February update from Representative Millie Hamner

My Legislation
I am excited about my bills for this year. I have introduced 3 bills so far and have one more that will be introduced later this month. I'm also actively involved in several interim committee bills and tobacco sales to minors - reform that will start in the Senate.
I have introduced the Forest Restoration Bill (HB 1032) that will continue funding for the pilot program that was started in 2007. The bill will continue this program for 5 years and set aside $1.6 million for programs throughout Colorado to support local efforts in wildfire planning and forest health. The bill passed out of both the House Agriculture and Appropriations committees and will be heard on the House floor soon.
Another bill of mine deals with the important issue of stalking and will establish additional safe guards for victims (HB 1114). The bill will amend stalking laws to align procedural protections with those of domestic violence cases. This bill will be heard in the House Judiciary committee on February 16th.
To support Governor Hickenlooper's "bottom-up" work, I've introduced a bill that introduces a regional approach to economic development (HB 1154). The Regional Partnerships will develop a proactive approach to creating jobs and increasing competitiveness by focusing on supporting emerging and promising economic opportunities throughout Colorado. The bill has been assigned to the Appropriations committee.
I'm also collaborating with bipartisan House and Senate sponsors with an early childhood literacy bill. The bill will revise the Colorado Basic Literacy Act (CBLA) and focus on literacy issues from kindergarten through third grade so that more children in Colorado are poised for academic success in school.

Legislation at the Capitol:
I wanted to talk about a few of the other bills moving through the legislative process. It is still early in the legislative session but a couple of bills are already gaining some attention.
House Bill 1066: This bill would allow off-highway vehicles to drive on public roads in small western counties. This bill would remove local control from Summit, Lake, Eagle and many other counties throughout the state when it comes to ATV access on county roads. I have heard from many different groups on both side of this issue but as the bill is currently written I cannot support this legislation. This is a decision that should be handled at the county level. If you have concerns about this legislation please come to my Town Hall on February 11th in Frisco to discuss it with County Commission Thomas Davidson.
House Bill 1061: The Skills for Jobs Act is a key jobs bill and was passed unanimously in the Education Committee. There is plenty of data to support the idea that while unemployment in Colorado remains high, Colorado companies have jobs available. The problem is that companies are having a hard time finding well qualified applicants to fill those jobs, and Colorado’s well qualified applicants are having a hard time finding those companies. This bill seeks to bridge that gap.
House Bill 1044: Creates the Start-Up Colorado Technology Transfer Grant Program, which will improve and expand the development of technological discoveries and help accelerate the development of new products and services and the creation of new jobs in Colorado. Many of Colorado’s research institutions have Offices of Technology Transfer that help bring technologies developed at a research institution to the marketplace.
Senate Bill 15: The ASSET bill which would allow undocumented Colorado high school graduates to attend Colorado colleges and universities at a rate lower than out-of-state tuition. I am supportive of this legislation and look forward to it making it to the House. The ASSET bill has passed the Senate Education committee and should be heard on the Senate floor soon.
Thanks for reading! It is my sincere privilege to serve you down at the state house. I hope you’re available to stop by either the Town Hall meeting in Frisco on February 11th or the meeting in Edwards on February 18th, but if you’re not able to attend you can reach me on my cell phone (970) 389-4542, email me at rephamner@gmail.com or you can contact my capitol office (303) 866-2952 at any time to share your thoughts and concerns!


 

Chamber E-News - February 2011

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