House Committee on State, Veterans, & Military Affairs (02/08/2005)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON STATE, VETERANS, & MILITARY AFFAIRS

Date:	02/08/2005	ATTENDANCE

Time:	02:00 PM to 05:16 PM	Cadman	X
		Carroll T.	X
Place:	HCR 0107	Coleman	X
		Crane	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Gallegos	X
	Representative Weissmann	Liston	X
		Lundberg	X
This Report was prepared by		Schultheis	X
	Brad Denning	Todd	X
		Ragsdale	X
		Weissmann	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB05-1117 HB05-1176 HB05-1136 HB05-1033		Postponed Indefinitely Witness Testimony Only Amended and Referred to the Committee of the Whole Postponed Indefinitely

02:01 PM -- House Bill 05-1117

Representative Berens, prime sponsor, explained House Bill 05-1117 which allows members of the Public Employee's Retirement Association who retire between certain dates to add a specified number of years to the member's age and service credit for purposes of calculating service retirement benefits. He asked that the committee postpone indefinitely HB 05-1117.

There were no witnesses.


BILL:	HB05-1117
TIME:	02:12:05 PM
MOVED:	Coleman
MOTION:	Moved to postpone indefinitely HB 05-1117. The motion passed unanimously.
SECONDED:	Carroll T.
		VOTE
	Cadman	Yes
	Carroll T.	Yes
	Coleman	Yes
	Crane	Yes
	Gallegos	Yes
	Liston	Yes
	Lundberg	Yes
	Schultheis	Yes
	Todd	Yes
	Ragsdale	Yes
	Weissmann	Yes
Final YES: 11 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:13 PM -- House Bill 05-1176

Representative Merrifield, prime sponsor, introduced House Bill 05-1176, which expands statutory provisions concerning the reporting by incumbents and elected candidates of the receipt of gifts, honoraria, and other benefits. He provided a Colorado Common Cause review of the bill and its intent (Attachment A). He responded to committee questions. Representative Merrifield indicated that, as the bill relates to public speaking, the bill focuses on speeches given by public officials in their role as public officials. He did not believe the bill addressed the professions of legislators when they were conducting business in their respective vocations.

02:29 PM

Committee members indicated that this type of bill appears to impugn the integrity of the General Assembly. Representative Merrifield responded to further questions. He believes the intent of his bill is reasonable.

The following people testified:

02:37 PM -- Cynthia Nelson, representing herself, spoke in support of the bill. She indicated that she takes issue with the gifts received by politicians. She responded to committee questions and comments. Committee discussion continued. Representative Crane stated that each year, legislators' gift disclosures are reported by the newspapers. He asked if either the witness or Representative Merrifield could identify a specific example of excessive gifts.

02:54 PM -- Christine Watson, representing the League of Women Voters, spoke in support of the bill. She indicated that this bill addresses the issue of the public's perception that gifts by various interests to politicians curry favor. She believes this would help put more objectivity into the political process.

03:04 PM

Representative Merrifield concluded his remarks.

03:05 PM

Representative Weissmann, Chair, laid the bill over until February 15, 2005, for action only.

03:09 PM -- House Bill 05-1136

Representative Decker, prime sponsor, introduced House Bill 05-1136 requiring the Secretary of State to adopt rules establishing standards and procedures allowing notaries public to transmit encrypted photographs of individuals for use by motor vehicle offices, credit card companies, and other entities. He responded to committee questions.

The following people testified:

03:20 PM -- Richard Hansberger, of Chatsworth, California, representing the National Notary Association, spoke in support of the bill. He explained the technology that would allow notaries to take fingerprints, signatures, and a digital photograph of their clients. He responded to committee questions. He believes that a phased-in approach of the procedures in this bill, with respect to the privacy issues, may be warranted. He noted that he is also an advocate of privacy rights.

03:39 PM -- Mike Shea, Director of Licensing Division, representing the Office of the Colorado Secretary of State (SOS), spoke in support of the bill. Mr. Shea indicated that he was present to answer any questions related to the SOS's rule making related to this bill. He recommended the bill be amended to propose a pilot program for this process. He responded to committee questions.

Representative Weissmann asked the committee to consider language for a conceptual amendment to the bill.

03:44 PM

Representative Decker concluded his remarks.


