House Bill 1177 Colorado Economic Stability Fund.  Sponsored by Representative King. 
HB 1177 creates a rainy day fund with the principal coming from general fund moneys transferred when there is an increase in the amount of general fund revenues from one year to the next; at least 10% of the increase must be transferred to the fund. The fund can only be expended after the General Assembly declares a fiscal emergency through a joint resolution by 2/3 vote and money can only be spent on existing programs for vital services determined in the joint resolution. State fiscal impact: TBD. House Finance referred to State, Veterans, and Military Affairs, 2/2/10.

Senate Bill 154 High-Risk Student Alternative Education Campus Designation.  Sponsored by Senator Sandoval. 
SB 154 expands the definition of "high-risk student" for purposes of receiving a designation as an 'alternate education campus' with 95% of high-risk students to include children with disabilities, migrant children, homeless children, children with a documented history of serious psychiatric or behavioral disorders, and children who are 2 or more years behind grade level as determined by statewide assessments or by other assessments approved by the department of education for this purpose.  State fiscal impact TBD. Introduced in the Senate and assigned to Education 2/4/10.

House Bill 1254  High School Graduation Assessment Score Requirement.  Sponsored by Representative Sonnenberg and Senator Brophy. 
HB 1254 requires the state board of education to include in its graduation guidelines a requirement that each student in each public high school in Colorado, before being permitted to graduate from high school, achieve either: (1) a score at the proficient achievement level or higher on the 10th-grade statewide assessments in reading, writing, and mathematics; or (2) a score on a postsecondary and workforce readiness assessment indicating that the student has attained postsecondary and workforce readiness. Certain students with disabilities and children participating in a nonpublic, home-based educational program are exempt from the requirement.  State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced and assigned to Education 2/3/10.

Senate Bill 111 Schools Authorized by State Charter Institute.  Sponsored by Representative Massey and Senator K. King. 
SB 111 allows an institute charter school to participate as a member of a BOCES. It clarifies that a BOCES may contract with an institute charter school to provide buildings, maintenance, or educational or other services. SB 111 directs the institute to study the feasibility and effect of having institute charter schools be their own local education agency. It creates a separate account within the institute for funds receives as a result of the institute being a school food authority. It also expands the length of time the institute board has to rule on an application from 60 to 75 days. SB 111 repeals the requirement that the institute collect and provide to school districts certain information about students enrolled in institute charter schools. State fiscal impact TBD. Introduced in the Senate and assigned to Education 1/22/10.

Senate Bill 161 Charter School Collaboratives and Contracting Agreements.  Sponsored by Representative Massey and Senator K. King. 
SB 161 authorizes a charter school to contract with a board of cooperative services or another charter school for buildings and services. It authorizes the concept of "charter school collaboratives" made up of two or more charter schools to perform any function appropriately performed by a charter school, including applying for state or federal grants. If the charter school collaborative was formed with the consent of the authorizers of the member charter schools, the collaborative may serve as a local education agency or administrative unit. State fiscal impact TBD. Introduced in the Senate and assigned to Education 2/4/10.

Senate Bill 054 Educational Services for Juveniles Charged as Adults.  Sponsored by Representative Levy and Senator Hudak. 
SB 054 requires a school district where a county jail is located to serve juveniles who are charged as adults and and are held in county jails pending trial. The school district may either; 1) count the student in its pupil count for funding purposes; 2) seek reimbursement from CDE if the student was not included in the pupil count; 3) the district may also seek excess costs from the juvenile's district of residence if the student is receiving special education services.  State fiscal impact TBD. Introduced in the Senate and assigned to Judiciary 1/13/10.

House Bill 1082 Disqualification from School Employment for Conviction of  Certain Offenses.  Sponsored by Senator Penry and Representative McNulty. 
HB 1082 enacts the "Felon-free Schools Act of 2010" which prohibits a school district or public school from employing as a nonlicensed employee a person who has a conviction for certain enumerated criminal offenses. HB 1082 also amends existing mandatory disqualifications for licensed educators to include any convictions for a felony drug offense. State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced in the House and assigned to Judiciary and Appropriations 1/13/10.

