Date: 09/22/2015
Final
Committee Discussion Regarding Bill Drafting and Fiscal Analysis
SCHOOL SAFETY AND YOUTH IN CRISIS
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01:41 PM -- Committee Discussion Regarding Bill Drafting and Fiscal Analysis
Senator Scheffel spoke to the committee members about the process for requesting bill drafts and urged non-voting committee members to consult a legislator about bill draft ideas. He told the committee that they would not be voting on draft requests, but that the drafts would have to be voted on at the next meeting.
Kerry White, representing Legislative Council Staff, told the committee that the October 27 meeting would begin at 10:00 AM rather than 1:00 PM. She spoke about fiscal notes for draft requests and introduced Richard Sweetman, Office of Legislative Legal Services, to discuss the drafting process. Ms. Weinerman asked about follow-up information from the last meeting. Ms. White responded that staff is still gathering some of the information that the committee requested.
Senator Scheffel asked committee members to discuss bill ideas. Representative Willett spoke about the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (CGIA), and requested more information on that law and how it relates to the committee's task. He spoke about CGIA as it relates to Senate Bill 15-213 and explained that the act mentions negligence and reasonable care. He expressed concerns with the idea of a checklist, creating the only situation in state law where a negligence claim would be defined by statute rather than by jury instructions. He asked if a checklist would satisfy the legal requirements for reasonable care and be a safe harbor for districts, or if a district does not comply exactly, would that be proof of negligence? He explained how judges instruct juries on negligence and negligence per se.
Representative Willett continued speaking about governmental immunity. He explained that all governments are immune from suit, except in certain instances. He said that if immunity is waived, all governmental entities can be sued for that type of action, such as a motor vehicle accident. He said that he is worried about pulling schools out of governmental immunity, and explained that the law will not make sense if that stands. He described the governmental entities involved in school safety and said that all these entities should be exempt from immunity, not just the schools or districts. He said that by carving out an exception just for school districts, the General Assembly created at least five unanswerable legal problems and two more related problems. He expressed concern with implementing legislation the way it stands and about the difficulties of litigating cases under this law.
Representative Salazar spoke about his reasons for co-sponsoring Senate Bill 15-213 and about how the CGIA interacts with the new law. He spoke about existing waivers of governmental immunity, and posited that Senate Bill 15-213 just adds to that list.