BILL:	HB05-1136
TIME:	03:46:25 PM
MOVED:	Crane
MOTION:	Moved Amendment L.001 (Attachment B). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Coleman
		VOTE
	Cadman
	Carroll T.
	Coleman
	Crane
	Gallegos
	Liston
	Lundberg
	Schultheis
	Todd
	Ragsdale
	Weissmann
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB05-1136
TIME:	03:47:01 PM
MOVED:	Coleman
MOTION:	Conceptual amendment, Weissmann. Page 2, insert after the period in line 20, "The rules adopted pursuant to this section shall not take effect until the general assembly, acting by bill, approves the rules." The amendment passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Weissmann
		VOTE
	Cadman
	Carroll T.
	Coleman
	Crane
	Gallegos
	Liston
	Lundberg
	Schultheis
	Todd
	Ragsdale
	Weissmann
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB05-1136
TIME:	03:47:40 PM
MOVED:	Coleman
MOTION:	Referred House Bill 05-1136, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed unanimously.
SECONDED:	Crane
		VOTE
	Cadman	Yes
	Carroll T.	Yes
	Coleman	Yes
	Crane	Yes
	Gallegos	Yes
	Liston	Yes
	Lundberg	Yes
	Schultheis	Yes
	Todd	Yes
	Ragsdale	Yes
	Weissmann	Yes
Final YES: 11 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:49 PM -- House Bill 05-1033

Representative Crane, prime sponsor, explained House Bill 05-1033 which would allow various political entities to meet any statutory requirement to publish a legal notice in a legal publication or newspaper by posting the notice on its official website. He responded to committee questions. The committee discussed the archival nature of websites, and whether it would be possible to determine if notice had been properly given on a given website if an agency or a political subdivision had no capacity for archival records.

The following people testified:

04:03 PM -- Ed Otte, representing the Colorado Press Association, spoke in opposition to the bill. He noted that the press opposes this bill as newspapers provide a buffer between government and the public, providing an independent public source of information. He said that citizens typically use newspapers to learn of notices. He responded to questions.

04:14 PM -- Tony Lombard, representing the Colorado Counties Inc., spoke in support of the bill. He responded to committee questions.

04:19 PM -- Jim Congrove, Jefferson County Commissioner, representing Jefferson County, spoke in support of the bill. He responded to questions about the number of libraries in Jefferson County and the degree of access the public would have to such notices on official internet websites.

04:28 PM -- Kevin McCasky, Jefferson County Commissioner, representing Jefferson County, indicated that the county is searching for an economical, service-oriented means of notifying their citizens of events and happenings. He said the county supports the bill and that Jefferson County does not have any archival concerns because it's website has archival capabilities.

04:36 PM -- Mark Paschall, Jefferson County Treasurer, representing Jefferson County, spoke in support of the bill. He responded to committee questions. The committee discussed the accountability of a third party notifying the public of government actions or activities. Representative Cadman suggested further discussion of a modified notification system, other than the system being discussed in this bill, would be appropriate.


BILL:	HB05-1033
TIME:	04:54:38 PM
MOVED:	Crane
MOTION:	Moved Amendment L.001 (Attachment C). The motion failed on a 4-7 vote.
SECONDED:	Schultheis
		VOTE
	Cadman	Yes
	Carroll T.	No
	Coleman	No
	Crane	Yes
	Gallegos	Yes
	Liston	Yes
	Lundberg	No
	Schultheis	No
	Todd	No
	Ragsdale	No
	Weissmann	No
Not Final YES: 4 NO: 7 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:	HB05-1033
TIME:	05:01:48 PM
MOVED:	Crane
MOTION:	Referred HB 05-1033 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation. The motion failed on a 5-6 vote.
SECONDED:	Schultheis
		VOTE
	Cadman	Yes
	Carroll T.	No
	Coleman	No
	Crane	Yes
	Gallegos	No
	Liston	Yes
	Lundberg	Yes
	Schultheis	Yes
	Todd	No
	Ragsdale	No
	Weissmann	No
Not Final YES: 5 NO: 6 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL

5:10 PM

Committee discussion and observations continued about a possible county pilot-program regarding public notice notification. The committee commented that the bill needs more work before it can go forward.


BILL:	HB05-1033
TIME:	05:16:24 PM
MOVED:	Coleman
MOTION:	Moved to postpone indefinitely. The motion passed on a 6-5 vote.
SECONDED:	Ragsdale
		VOTE
	Cadman	No
	Carroll T.	Yes
	Coleman	Yes
	Crane	No
	Gallegos	Yes
	Liston	No
	Lundberg	No
	Schultheis	No
	Todd	Yes
	Ragsdale	Yes
	Weissmann	Yes
Final YES: 6 NO: 5 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS