House Committee on Local Government (03/05/2014)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Date:	03/05/2014	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:30 PM to 02:41 PM	Dore	X
		Exum	X
Place:	HCR 0107	Garcia	X
		Gardner	*
This Meeting was called to order by		Landgraf	*
	Representative Fields	Lebsock	*
		Navarro	*
This Report was prepared by		Rankin	X
	Damion Pechota	Rosenthal	*
		Vigil	X
		Wright	X
		Singer	*
		Fields	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
SB14-097 SB14-121 SB14-138		Referred to the Committee of the Whole Referred to the Committee of the Whole Referred to the Committee of the Whole

01:30 PM -- SB14-097

Representative Hamner, sponsor, presented and summarized the reengrossed Senate Bill 14-097 concerning the immunity of public agencies against liability arising from the wildfire mitigation activities of insurance companies. The bill provides that public agencies are not liable for the actions of private insurance companies and their agents. The bill also clarifies that private insurance companies and their agents are not protected from liability under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act. Under the bill, private insurance companies are still under the command of the local county sheriff, fire chief, or incident commander. However, in the event of an emergency, private insurance companies may engage in activities to protect the insurable private property of policyholders, including access to evacuated areas. No public agency will be liable for the actions of private insurance companies.

01:32 PM -- Paul Cooke, Director, Division of Fire Prevention and Control, spoke in favor of the bill.

Representative Hamner answered questions from the committee regarding the relationship between local firefighters and insurance companies.

Director Cooke discussed the frequency of the suppression of fires by hired firefighters for insured homes in restricted areas.

01:36 PM -- Pat Ratliff, Colorado Counties Inc., spoke in favor of the bill. She discussed the background of the bill.

01:38 PM -- Peg Ackerman, County Sheriffs of Colorado, spoke in favor of the bill. Ms. Ackerman answered questions from the committee regarding the structure of command for the oversight of private firefighter groups.

Ms. Ratliff answered questions from the committee regarding communication between private firefighters and local governments in restricted areas.

01:41 PM -- Robert Ferm, American Insurance Association, spoke for information purposes only.

Representative Hamner provided closing comments.


BILL:	SB14-097
TIME:	01:42:42 PM
MOVED:	Singer
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 14-097 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 13-0.
SECONDED:	Wright
		VOTE
	Dore	Yes
	Exum	Yes
	Garcia	Yes
	Gardner	Yes
	Landgraf	Yes
	Lebsock	Yes
	Navarro	Yes
	Rankin	Yes
	Rosenthal	Yes
	Vigil	Yes
	Wright	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Fields	Yes

FINAL YES: 13 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:44 PM -- SB14-121

Representative Young, sponsor, presented and summarized the reengrossed Senate Bill 14-121 concerning financial assistance for local governments after a declared disaster emergency. Under current law, if a disaster emergency is declared by the federal government, federal aid is provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal agencies. In order to receive moneys from federal agencies, the federal government typically requires that the affected unit of local government provide a certain percentage of matching funds. The bill allows the Governor to determine a percentage of state aid that can be made available to a local government to assist it in meeting the federal match requirement. The Governor is required to notify the Joint Budget Committee of the source and amount of state moneys that will be contributed for this purpose.

01:46 PM -- Tara Schoedinger, Mayor of Jamestown, spoke in support of the bill. She discussed the impact of the flood in the Town of Jamestown and discussed the recovery needs of the community. She discussed need of state resources and financial support of recovery work. Ms. Schoedinger distributed pictures of the flood destruction in Jamestown to the committee members (Attachment A).

14HseLocal0305AttachA.pdf

The committee members discussed the flood impact. Ms. Schoedinger answered questions from the committee regarding the annual budget of Jamestown and the projected cost for the flood recovery.

Representative Young discussed the Flood Disaster Study Committee and the importance of supporting community recovery efforts.

01:53 PM -- Bill Clayton, Colorado Counties Inc., spoke in support of the bill.

Representative Young provided closing comments on the bill.

The committee members discussed the flood recovery effort.


BILL:	SB14-121
TIME:	01:55:00 PM
MOVED:	Singer
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 14-121 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 12-0.
SECONDED:	Lebsock
		VOTE
	Dore	Yes
	Exum	Yes
	Garcia	Yes
	Gardner	Yes
	Landgraf	Yes
	Lebsock	Yes
	Navarro	Yes
	Rankin	Yes
	Rosenthal	Excused
	Vigil	Yes
	Wright	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Fields	Yes

FINAL YES: 12 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:57 PM -- SB14-138

The committee recessed.

02:01 PM

The committee came back from recess.

Representative Sonnenberg and Representative Foote, sponsors, presented and summarized the reengrossed Senate Bill 14-138 concerning civil immunity for volunteers assisting at an emergency. Under current law, volunteer firefighters participating in firefighting efforts or providing emergency care, rescue, or assistance at the scene of an emergency, have limited immunity from potential civil damages. The bill extends the same limited immunity, granted to volunteer firefighters, to include other volunteers, as defined in the Volunteer Service Act. The immunity applies to all good faith efforts to respond to an emergency, and the exemption does not apply to grossly negligent or reckless acts or omissions. Representative Foote discussed the importance of making sure volunteers providing help after a natural disaster are protected from financial liability. Representative Sonnenberg distributed an article on a lawsuit against flood volunteers (Attachment B).

14HseLocal0305AttachB.pdf

Representative Foote answered questions from the committee regarding lawsuits against individuals in governments and non-profit recovery organizations.

Representative Sonnenberg answered questions from the committee on whether the provisions of the bill extend to an organization's intern.

02:12 PM

The committee members continued to discuss insurance coverage for interns.

02:17 PM -- Howard Paul, Emergency Medical Services Association of Colorado, spoke in favor of the bill. He said that current law should be changed to protect volunteer professionals from potential liability. He discussed the importance of local volunteers in recovery efforts.

02:20 PM -- Peg Ackerman, County Sheriffs of Colorado, spoke in favor of the bill.

02:20 PM -- Don Parcher, Boulder Flood Relief, was neutral on the bill. He discussed the use of volunteers to provide help to residences impacted by the flood. Mr. Parcher discussed the need to provide protection to organizations such as Boulder Flood Relief from financial liability and to not inhibit volunteer efforts during other natural disasters. Mr. Parcher answered questions from the committee regarding support of Boulder Flood Relief and the definition of volunteer.

02:29 PM -- Mike Keaty, Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, spoke in favor of the bill. He discussed current Colorado law for the protection of volunteers and non-profit organizations. Mr. Keaty answered questions from the committee regarding the prevention of volunteer services until emergency services are present. He discussed the exemption of civil liability for emergency services as discussed in Section 13-21-108, C.R.S.

Representative Foote provided closing comments on the bill.


BILL:	SB14-138
TIME:	02:39:37 PM
MOVED:	Singer
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 14-138 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 12-0.
SECONDED:	Garcia
		VOTE
	Dore	Yes
	Exum	Excused
	Garcia	Yes
	Gardner	Yes
	Landgraf	Yes
	Lebsock	Yes
	Navarro	Yes
	Rankin	Yes
	Rosenthal	Yes
	Vigil	Yes
	Wright	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Fields	Yes

FINAL YES: 12 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:41 PM

The committee adjourned.