union dues without their permission.

Republicans sided with a host of witnesses in a Senate committee hearing Monday challenging a Democrat measure placing new conditions on guns stored at home. The State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee's GOP members said Senate Bill 49 would make it much harder for homeowners to protect themselves and their families against home intrusions and burglaries.

SB 49, sponsored in the Senate by Arvada Democrat Sue Windels, holds homeowners criminally liable--subject to a misdemeanor charge--if minors obtain their firearms and commit suicide or a crime against another. Windels says the measure is meant to cut crime and teen suicides, but Republicans on the committee said the bill would backfire.

"Current law already addresses this issue," Sen. Bill Cadman, a Colorado Springs Republican on the committee, said after the hearing.

In another effort to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into Colorado, a Republican bill that would double the number of officers in the Colorado State Patrol Immigration Enforcement Unit won unanimous approval today in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sponsors of SB 87, Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, and Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, say the expansion--from 24 to 48 members--is necessary due to the positive results the unit achieved in less than its first six months of operation. Harvey and King also say the state no longer can afford to wait for federal authorities to do their job.

"The federal government has made it obvious that it won't enact and enforce its own immigration laws," Harvey said.  "Consequently, state governments have been forced to pick up the slack and crack down on those individuals in our country illegally." 

A measure that has been dubbed the “Leave No Trial Lawyer Behind” bill passed the Senate this morning with majority Democrat support--over objections it would stoke litigation at the expense of business.

House Bill 1020, sponsored by Democrats Alice Madden in the House and Jennifer Veiga in the Senate, would make sweeping changes to the litigation system in Colorado to favor plaintiffs in lawsuits. While some legal observers say the bill upends a level playing field, the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association lobbied for the bill and testified in

support of it in committee. 

In an attempt to level the playing field once more, Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, offered an amendment to give defendants a chance to provide a more accurate settlement offer by requiring of plaintiffs a full accounting of the costs they incurred.  However, the amendment failed when the majority Democrats voted it down.

A push by the GOP on the Senate floor today challenged one-size-fits-all historic-preservation rules in order to allow for greater energy efficiency in the state's oldest buildings.

The Republican proposal, by Sen. Scott Renfroe aims to relax preservation rules so that energy efficient materials and technologies can be employed when historic-preservation funds are used.   

“This is a down-to-earth approach for saving energy in Colorado’s oldest schools, libraries, courthouses and buildings,” said Renfroe, of Eaton.  Renfroe said protecting the appearance and integrity of treasured historic buildings, while making them energy-efficient, is common sense that should enjoy bipartisan support.

Senate Bill 78 specifically targets outdated windows, insulation and the heating and cooling systems that are inefficient in the state government's oldest buildings.

Key voices for education reform--Democrat Senate President Peter Groff and Assistant Senate Republican leader Nancy Spence--introduced a potentially groundbreaking proposal in the General Assembly this week that Spence says would give students and teachers a way around the public school bureaucracy.

Senate Bill 130 would allow public schools throughout the state to sidestep current restrictions--especially union-negotiated labor contracts--so they can implement wide-ranging innovations. The bipartisan effort, called the Innovation Schools Act of 2008, likely will run into intense opposition from teacher unions, Spence said.

"This bill does an end-run on the entire bureaucratic process, which long has stifled education reform," said Spence, a veteran lawmaker from Centennial who also served in the state House and on the board of the Cherry Creek Schools.

The proposal is being sponsored in the House by two other leaders on education issues, the GOP's Rep. Rob Witwer, of Genessee, and Democrat Rep. Terrence Carroll, of Denver. Both Groff and Carroll have been known to buck some of their party's establishment backers, like teacher unions, by supporting innovations like school choice and greater accountability.