May 07, 2008 11:41 PM UTC

Winners & Losers from 2008 Legislative Session

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: Gov. Ritter issued a press release about his version of how the session went. Full release after the jump.

The 2008 Legislative session is in the books, and the Rocky Mountain News takes a look a the winners and losers:

The biggest loser of the 2008 legislative session?

That’s easy.

Lawmakers, lobbyists and longtime Capitol observers – polled for their take on winners and losers this session – pointed to Rep. Douglas Bruce as a loser.

The Colorado Springs Republican turned into a one-man headline machine. He so antagonized his colleagues they refused to vote with him even when they thought he was right.

The winners?

Well, the answers are much less clear cut.

Democrats control the House and the Senate and the governor’s office, but Republicans said it was an extraordinary year for the GOP.

Gov. Bill Ritter got behind one of their key education bills. They avoided devisive social issues that made them look silly in past elections. They had a clear message during the budget debate: In a bad economy, the state should save more, spend less.

“We drove the agenda on many levels – and stopped some proposals from the other side of the aisle,” said Rep. Rob Witwer, R-Genesee.

“They’ve gotten a lot of press coverage, but they didn’t drive any agenda,” countered House Majority Leader Alice Madden. “They got things done where Democrats agreed with them.”

GOV. RITTER PRAISES 2008 LEGISLATIVE ACHIEVEMENTS

Gov. Bill Ritter today congratulated the 66th General Assembly for its significant progress during the 2008 legislative session, praising lawmakers for adopting major business development, education reform, education funding, health care and New Energy Economy legislation.

“This legislative session demonstrates exactly why bipartisan cooperation is so important,” Gov. Ritter said. “We do our best work when we work together, build coalitions, seek common ground and achieve consensus. The people of this state – the children of this state – will benefit for years to come because of what we accomplished over the past 119 days.

“We made aggressive gains and investments in business development and education, and we showed steady progress in health care, higher-ed funding, the New Energy Economy and many other areas. We accomplished much, and we still have much to do. I look forward to continuing these efforts in the weeks and months ahead.”

2008 Legislative Highlights: Economy, Education, Health Care & New Energy Economy

Business Development

The legislature adopted the most robust economic-development package in 20 years. It exempts 30,000 more businesses from the Business Personal Property Tax, invests $26.5 million in bioscience projects, and makes it easier for small business to qualify for job-creation incentives. The package also enacts the most significant corporate income tax change in 40 years, providing an incentive to companies that want to build their workforces and facilities in Colorado and rewarding those already investing in the people and infrastructure of the state.

HB 1001 (Riesberg/Bacon), Colorado Bioscience Research Grant Program

HB 1183 (Hodge/Veiga), New Job Creation Incentives

HB 1225 (Rice/Williams), Business Personal Prop. Tax

HB 1261 (Buescher/Bacon), Fly-Away Sales Tax Exemption

HB 1380 (Jahn/Shaffer), Single-Sales Factor

K-12 Education

Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids (SB 212 (Penry & Romer/Scanlan & Witwer) – Completely reforms the state’s K-12 content and system of assessment standards so that students have the skills and knowledge necessary to compete and succeed in college or careers.

School Finance Act (HB 1388 (Pommer/Windels) – Wipes out the waiting list for the Colorado Pre-School Program; expands full-day kindergarten for 22,000 children over five years and includes capital funding for full-day kindergarten classrooms; and creates a teacher alternative compensation grant program.

Colorado Counselor Corps (HB 1370 Middleton/Bacon — Creates Colorado Counselor Corps that will deploy 70 new counselors into targeted middle and high school counselors.

Building Excellent Schools Today – (HB 1335, Romanoff/Groff)

Innovative School Act 0f 2008 – (SB 130, Groff/Witwer)

Higher Education Funding

Higher Ed Operating & Capital Investments (Long Bill, HB 1375, Buescher/Keller) — Invests $65.8 million into the operating budgets of Colorado colleges and universities, representing a 9 percent increase from the prior year and the largest investment in Colorado history. Capital investment amounts to $118.5 million.  

Higher Ed Capital Construction (SB 218, Schwartz & Penry/Buescher & Balmer) – Reallocates Federal Mineral Lease dollars for higher-ed construction projects and for the first time creates higher-ed savings or rainy day accounts.

FML Certificates of Participation (SB 233, Windels & Williams/Riesberg & Marostica) – Allows the state to issue Certificates of Participation to speed higher-ed construction projects around Colorado.

Building Blocks to Health Care Reform

Gov. Ritter’s Building Blocks to Health Care Reform package provides one of the most significant investments in children’s health in years, while also addressing fundamental system issues around cost, quality and transparency.

Expand Access and Improve Health Care for Kids (SB 160, Hagedorn/McGihon) – Extends health insurance to thousands more Colorado kids by expanding eligibility in the Colorado Health Plan Plus to 225 percent of federal poverty level.

Building Blocks – Other measures provide a Medical Home to every child in CHP+ and Medicaid, make it easier for families to enroll in CHP+ and Medicaid, increase outreach/enrollment efforts, and increase reimbursement rates for primary care providers.

Expand Support for the Colorado Responds to Children with Special Needs Program — (HB 1100, Gagliardi/Keller)

Reduce Fraud and Abuse in Medicaid (HB 1409, Pommer/Johnson)

Improve Quality & Efficiency in Health Care

·         Standardize Health Plan ID Cards (SB 135, Mitchell/Gagliardi)

·         Increase and improve transparency in health insurance (HB 1385, Primavera/Schwartz)

·         Invest in health information technology through support of the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization (CORHIO) (Building Blocks Budget Package)

Protect Health Care Consumers

·         Empower the Division of Insurance to seek restitution for consumers who are wronged by insurance companies (HB 1228, Green/Gordon)

·         Protect consumers who need long term care services by licensing home care agencies (SB 153, Boyd/Ferrandino)

Strengthen Public Health Programs

·         Reorganize public health in Colorado (SB 194, Hagedorn/McGihon)

·         Increase funding for immunizations (Budget)

·         Improve access to oral health services for Old Age Pension participants (HB 1116, Gallegos/Shaffer)

·         Update the public health statutes on Tuberculosis (HB1199, Ferrandino/Williams)

Strengthen Nursing and Patient Safety

·         Implement a pilot program to involve direct-care nurses in decision-making processes in hospitals (SB 188, Boyd / Pommer)

·         Add nursing-sensitive quality measures to the Colorado Hospital Report Card (SB 196, Boyd and Tochtrop / Pommer)

·         Strengthen the authority of Advanced Practice Nurses (HB 1060, Gagliardi / Hagedorn; HB 1061, Roberts / Hagedorn; and HB 1094, Gagliardi / Hagedorn)

New Energy Economy

After doubling the state’s renewable energy standard in 2007, the legislature and Gov. Ritter embarked on Phase II of the New Energy Economy: Bringing the New Energy Economy Home.

Homegrown Energy/Net Metering – (HB 1160, Solano/Shaffer & Isgar)

Utility Scale Solar Energy – (HB 1164, Solano/Schwartz)

Go Green – (HB 1350, Buescher & Pommer/Keller & Morse)

Low Income Energy Assistance – (HB 1387, Buescher/Veiga)

Homeowner Association Energy Efficiency Measures – (HB 1270)  

Increase Energy Efficiency in State Buildings – (SB 147, Gordon/Hodge)

Colorado Clean Energy Finance Program – (SB 184, Romer/Levy)