My 2011 Bills
Bills Carried by Senator Irene Aguilar, MD – 2011 Legislative Session
SB11-193, concerning Disclosure of Caregiver Employment Information, would ensure that current and former employers would not be subject to civil liability for the good faith disclosure of information about an employee’s known involvement in the mistreatment, exploitation, neglect, or abuse of persons with developmental disabilities. This bill passed its third reading on the Senate Floor on April 13th by a vote of 34-0 and passed the House by a 65-0 vote. It was signed into law by the governor on June 2nd.
SB11-183, ensuring Representation of People with Disabilities on Boards, would mandate the inclusion of people with disabilities or their family members on governor-appointed boards that make decisions relevant to the lives of people with disabilities. This bill would specifically affect the Board of Housing, the Medical Services Board, and the Board of Health and Human Services. The bill passed both houses and was signed into law by the Governor on April 26th.
SB11-192, renewing an Electronic Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, continues a program that allows physicians to identify patients who are abusing controlled substances, which is necessary to ensure patient safety. This bill passed the Senate by a resounding bipartisan 29-4 vote on April 21st. It passed out of the House and was signed into law by the Governor on May 27th.
SB11-242, concerning Retired Volunteer Nurse Licensure, is a bill that changes the age when a nurse can get a retired volunteer nurse license from 65 to 55. The bill passed its third reading on the Senate floor by a vote of 34-0 and passed the House by a 62-2 vote. Governor Hickenlooper signed the bill into law on May 27th.
SB11-272, concerning Voluntary Contributions Benefitting Adult Stem Cells Cure Fund, is a bill that extends the period for which state income tax return forms include a line allowing individual taxpayers to make a voluntary contribution to the Adult Stem Cells Cure Fund. The bill passed its third reading on the Senate floor by a vote of 29-5 on May 9th and passed by a 65-0 vote on the House floor on May 11. It was signed by the Governor on June 2nd.
House Bills Co-Sponsored by Senator Aguilar
Representative Massey’s and Field’s bill to Increase Physical Activity in Public Schools, HB11-1069. Colorado is one of only two states that do not have a physical education requirement. This bill would require that students spend at least 30 minutes a day in physical activity. In addition to improving health, physical activity increases concentration and learning ability. HB11-1069 passed both houses and was signed into law by the governor on April 20th.
Representative Riesberg’s Disability Benefit License Plate Numbers bill, HB11-1216, auctions off retired vehicle license plates in Colorado, including vanity plates and original low-number plates. The money raised by the sale of retired license plates would pay to establish a support system to help people with disabilities to navigate the benefit process. This bill won final passage in the Senate on April 14, 2011 and was signed into law by the Governor on April 26th.
Representative Murray’s, Type 1 Diabetes Special License Plate bill, HB11-1166, creates commemorative license plates raising awareness about Type 1 Diabetes. The additional fees collected for these special plates would go to the Highway Users Tax Fund and the Licensing Services Cash Fund. This bill passed out of the House and passed the Senate by a 25-10 vote on May 4, 2011. Governor Hickenlooper signed the bill into law on June 2nd.
Senate and House Bills Sponsored by Senator Aguilar That Did Not Pass
SB11-168, The Colorado Health Care Cooperative bill, would begin the process of establishing a health care system that would include all Colorado residents as members. The bill provides a path to ensure all Coloradans have heightened access, quality, and choice in their personalized health care at a significant savings to both the individuals and the state. SB11–168 would create an authority to hire experts to design the benefits and determine the costs for the Cooperative in keeping with guidelines described in the bill. The blueprint for a final health care system would be presented to the legislature for possible referral to the people of Colorado as a ballot measure. SB11-168 passed out of the Senate Business, Labor, & Technology Committee and was adopted in second reading by the Senate on Monday, May 9th before being laid over for its third reading.
SB11-170, calling for Long-Term Care Reimbursement Parity, would allow the Joint Budget Committee to set rates for all providers of long-term care, giving the Joint Budget Committee full flexibility in setting the rate for the annual guaranteed increases. This would eliminate the existing need to run a separate bill for this process, a cost savings of $15,000. The annual rate increase would be approved with the rest of the state budget in the long bill. This bill was passed on the floor of the Senate by a 20-12 vote on March 14, 2011. It was postponed indefinitely by the House Health and Environment Committee.
SB11-171, tracking Abusive Caregivers, was postponed indefinitely due to excessive costs. Senator Aguilar introduced SB11-193 to begin the process of protecting vulnerable populations. She will also convene a group to meet about this issue between sessions.
A bill addressing Eligibility Requirements for Homestead Exemptions to help homeowners 65 and over maintain their exemptions if they buy a new home, had to be pulled. The fiscal note could not be addressed with legislation as this exemption is constitutionally protected.
SB11-190, a Citizen-Centric Reporting bill, provides transparency in budgeting by calling on government departments to provide short, concise, accessible, and plain language reports on how taxpayer dollars are spent in their department. SB11-190 was postponed indefinitely by the Senate State, Military & Veterans Affair Committee on March 21, 2011.
Representative Duran’s Off-Label Use bill, HB11-1099, was postponed indefinitely by the House Health & Environment Committee.
Representative Kefalas’ Patient-Centered Medical Home bill, HB11-1245, was postponed indefinitely by the House State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee.
Representative Kagan’s bill to create a Procurement Process Improvement Task Force, HB11-1099, was postponed indefinitely by the House State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee.
