Date: 02/16/2006

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB06-1189

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Moved House Bill 06-1189 to the Committee of the WPASS


01:37 PM -- House Bill 06-1189

Representative Cadman, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 06-1189 concerning civil actions brought against public entities and employees to recover damages paid for injuries governed by the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (CGIA). The bill clarifies that tort claims brought against public entities and public employees are subject to the damages limitations of the CGIA, regardless of whether a claim is brought directly by an injured party or indirectly by an assignee or subrogee of the injured party. It also clarifies that an assignment or subrogation concerning an injury governed by the CGIA is not a separate occurrence with regard to limitations on judgments recovered against public entities or public employees. Representative Cadman distributed a written hypothetical scenario to illustrate the intent of the bill (Attachment A).

01:42 PM -- Christina Valencia and David Kaye, Division of Human Resources of the Department of Personnel and Administration, spoke in support of the bill. Ms. Valencia discussed the legislative intent in passing the CGIA and to cap damages recovered under it. She stated that a no vote on this bill amounts to an attempt to evade the damage cap provisions of the CGIA. Ms. Valencia responded to questions from the committee regarding the separation of subrogated claims from the original claim. Mr. Kaye also discussed the intent of the bill with regards to assigning or subrogating claims as a separate cause of action. The committee discussed the recent trend in case law of treating these claims as separate causes of action. Ms. Valencia responded to questions from the committee regarding which of the parties to an action take precedence if all of the claims are subject to a cap of $150,000.
BILL:HB06-1189
TIME: 01:59:25 PM
MOVED:Carroll M.
MOTION:Moved House Bill 06-1189 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed on a vote of 10-1.
SECONDED:Witwer
VOTE
Boyd
Yes
Clapp
Yes
Decker
Yes
Gardner
Yes
Hefley
Yes
Jahn
Yes
Judd
Yes
McGihon
Yes
Witwer
Yes
Carroll M.
No
Carroll T.
Yes
Final YES: 10 NO: 1 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS