Date: 04/22/2015

Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB15-205

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Adopt amendment L.002 The motion passed without ob
Refer Senate Bill 15-205, as amended, to the Commi		Pass Without Objection
PASS



01:48 PM -- SB15-205

Representative Hamner and Representative Keyser presented Senate Bill 15-205 concerning the utilization of veterans' fire corps programs. The bill recognizes the existence of veterans' fire corps programs, through which certain veterans gain experience in forest management and wildland fire control. The Department of Public Safety (DPS) is authorized to use the Wildfire Preparedness Fund (WPF) to train, equip, or supervise a veterans' fire corps program hand crew.

01:53 PM -- Paul Cooke, Director of the Division of Fire Prevention and Control in the DPS, spoke in favor of the bill. He discussed the role of hand crews and the value of current programs to address firefighter needs. Director Cooke spoke on the benefits of veteran training and experience in wildfire matters.

Director Cooke answered questions from the committee regarding the veterans in current wildfire programs.

Representative Keyser distributed and discussed amendment L.002 (Attachment B).

15HouseLocal0422AttachB.pdf15HouseLocal0422AttachB.pdf

02:02 PM -- Frank McCurdy, representing United Veterans Committee of Colorado, spoke in favor of the bill.

02:04 PM -- Scott Segrerstrom, representing the Colorado Youth Corps Association, spoke in favor of the bill. He spoke on the success of the Veteran Wildfire Corps program and the role of fire crews to provide operational needs for fire prevention and control. Mr. Segrerstrom answered previous questions regarding the training of veteran crew members and the number of graduates in the program.


02:11 PM

The committee members discussed the importance of hand crews and the use of veteran programs.

Representative Keyser discussed amendment L.002 regarding eligibility for the veteran program. He also answered questions from the committee regarding the definitions of discharges for veterans. The committee members discussed the discharge requirements for veteran programs.
BILL:SB15-205
TIME: 02:18:03 PM
MOVED:Keyser
MOTION:Adopt amendment L.002 (Attachment B). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:Klingenschmitt
VOTE
Arndt
Danielson
Keyser
Klingenschmitt
Navarro
Ransom
Rosenthal
Saine
Excused
Singer
Lebsock
Fields
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


02:18 PM

Representative Keyser and Representative Hamner provided closing comments on the bill.

The committee members provided comments on the bill.
BILL:SB15-205
TIME: 02:21:45 PM
MOVED:Lebsock
MOTION:Refer Senate Bill 15-205, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 10-0.
SECONDED:Klingenschmitt
VOTE
Arndt
Yes
Danielson
Yes
Keyser
Yes
Klingenschmitt
Yes
Navarro
Yes
Ransom
Yes
Rosenthal
Yes
Saine
Excused
Singer
Yes
Lebsock
Yes
Fields
Yes
YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS