Date: 02/19/2014

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB14-1193

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Adopt amendment L.001 (Attachment D). The motion p
Adopt amendment L.002 The motion passed without ob
Refer House Bill 14-1193, as amended, to the Commi		PASS

PASS



01:57 PM -- HB14-1193

Representative Salazar, sponsor, presented House Bill 14-1193 concerning requirements governing the imposition of a fee for the research and retrieval of public records under the "Colorado Open Records Act". The bill requires that hourly fees for research and retrieval of records under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) do not exceed three times the state minimum wage. In addition, charges must be nominal to the time the custodian spends responding to the volume of requests. A custodian may only charge a fee for research and retrieval of records if the custodian's policies concerning research and retrieval of document are posted on the custodian's website or otherwise published. Representative Salazar answered questions from the committee regarding varying fees levels determined by local governments.

Representative Fields presented and distributed amendment L.001 (Attachment D) and amendment L.002 (Attachment E).

14HseLocal0219AttachD.pdf14HseLocal0219AttachD.pdf 14HseLocal0219AttachE.pdf14HseLocal0219AttachE.pdf

Representative Vigil expressed concerns on the impact to counties in his district. Representative Salazar discussed the importance of standardizing the process and fee structure for CORA requests across the state. He answered questions from the committee regarding CORA request workload requirements. Representative Gadner discussed the provisions of the bill in relation to current case law.


02:17 PM

The committee continued to ask questions regarding the potential financial impact to counties.

The committee discussed the function of CORA and the accessibility of documents. Representative Salazar said that the bill is a compromise between stakeholders in regards to CORA.

02:27 PM -- Dianna Orf, representing the Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado, spoke in opposition to the bill. She discussed the financial impact to rural communities. Ms. Orf answered questions from the committee regarding the types of CORA requests and the process for a citizen to obtain documents. She discussed the population ranges in the different Colorado counties and the need of smaller counties to hire outside staff to support the provisions of the bill.

02:35 PM -- Geoff Wilson, representing the Colorado Municipal League (CML), spoke in opposition to the bill. He said that the taxpayers will be burdened by the provisions of the bill to makeup the loss caused by lower fees. Mr. Wilson answered questions from the committee regarding public access to information from the public. He discussed the differences between citizen and out of state organization CORA requests.

Representative Lebsock discussed the importance of CORA to provide government transparency. Mr. Wilson said that the provisions of the bill do not provide transparency, but rather allocate costs for complying with CORA.


02:48 PM

Mr. Wilson answered questions from the committee regarding provisions of the bill in relation to case law and discussed the fee structure of CORA requests.

02:54 PM -- Evan Goulding, representing the Special District Association, spoke in opposition to the bill. He discussed the importance of government transparency and the CORA request process for special districts. Mr. Goulding discussed the impact of the bill on small districts and the difficulty for custodians to properly budget the needs of CORA requests. He spoke in favor of amendment L.001 and amendment L.002. He answered questions from the committee regarding onerous requests and the burden that they create on district staff.

03:05 PM -- Jeremy Hueth, representing the University of Colorado, spoke in opposition to the bill and spoke in support of amendment L.001 and amendment L.002. Mr. Hueth discussed the CORA request process and the costs for employees to comply with the law.

03:12 PM -- Alex Loyd, representing the University of Colorado, spoke in opposition of the bill. He described the types of CORA request processed through the University of Colorado and the associated costs.

Mr. Hueth answered questions from the committee regarding the use of work study students and hired staff to comply with CORA.

Representative Salazar discussed the process of CORA requests at CU Boulder. Mr. Hueth answered questions from the committee regarding the importance of negotiating with the requestor to limit work time and costs.

03:16 PM -- Jon Caldara, representing the Independence Institute, spoke in favor of the bill. He said that the lack of standards for providing government documents limits government transparency. Mr. Calderra answered questions from the committee regarding the varying size and ability of Colorado counties to manage CORA requests. He discussed the importance of creating standardized policies for CORA requests and the role of technology to ease services.

03:25 PM -- Pat Ratliff, representing Colorado Counties, Inc., spoke in opposition to the bill. She discussed the impact to smaller counties. Ms. Ratliff discussed issues related to standardizing costs for CORA requests. She spoke in favor of amendment L.001 and amendment L.002. Ms. Ratliff answered questions from the committee regarding the rate of fees related to CORA requests.

03:32 PM -- Christine Stretesky, representing Arapahoe County, spoke in opposition to the bill. She said that Arapahoe County supports the accessibility of public records. She discussed nominal charges and current fees related to CORA documents.

03:39 PM -- Donnah Moody, representing the Colorado Assessors Association, was neutral on the bill. She said that the Colorado Assessors Association had issues with the current bill and said that the bill is a cost assignment issue.

03:41 PM -- Denise Maes, representing the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), spoke in favor of the bill. She discussed the ACLU in relation to CORA requests and that research fees vary by jurisdiction. Ms. Maes said that providing consistency for CORA requests is important for public accessibility. She discussed the role of technology in processing requests.

03:44 PM -- Chad Marturano, representing the Department of Higher Education, spoke in opposition of the bill. He discussed the differences between nominal and actual charges defined in the bill.

03:45 PM -- Eliza Schultz, representing the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, spoke in opposition of the bill. She discussed the types of CORA requests and the role of the Attorney Generals Office in reviewing the requests.

03:48 PM -- Christine Watson, representing the League of Women Voters of Colorado, spoke in favor of the bill. She discussed the importance of government transparency and explained how the high costs limit access to open records.

03:50 PM -- Luis Toro, representing Colorado Ethics Watch, spoke in favor of the bill and distributed a handout to the committee (Attachment F). Mr. Turo said that CORA request fees do not depend on the size of the jurisdiction. He discussed the importance of providing standards to avoid litigation. Mr. Toro discussed the compromises in the bill in relation to current case laws. He said that he opposes amendment L.001 and amendment L.002. Mr. Toro answered questions regarding nominal and actual charges.

14HseLocal0219AttachF.pdf14HseLocal0219AttachF.pdf

Representative Salazar discussed the differences between nominal and actual charges in relation to CORA requests.

04:00 PM -- Elena Nunez, representing Colorado Common Cause, spoke in favor of the bill. She said that the bill benefits Colorado by establishing consistent statewide policy for CORA requests.

04:03 PM -- Greg Romberg, representing the Colorado Press Association and the Colorado Broadcasters Association, spoke in favor of the bill. He discussed the compromise between governmental agencies and requesters to establish fee standards for the bill. Mr. Romberg said that maintaining access to public records is a fundamental responsibility of the government. He discussed the role of nominal charges and spoke in opposition to amendment L.002.


04:14 PM

Mr. Romberg continued to testify regarding CORA request fees related to other states open record policies.


04:17 PM

The committee recessed.


04:21 PM

The committee came back from recess.

Representative Fields discussed amendment L.001.
BILL:HB14-1193
TIME: 04:22:10 PM
MOVED:Fields
MOTION:Adopt amendment L.001 (Attachment D). The motion passed on a vote of 10-2.
SECONDED:Singer
VOTE
Dore
Yes
Exum
No
Garcia
Yes
Gardner
Yes
Landgraf
Yes
Lebsock
No
Navarro
Excused
Rankin
Yes
Rosenthal
Yes
Vigil
Yes
Wright
Yes
Singer
Yes
Fields
Yes
YES: 10 NO: 2 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

Amendment L.002 (Attachment E) was moved by Representative Fields, but died due to a lack of a second.

Representative Salazar provided closing comments on the bill. The committee members discussed their positions on the bill.
BILL:HB14-1193
TIME: 04:31:20 PM
MOVED:Gardner
MOTION:Refer House Bill 14-1193, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 9-4.
SECONDED:Lebsock
VOTE
Dore
No
Exum
Yes
Garcia
Yes
Gardner
Yes
Landgraf
No
Lebsock
Yes
Navarro
Yes
Rankin
No
Rosenthal
Yes
Vigil
No
Wright
Yes
Singer
Yes
Fields
Yes
FINAL YES: 9 NO: 4 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS