Date: 03/16/2009

Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB09-035

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Refer Senate Bill 09-035 to the Committee of the WPASS



02:03 PM -- Senate Bill 09-035

Representative Sonnenberg, sponsor, presented Senate Bill 09-035 concerning a penalty for a violation of certain proscribed acts for government officials. Under current law, public officials are prohibited from having a financial interest in contracts made by them in their official capacity. For six months after they leave office, they may not enter into contracts, or be employed by someone with government contracts, that are related to their former official capacity. This bill creates a new class 1 misdemeanor offense for public officials who violate this restriction and allows the court to impose additional fines. Representative Sonnenberg answered questions from the committee regarding the problems addressed by the bill.

02:08 PM -- Ken Buck, Weld County District Attorney, spoke in support of the bill. Mr. Buck discussed the details of a case in which a former government official lobbied for local governments to receive grant funding from her former office. He talked about the ethics violations that took place in that case and indicated that his office had no power to prosecute such violations. He responded to questions from the committee about the possible sanctions under the bill. The committee discussed the differences between ethical standards and crimes.
BILL:SB09-035
TIME: 02:35:52 PM
MOVED:Waller
MOTION:Refer Senate Bill 09-035 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed on a vote of 10-1.
SECONDED:Gardner B.
VOTE
Apuan
Yes
Court
Yes
Gardner B.
Yes
King
Yes
Miklosi
Yes
Pace
Yes
Roberts
Yes
Ryden
No
Waller
Yes
McCann
Yes
Levy
Yes
Final YES: 10 NO: 1 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS