State Senator Jahn is sponsoring HB 11-1190 - limiting damages against retailers for foodborne illnesses. The folks over at Food Safety News are reporting that Jahn and Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg have presented the bill but are refusing to say who has put them up to it. Here is the article (Fortuately, the website allows us a license to reprint it as long as we provide proper attribution.):
A Bid to Limit Retail Liability for Tainted Food by Dan Flynn | Feb 16, 2011
A bill that gets dropped in the hopper at a state legislature often starts out as a mini mystery. Who's behind it? Where did it really come from? What is it really trying to accomplish?
Colorado House Bill 11-1190--limiting damages against retailers for foodborne illnesses---is just such a bill. Its sponsors are state Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg and state Sen. Cheri Jahn. And they're not talking.
Sonnenberg is a farmer-rancher from Colorado's rural eastern plains and Jahn is a suburban politician from populous Jefferson County. He's a Republican and she's a Democrat.
Both serve on their respective chamber's agriculture committees. He chairs House Ag and she is vice chair of Senate Ag. Food Safety News asked Sonnenberg and Jahn to respond to questions about HB 1190, but neither did so.
As drafted, the bill would greatly limit the liability of food retailers in foodborne illness cases. It would mean that retailers would be let off from responsibility when their customers get sick unless it could be shown that they were responsible for contamination or had actual knowledge of it at the time of the sale.
Under the doctrine of strict liability, every part of the supply chain is deemed responsible for producing safe food to protect consumers. The Sonnenberg/Jahn bill would provide a "get out of jail free" card for the retail sector.
There is already some confusion about the language of the bill, which has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. The liability limiting language would apply when "jurisdiction cannot be obtained over the manufacturer."
That has caused some legislative observers to speculate that Lakewood, CO-based Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets Inc. might be behind the bill. It was caught up in the 2009 Salmonella outbreak involving Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), and settled litigation after PCA's bankruptcy.
The 30-store Vitamin Cottage chain, with units in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, was grinding organic peanuts from PCA's Texas facility in early 2009 that were contaminated with Salmonella.
This is really bad policy. The deficit chicken hawks in Congress have proposed cutting the Food & Drug Admin.'s budget. There will be fewer inspectors and fewer inspections. At the state a local level, budget cuts will limit the number of onsite inspections of all kinds of food processors and retail distributors. Food safety costs money - hiring people to inspect and clean food before it is sold to you and I - whether in a grocery store or a restaurant - eats into profits. The threat that a failure to properly inspect or clean food will give rise to significant monetary loss will become the only incentive that food retailer have do their part to ensure the safety of our food supply.
UPDATE: As her constituent, I called Sen. Jahn before I made my post. I spoke to one of her staff - yes, a live person not an answering machine. He told me that Sen. Jahn would call me back about the bill. I have still heard nothing though I have called her office three times this morning.
After spending more time than I can afford, I have been able to confirm through three sources who asked to remain confidental (I am sorry but you will have to take my word for this.) that the HB 11-1190 is being promoted by Vitamin Cottage through its lobbyist Kirsten Thomson. I have confirmed through records at the Secretary of State's Office that Ms. Thomson is, in fact, a registered professional lobbyist for Vitamin Cottage. I both called and e-mailed Ms. Thomson asking her to confirm or deny whether Vitamin Cottage and she are the source of the bill. I have yet to receive a response.
Apparently, there is an interesting back story about why Vitamin Cottage might be lobbying to get this bill passed. I have more research to do before I am comfortable writing about it. So, stay tuned. There will be more to come.
Update No. 2: I just received a call from Sen. Jahn. She confirmed that Vitamin Cottage and Kirsten Thomson, its lobbyist, are the source and prime movers behind the bill. Why you ask - think PCA and peanut butter.
(The sheer volume of comments this has attracted as a dairy, and the fairly creative style rate putting this out front.
- promoted by Voyageur)
So I saw Senator Bennet's newest ad today and was struck by what it might have similarities to. Surely it didn't seem like the Senator Bennet who was raised in D.C., worked as a corporate raider, and has been given everything in life. No, it resembled something else entirely.
First, if you haven't seen it, here is Senator Bennet's newest ad:
Q. Why do I support Senator Michael Bennet for election in 2010?
A. He's a good man, he's electable, and he is doing a fantastic job already as our US Senator. He has earned another term. Please allow me to elaborate.
1. He's a good man.
I was determined not to like Senator Bennet. I was a supporter of Andrew Romanoff's through the last decade. Like many other Coloradans, I met Andrew a few times at crowded campaign events, and followed what he accomplished in the newspaper. Romanoff fought hard against the neo-conservative movement in Colorado and called them on their craziness many times. As speaker of the House, Romanoff fought for things I care about: public schools, the poor, women's and minority issues, the rights of average Coloradans, and much more. Colorado owes him a debt of gratitude. I once told Andrew Romanoff I would support him for any position for which he ran, and I would help him win.
When Andrew was not chosen for US Senate, I thought to myself, "Governor Ritter better have a damn good reason for this decision". I'd never heard of Michael Bennet. I decided to learn more about him.
Just got this in my email, thought I'd post it here for everyone to see.
I'm writing to share some exciting news. I am putting Bill Romjue, a nationally respected political strategist and decorated veteran, at the top of our talented team. I have enormous respect for Bill's service to our country and his skill as a campaign manager, and I hope you will have a chance to meet him as well.
Bill earned a Bronze Star in Vietnam, where he served in the U.S. Army. He brings more than 30 years of political experience, having organized more than a dozen statewide races around the country and played key roles in a host of national campaigns, including those of Joe Biden, Gary Hart, Bob Kerrey, and Jimmy Carter. He also served as chief of staff to House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt.
Bill will lead a statewide operation that is growing stronger every day. We've hosted 75 house parties and added more than 700 donors in the past two weeks alone.
Click here to show your support.
Bill knows how Washington works - and he's just as determined as I am to change it. He rejects the "pay to play" system that allows powerful special-interest groups to bankroll Congress and block reform.
He shares the outrage so many of us feel as we watch one senator after another cut deals with the drug lobby, cave in to the insurance industry, and compromise the health of the American people.
It's time to take a stand.
Bill and I believe that Coloradans - and all Americans - deserve better.
We deserve the best Senate that money can't buy.
Click here to join our fight.
Sincerely,
Andrew Romanoff
P.S.: The 10 days that remain in this financial quarter are critical to our success. Help us send a powerful message by contributing right now.
I know most people on this web site hate him, but Ken Gordon is still the former Senate majority leader, a widely recognized name in the Democratic party, and someone who's accomplished a lot of things. His endorsement is certainly meaningful.
Gordon sent out an email today in support of Romanoff. Below the fold...
After the Senate Business, Labor and Technology committee killed Sen. Carroll's SB 09-166, she launched attacks on all committee members who voted no--including the Dems. She continues by denegrating committee Chair Veiga as well as Senate President Groff for assigning the bill to this particular committee.
Making enemies in your own party in the first session of your tenure in the Senate? Stay classy, Morgan.
After reviewing a recent diary that has since been removed, I wanted to follow up the discussion with a revamped posting, keeping with Pols' policies.
A local blogging team has been busy working for Joe Whitcomb, a candidate running against Sen. Shawn Mitchell. Not surprisingly, each blogger has his/her own vapor trail of other postings that can be embarrasing for his/her candidate.
Take Whitcomb's law school buddy and campaign staffer Nuriel Heckler. In a recent rant...er posting, Heckler, a confessed white male, states, "Many groups have the right to feel enraged by discrimination. White men are not one of them. We should feel responsible." To view all of his comments click here.
White males should be responsible? Are Whitcomb and his staff going to tell the vast majority of voters in the Northern Suburbs and southwest Weld County that they should feel responsible for discrimination? In fairness, earlier in that same posting, Heckler doesn't necessarily blame the white males because, "White people have been surrounded by privilege for so long that they don't even realize that they are privileged anymore." Fascinating.
I woke up today to two stories on Sen. Tapia regarding the Ethics Committee and its decision on his involvement with bills that gave money to the state fair, some of which was contracted out to his engineering firm. One story makes it sound like he's in trouble the other says we may have a decision today and makes it sound like the decision will favor Tapia.
