Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

Date:04/22/2010
ATTENDANCE
Time:01:41 PM to 02:32 PM
Court
X
Gardner B.
X
Place:HCR 0107
Kagan
X
King S.
X
This Meeting was called to order by
Miklosi
X
Representative Levy
Nikkel
X
Pace
*
This Report was prepared by
Ryden
X
Jessika Shipley
Waller
X
McCann
X
Levy
X
X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call
Bills Addressed: Action Taken:
HB10-1404
SB10-156		Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole
Referred to the Committee of the Whole


01:41 PM -- House Bill 10-1404

Representative McCann, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 10-1404 concerning the administration of the Independent Ethics Commission. The bill moves the Independent Ethics Commission (IEC) from the Office of Administrative Courts in the Department of Personnel and Administration (DPA) to the Judicial Department. Any state employee on the staff of the IEC is transferred and becomes an employee of the Judicial Department. Employees who transfer retain all accrued rights and benefits earned under the state personnel system, including retirement, continuous service credit, and bumping rights within the IEC. Among other things, the bill also changes the response time for advisory opinions requested of the IEC from within 20 business days to as soon as practicable.

Representative McCann distributed prepared amendments L.001 and L.002 (Attachments A and B). She responded to questions from the committee.

01:49 PM -- Jeff Clayton, Judicial Branch, spoke in support of the bill. Mr. Clayton stated that the Judicial Branch did not seek out the transfer; the Governor's office asked for it to happen. Mr. Clayton discussed agencies that are under the umbrella of the Judicial Branch that are not necessarily judicial in nature, including the Office of the Child's Representative and the Office of the Alternate Defense Counsel.

01:52 PM -- Dan Grossman, IEC, spoke in support of the bill. Senator Grossman spoke about the independent nature of the commission. He expressed his opinion that the Judicial Branch will be very mindful of the constitutional independence of the IEC, while still providing an administrative foundation for the work of the commission. He stressed that the DPA has been helpful to the commission in terms of providing office space and other services, but that the department views the IEC as a subordinate agency. This has caused some confusion in the past. He responded to questions from the committee about the entity that initiated the bill.







01:56 PM -- Sally Hopper, IEC, spoke in support of the bill. Senator Hopper discussed the reason for eliminating the statutory requirement that the member of the commission appointed by the House of Representatives be affiliated with a different political party than the person appointed by the Senate. She responded to questions from the committee about the constitutional mandate for the commission.
BILL:HB10-1404
TIME: 02:02:59 PM
MOVED:McCann
MOTION:Adopt prepared amendment L.001 (Attachment A). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:Court
VOTE
Court
Gardner B.
Kagan
King S.
Miklosi
Nikkel
Pace
Ryden
Waller
McCann
Levy
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

100422AttachA.pdf


BILL:HB10-1404
TIME: 02:03:12 PM
MOVED:McCann
MOTION:Adopt prepared amendment L.002 (Attachment B). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:Court
VOTE
Court
Gardner B.
Kagan
King S.
Miklosi
Nikkel
Pace
Ryden
Waller
McCann
Levy
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

100422AttachB.pdf


BILL:HB10-1404
TIME: 02:03:34 PM
MOVED:McCann
MOTION:Refer House Bill 10-1404, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed on a vote of 11-0.
SECONDED:Court
VOTE
Court
Yes
Gardner B.
Yes
Kagan
Yes
King S.
Yes
Miklosi
Yes
Nikkel
Yes
Pace
Yes
Ryden
Yes
Waller
Yes
McCann
Yes
Levy
Yes
Final YES: 11 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:05 PM -- Senate Bill 10-156

Representative Hullinghorst, sponsor, presented Senate Bill 10-156 concerning increased protections for mobile home owners who lease space in mobile home parks. The bill provides additional protections from eviction without cause and from eviction with short notice to mobile home owners who lease space in mobile home parks. It requires a mobile home park owner to notify the municipality or county in which the park is located of its intent to change the use of the mobile home park's land one year before the change in use will occur. Additionally, the mobile home park's landlord must grant county or municipal officers access to the park for the purposes of investigating or conducting any studies relating to the sufficiency of utility infrastructure.

Representative Hullinghorst responded to questions from the committee.



02:11 PM -- Carl Castillo, representing the City of Boulder, Tom Hill, representing the American Mobile Home Association, Joan Green, representing the Mobile Home Owners' Association of Colorado, and Melanie Layton, representing the Rocky Mountain Home Association, testified about the bill. Mr. Hill discussed the coalition of proponents of the bill and the work that went into finding common ground about the bill. Ms. Green took a neutral position on the bill and stated that further discussions over the legislative interim will be beneficial. Ms. Layton also took a neutral position on the bill. She stated her opinion that the bill is reasonable and should not be amended in any way. Mr. Castillo stated his support of the compromises in the bill. He talked about mobile home parks in Boulder. All four witnesses responded to questions from the committee.
BILL:SB10-156
TIME: 02:30:25 PM
MOVED:Court
MOTION:Refer Senate Bill 10-156 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed on a vote of 10-1.
SECONDED:Levy
VOTE
Court
Yes
Gardner B.
No
Kagan
Yes
King S.
Yes
Miklosi
Yes
Nikkel
Yes
Pace
Yes
Ryden
Yes
Waller
Yes
McCann
Yes
Levy
Yes
Final YES: 10 NO: 1 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:32 PM

Representative Levy adjourned the committee.