Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

SENATE COMMITTEE ON STATE, VETERANS, & MILITARY AFFAIRS

Date:01/26/2015
ATTENDANCE
Time:01:32 PM to 03:55 PM
Hill
X
Jones
X
Place:SCR 353
Ulibarri
X
Sonnenberg
X
This Meeting was called to order by
Scott
X
Senator Scott
This Report was prepared by
Julia Jackson
X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call
Bills Addressed: Action Taken:
SB15-038
SB15-094
SB15-038		Postponed Indefinitely
Postponed Indefinitely
Postponed Indefinitely


01:33 PM -- Senate Bill 15-038

Senator Scott announced the changes to the committee schedule. Senate Bill 15-060 was laid over to a later date. The committee recessed.

The committee reconvened. Senator Aguilar presented Senate Bill 15-038 to the committee. The bill would permit an auditor conducting a financial or performance audit to receive access to all of the records, reports, papers, files, and communications of the county department of human or social services deemed necessary to conduct the audit. Under the bill, this access applies to auditors retained by a county or conducting an audit pursuant to a county charter or ordinance. This information includes any personal identifying information of individuals that may be contained in these county documents. The bill prohibits an auditor, auditor's staff, or an audit oversight committee from releasing or sharing in the audit report any information, including personal identifying information, that is required to be kept confidential or exempt from public disclosure. If an auditor or a person releases such information, the individual will be subject to all applicable civil and criminal penalties. Nothing in the bill supersedes the authority of the State Auditor.

Senator Aguilar told the committee about problems with the state's child welfare system and oversight of county child welfare efforts. She gave committee members a fact sheet (Attachment A) and a news article about falsified records in a county human services office (Attachment B). She explained that the bill would provide local auditors with access to county human services offices.

15SenState0126AttachA.pdf15SenState0126AttachA.pdf 15SenState0126AttachB.pdf15SenState0126AttachB.pdf







Senator Aguilar explained the role of county auditors and the Office of the State Auditor (OSA).

01:41 PM -- Kip Memmott, Director of Audit Services for the City and County of Denver, testified in support of the bill. He described performance auditing, noting that it focuses on the outcomes of a particular area or service. He suggested that local audit offices are better able than OSA to address detailed issues at the county level. Mr. Memmott further discussed auditors' ability to protect confidential information and noted that any disclosure would be subject to criminal penalty.


01:47 PM

Senator Sonnenberg and Mr. Memmott discussed the reasons Denver has limited access to these records. Discussion continued regarding access for contractors and other parties under the bill. Senator Hill and Mr. Memmott discussed the role of the auditor in cases involving child welfare concerns.

01:55 PM -- Dennis Gallagher, Denver Auditor, testified in support of the bill. He discussed the auditor's ability to help find solutions to problems in government. Senator Sonnenberg and Mr. Gallagher discussed the particular impact of the bill on child welfare problems.


02:00 PM

Senator Aguilar summarized her reasons for supporting the bill. The committee recessed.


02:07 PM

The committee reconvened. Senator Ulibarri discussed the bill. The committee recessed.


02:13 PM

The committee reconvened. The bill was laid over to the end of the calendar for action only.


02:14 PM -- Senate Bill 15-094

Senator Kefalas, sponsor, presented Senate Bill 15-094 to the committee. The bill would, no later than June 30, 2016, require that the state community college system classify all employees with teaching responsibilities as faculty. When making course assignments, each community college would be required to permit faculty to teach up to a full-time workload, with preferences given first to faculty members who were hired prior to the effective date of this legislation, and second to faculty members based on seniority. The seniority system may be replaced with a faculty-developed and faculty-approved system for assigning courses no sooner than three years following the bill's effective date. Once reclassified, all faculty employees must be treated the same, commensurate with the employee's education and experience, with respect to compensation, benefits, job security, due process, and teaching and non-teaching responsibilities.









Senator Kefalas discussed the importance of the state's community colleges and the role of adjunct instructors. He explained that the two-tiered faculty system at the state's community colleges is not effective or fair. He provided additional information about the bill. Senator Kefalas distributed Amendments L.001, L.002, and L.003 (Attachments C, D, and E, respectively).

15SenState0126AttachC.pdf15SenState0126AttachC.pdf 15SenState0126AttachD.pdf15SenState0126AttachD.pdf 15SenState0126AttachE.pdf15SenState0126AttachE.pdf

02:24 PM -- Linda Bowman, representing the Colorado Community College System (CCCS), testified against the bill. She described her career in community colleges and discussed the important role of adjunct instructors. She explained that the bill would require a significant increase in resources for community colleges, either from the legislature or tuition. Ms. Bowman added that the bill sets up a system based solely on seniority, which limits the flexibility of community colleges to assign teaching work. She described her work with a task force and focus groups to address the concerns of adjunct instructors.

02:29 PM -- Suzanne Hudson, representing the Colorado State Conference of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), testified in support of the bill. She described the role of AAUP and explained that all who have teaching responsibilities should be treated equally. Ms. Hudson described the systemic problems that occur as a result of using part-time instructors. She responded to concerns about the costs of the bill, noting the robust financial status of the CCCS. She provided an information sheet regarding these financial concerns (Attachment F).

