A few tweaks here, a few tweaks there

Dems are 'sky high' as foreign flag ban, other bills pondered

Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 9, 2006 at midnight

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Three Democratic lawmakers want to undo a state ban on foreign flags in schools.

A flag flap erupted at a metro middle school this year even though a 2002 law outlawing flags in state buildings provides an exception for "instructional matters."

The proposal to lift the ban - sure to raise the ire of Republicans - is one of at least 500 bills expected to be introduced in the 2007 General Assembly, which begins Jan. 10.

In addition, lawmakers are expected to tweak bills they passed this year - including the cornerstone immigration measure and an indoor smoking ban - to correct problems uncovered when they became law. Both bills passed with bipartisan support, and were signed into law by Republican Gov. Bill Owens.

And some lawmakers plan to bring back measures Owens vetoed, including a proposal to add sexual orientation as a category of workplace discrimination.

Democrats next year are hoping for an ally in Bill Ritter, who will become governor in January.

It will be the first time since 1962 that Democrats have controlled the Governor's Mansion, Senate and House.

But Ritter, a self-described moderate, isn't promising the world to his party.

"The governor-elect will act as a gatekeeper on good public policy and do what's right for Coloradans," said Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer.

Republicans are standing by.

"I think Democrats' expectations are sky high," said Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, of Colorado Springs. "They're looking at nearly 50 years of pent-up frustrations.

"The interesting day will be when the first really bad bill for business hits the governor's desk. We'll see what happens."

On the campaign trail, Ritter said he agreed with several Owens' vetoes. They include a workers compensation bill that Owens said would hurt small contractors to bills creating licensing requirements for physical education teachers and athletic trainers.

Being in charge provides the Democrats opportunities but plenty of challenges, said political consultant Katy Atkinson.

"What we normally see when you have a legislature controlled by the governor's party is legislators who are downright giddy at the prospect of getting lots of their bills passed," she said.

"But the governor doesn't want some of those bills hitting his desk. The governor has to be a lot more mainstream than the legislature has to be."

Saying "no" to your own party can be difficult.

Just ask Owens, who leaves office in three weeks.

Republicans dominated the legislature for years but served under Democratic governors, so the GOP was thrilled when Owens took over in 1999.

He vetoed five bills that year, all from Republicans, and those lawmakers were invited to lunch at the mansion to soothe over some hurt feelings.

"The governor did a great job of explaining it was policy, not politics," said Mike Beasley, the governor's lobbyist at the time.

"At the end, the world kept on going. That's going to happen with Bill Ritter, too," Beasley said.

Democrats have a 39-26 majority in the House, and a 20-15 edge in the Senate.

Some Republicans predict a slew of anti-business, pro-trial lawyer and pro-union legislation, but Democratic leaders, including House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, disagree.

"Our agenda is ambitious: To build the best public schools in America, to become the renewable energy capital of the world and to bring health care to all Coloradans," the Denver lawmaker said this week in a news release announcing legislative committee appointments."

"That's what the Colorado Promise is all about."

McElhany wonders how Democrats are going to pay for their agenda.

"That's great, but there's no money," he said. "It's either been allocated or you run into (spending caps)."

McElhany said he is worried that Democrats will try to raise beer-and-wine taxes to pay for health care measures, raid severance tax funds for schools and impose real estate fees to pay for subsidized housing.

As for the flag ban bill, McElhany said he didn't know enough to comment but has no doubt it will upset some caucus members.

Colorado law allows foreign flags in state buildings as part of a temporary display for educational purposes as long as they are not permanently affixed to the building.

At Carmody Middle School in Jefferson County, a teacher was suspended in August for refusing to take down foreign flags in his geography classroom. The principal believed the flags were in violation of the law, although Jeffco school officials later determined they weren't.

But the controversy compelled the Goddard Middle School principal in Littleton to remove 30 foreign flags from the gym that represented the nationalities of all the students. They had been in the gym since 2003.

"I don't think we need to micromanage school districts like that," said Rep.-elect Joe Rice, D-Littleton.

Rice and Rep. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora, are sponsoring the measure in the House.

Asked if he were prepared for a battle, Rice said, "I certainly hope no one would question my patriotism."

An Army Reserve officer, he has served two tours of duty in Iraq since 2003.

"We want our principals to follow the rule of the law," Rice said, "but if the law is stupid, it's incumbent upon us to change it."

As for the indoor smoking ban, Rep.-elect Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, is working on a bill that would require businesses that believe they are exempt from the smoking ban to apply for a permit from the local health department and provide the necessary financial records.

The law provides an exemption for businesses, such as tobacco shops, where tobacco sales account for at least 5 percent of gross revenues.

A Durango bar claimed it was exempt from the ban because of its tobacco sales, but the bar owner offered no financial proof.

2007 session

Here's a sampling of measures expected to be introduced in the legislature in 2007:

Vetoed before

• Adds sexual orientation to existing employment civil rights laws, by Sen. Jennifer Veiga, D-Denver. Vetoed by Gov. Bill Owens two years ago.

• Simpliflies contracts between health plans and providers, by Sen. Steve Johnson, R-Fort Collins. Vetoed by Owens this year despite, as Johnson likes to note, 83 of 100 lawmakers having voted for it.

• Studies factors driving health care costs in Pueblo County, by Rep. Dorothy Butcher, D-Pueblo. Vetoed by Owens this year.

Business and labor

• Allows injured workers the right to choose their own doctor, by Rep. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora. Killed by lawmakers during the past two sessions.

Ritter has said he would compromise by allowing injured workers the choice of two doctors.

• Requires businesses that believe they are entitled to an exemption from the indoor smoking ban because of the volume of their tobacco sales to apply for a permit from the local health department, by Rep.-elect Ellen Roberts, R-Durango.

Education

• Adjusts the per-pupil funding base rate for the lowest-funded 10 percent of districts in the state to ensure that they stay within a certain percent of statewide average funding, by Rep. Al White, R-Winter Park.

• Allows charter schools in good standing for seven years to purchase the public school building they are located in for fair market value, by Butcher.

Elections

• Increases transparency for so-called 527 political committees responsible for attack ads, by Carroll.

• Outlaws automated calls with political messages, by Rep. David Balmer, R-Centennial.

Immigration

• Requires employers to sign up for a federal program to assess the legal status of newly hired employees, by Rep. Dave Schulthies, R-Colorado Springs, a senator-elect. Killed by lawmakers this year.

Law and order

• Makes not wearing a seat belt a primary offense, meaning a driver can be stopped solely for that reason, by Rep.-elect Joe Rice, D-Littleton. Killed by lawmakers the past two sessions.

• Doubles the fine for any traffic infraction when the driver is on a cell phone, by Rep. Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville.

Miscellaneous

• Expands Amber Alerts to include the developmentally disabled, by Rep. John Soper, D-Thornton.

• Provides GPS tracking devices for Alzheimer's patients, by Rep.-elect Victor Mitchell, R-Castle Rock.

• Changes vehicle registration to allow citizens and small businesses to change their registrations to the same month, by Rice.

• Recognizes certain wildlife hunting rights of the Southern Ute tribe, by Rep.-elect Ellen Roberts, D-Durango.

Taxes/money

• Creates a rainy-day fund for state emergencies, by Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma.

• Changes severance tax collection to monthly instead of quarterly, allowing the state to use interest earned from that switch for public school grants for energy and water conservation, by Weissmann.

bartels@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5327

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