15SenState0126AttachF.pdf15SenState0126AttachF.pdf

02:39 PM -- Larry Eson, representing himself, testified in support of the bill. He discussed his teaching experience and the limited compensation he receives as an adjunct instructor. Senator Ulibarri and Mr. Eson discussed the role of adjunct instructors.

02:43 PM -- Nathaniel Bork, representing himself, testified in support of the bill. He described his work as an adjunct instructor and noted that the current system promotes financial expediency at the expense of its employees.

02:47 PM -- Adam McFadyen-Ketchum, representing himself, testified in support of the bill. He described his teaching work in Colorado. He discussed the average compensation for community college adjunct instructors and compared it to the tuition paid by community college students.

02:55 PM -- Caprice Lawless, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. She explained that the current system shortchanges students. She described the challenges adjunct instructors face. Senator Ulibarri responded to this testimony and discussed with Ms. Lawless the caps on how much adjunct instructors can teach.

03:04 PM -- Anne Emmons, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. She described her experience teaching and pursuing her own education.









03:09 PM -- Melinda Myrick, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. She explained that she remains classified as a part-time instructor, and she discussed the multiple jobs she works to secure a living for herself. She described the diversity of community college students and noted that these students would benefit from the bill.

03:13 PM -- Natasha McConnachie, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. She described her teaching and experience. She explained that affiliate faculty are subject to a course limit, and she discussed the problems with this limit.

03:18 PM -- Mark Ducharme, representing himself, testified in support of the bill. He explained that the bill would help adjunct faculty members devote their full attention to their teaching responsibilities. He described these responsibilities and the work that goes into teaching.

03:25 PM -- Gene Bruhn, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.


03:26 PM

Senator Kefalas explained that Amendment L.001 clarifies the language regarding how community colleges assign courses to faculty members.
BILL:SB15-094
TIME: 03:29:00 PM
MOVED:Jones
MOTION:Adopt amendment L.001 (Attachment C). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Hill
Jones
Ulibarri
Sonnenberg
Scott
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

Senator Kefalas explained that Amendment L.002 helps address the bill's costs. Senator Sonnenberg and Senator Kefalas discussed the intent of the amendment with regards to student tuition and General Fund appropriations.














BILL:SB15-094
TIME: 03:33:43 PM
MOVED:Jones
MOTION:Adopt amendment L.002 (Attachment D). The motion passed on a vote of 3-2.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Hill
Yes
Jones
Yes
Ulibarri
Yes
Sonnenberg
No
Scott
No
YES: 3 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

Senator Kefalas explained that Amendment L.003 requires the Colorado Community College System board to create a multi-year plan to implement the bill.

BILL:SB15-094
TIME: 03:37:26 PM
MOVED:Jones
MOTION:Adopt amendment L.003 (Attachment E). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Hill
Jones
Ulibarri
Sonnenberg
Scott
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


03:39 PM

Josh Abram, Legislative Council Staff, responded to questions regarding the impact of the amendments on the bill's costs. He responded to further questions as to sources of funding for the bill. Senator Kefalas commented on this testimony.











03:45 PM

Senator Kefalas summarized his reasons for supporting the bill. He discussed his teaching experience and the importance of the teaching profession. He stated that the current model for community college instruction is flawed, and he described problems with the current system.

Committee members commented on the bill.
BILL:SB15-094
TIME: 03:50:59 PM
MOVED:Ulibarri
MOTION:Refer Senate Bill 15-094, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion failed on a vote of 2-3.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Hill
No
Jones
Yes
Ulibarri
Yes
Sonnenberg
No
Scott
No
YES: 2 NO: 3 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL
BILL:SB15-094
TIME: 03:51:33 PM
MOVED:Sonnenberg
MOTION:Postpone Senate Bill 15-094 indefinitely using a reversal of the previous roll call. There was no objection to the use of the reverse roll call, therefore, the motion passed on a vote of 3-2.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Hill
Yes
Jones
No
Ulibarri
No
Sonnenberg
Yes
Scott
Yes
Final YES: 3 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS











03:52 PM -- Senate Bill 15-038
BILL:SB15-038
TIME: 03:54:16 PM
MOVED:Jones
MOTION:Refer Senate Bill 15-038 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion failed on a vote of 2-3.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Hill
No
Jones
Yes
Ulibarri
Yes
Sonnenberg
No
Scott
No
YES: 2 NO: 3 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL

BILL:SB15-038
TIME: 03:54:52 PM
MOVED:Sonnenberg
MOTION:Postpone Senate Bill 15-038 indefinitely using a reversal of the previous roll call. There was no objection to the use of the reverse roll call, therefore, the motion passed on a vote of 3-2.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Hill
Yes
Jones
No
Ulibarri
No
Sonnenberg
Yes
Scott
Yes
Final YES: 3 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


03:55 PM

The committee adjourned.