Senate Bill 152  Information Regarding Child Abuse to Mandatory Reporters.  Sponsored by Representative Gagliardi and Senator Newell. 
SB 152 requires a county department of social services to provide information to a mandatory reporter concerning the mandatory reporter's report to the county department of suspected child abuse or neglect. It requires the county department to provide certain information to the mandatory reporter, including but not limited to the name of persons who may pose safety risk to the victim, whether the victim has been returned to his or her home, whether the case has been closed, and contact information for the caseworker investigating the report. SB 152 authorizes a county department to provide this information only to certain mandatory reporters, including but not limited to hospitals, physicians, nurses, school employees and officials, and mental health professionals.  State fiscal impact TBD. Introduced in the Senate and assigned to Health and Human Services 2/4/10.

House Bill  1171 Education Related Data Reporting Requirements.  Representative Benefield and Senator Steadman. 
HB 1171 repeals the requirement that a districts have to report students who obtain a high school diploma after reaching 21 and the specific definition of dropout for those students. It repeals some of the reporting requirements under CBLA for school districts. It also repeals the requirement for districts to submit their annual budgets to CDE. It clarifies whether EDAC can declare a data reporting request as mandatory, required to receive a benefit, or voluntary. HB 1171 directs EDAC to review the processes and timing for collecting student demographic data and recommend efficient updates to the state board. It repeals reporting on physically, morally and mentally defective students, data from in-home or in-school suspenstion grant program, and data from the pilot schools for expelled students. HB 1171 requires higher education institutions to report individual student remediation to school districts data as soon as the institutions begin using the unique student identifier.  State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced in the House and assigned to Education 1/22/10.

House Bill  1028 Universal Application for Early Childhood Programs.   Representative Benefield and Senator Hodge. 
HB 1028 establishes an early childhood universal application subcommittee to the government data advisory board created in the office of information technology. The subcommittee will report to the CIO and the advisory board. It stipulates that the CIO will prepare a report on a universal application to be used by all state agencies, school districts, and federally funded early childhood programs and will combine the report into the annual report the CIO submits to the general assembly. The subcommittee is repealed July 1, 2013. State fiscal impact: TBD. Passed House third reading 1/28/10.

Senate Bill 005 Continuity of Services to Kindergarten.  Sponsored by Representative Benefield and Senator Hudak. 
Contingent upon the receipt and allocation of certain federal moneys or upon receipt of gifts, grants, and donations SB 005 authorizes CDE to distribute moneys to public schools through a grant program to provide continuity in the nature and quality of services that children in kindergarten receive after they have transitioned from the Colorado preschool program or a head start program to kindergarten. Public schools receiving grant money shall determine appropriate services to provide to students consistent with provisions of the grant program. State fiscal impact: Conditional upon receipt of gifts, grants and donations. State Revenue Cash Funds FY10-11 $139,423 / State Expenditures Cash Funds FY10-11 $134,441 / FTE FY10-11 0.3 . Introduced in the Senate and assigned to Education 1/13/10.

House Bill 1030 Creation of the Early Childhood Educator Development Program.  Sponsored by Senator Steadman and Representative Peniston. 
Subject to the receipt of sufficient federal moneys or gifts, grants, or donations HB 1030 creates the early childhood educator development scholarship program  in CDE. The program will provide scholarships to persons who are employed in early childhood development who are pursuing an associate of arts degree in early childhood education. State fiscal impact: TBD. House Appropriations refer unamended to Commitee of the Whole 2/5/10. 

Senate Bill 131 Quality Full-day Kindergarten Incentive.  Sponsored by Senator B. Shaffer and Representative Solano. 
SB 131 encourages school districts to implement full-day kindergarten programs that meet specified quality criteria by providing additional per pupil revenue. For programs that meet the specified criteria, the district will receive 1.3 of the district's per pupil revenue for each child enrolled in the full-day K program. State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced and assigned to Education 2/1/10. 

Senate Bill 050 Contract Renewal for K-12 Teachers.  Sponsored by Senator Spence. 
SB 050 increases the required length of continuous employment that a probationary teacher shall have before being classified as a non-probationary teacher from 3 to 5 years. Contracts would then be renewed every 5 years upon satisfactory evaluation. If the board of education is not going to renew the non-probationary teacher's contract, the board will provide written notes with reasons why the contract is not being renewed. State fiscal impact: This bill will impact school districts differently, depending on their current review process. Introduced in the Senate and assigned to Education 1/13/10.

House Bill  1036 Online Public Access to Public School Financial Information.  Sponsored by Senator Romer and Representative Scanlon and Massey. 
HB 1036 enacts the "Public School Financial Transparency Act", which requires school districts, district charter schools, boards of cooperative education, the state charter school institute, and institute charter schools to post financial information on-line, in a downloadable format, for free public access.  July 1, 2010, adopted budgets, annual audited financial statemenst, at least quarterly financials, and salary schedules or policies are required to be posted. July 1, 2011, check registers, credit/debit/purchase card statements are required to be posted. July 1, 2012, investment performance reports or statements must be posted. The FPP committee is charged with developing templates for voluntary use by entities subject to this requirement. State fiscal impact: none; local district expenses coming from existing resources. Introduced in the Senate and assigned to Education 2/4/10.

Senate Bill 091 Online Access to School District Financial Data.  Sponsored by Representative Stephens and Senator Harvey. 
No later than September 1, 2011, every school district, district charter school, BOCES and institute charter school is required to develop, maintain, and make publicly available a single, searchable, on-line, revenue and expenditure database that allows a user to review at no cost information concerning moneys collected and expended by the local education provider. Data must be provided in an open, structured data format that allows the user to download and systematically sort, search, and access all of the data. Requires updates at least monthly, archives of the data, data to be accessible from the web site, and create a link to a service that allows users to be notified of updates to the on-line database.  State fiscal impact TBD. Introduced in the Senate and assigned to State Affairs 1/20/10.

SCR 001 Fiscal Policy Constitutional Commission. Sponsored by Senator Heath and Representative Ferrandino. 
Senate Concurrent Resolution 001 creates the Fiscal Policy Constitutional Commission consisting of 19 members appointed by various state officials (officials from the legislative, executive and judicial branches) for purposes of reviewing fiscal policy in the state constitution. The Commission will submit to voters in 2012 one or more measures to amend fiscal policy. Each measure submitted is permitted to include more than one subject.State fiscal impact TBD. Introduced in the Senate and assigned to State Veterans and Military Affairs 1/13/10.

House Bill  1253  Gifted and Talented Education Act.  Sponsored by Senator Spence and Representative Peniston. 
HB 1253 delineates the difference between gifted and talented and disabled student services within ECEA. It creates a gifted advisory committee to match the special education advisory committee to the state board of education. It also requires every administrative unit to identify gifted children in grades preschool through 12 and provide services. HB 1253 defines 'gifted education services' or 'gifted education programs' to be the services or programming options provided to gifted children that reflect evidence-based practices such as acceleration, differentiated instruction, affective guidance, delivery methods, and programs. It also requires each administrative unit to make available gifted education services to gifted children as specified by the program plan and an ALP process for matching programming options or services available in the AU to a gifted child's strength and needs.  State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced in the House and assigned to Education 2/3/10.

House Bill  1066 CDE Food Provision to School Food Authorities.  Sponsored by Senator Sandoval and Representative Massey and Scanlon. 
HB 1066 requires CDE to procure approved food and beverages for and distribute them to any BOCES that contracts with CDE for the service. The State board of education is required to promulgate rules identifying approved food and beverages. A BOCES may contract with CDE or one or more food and beverage distributors, or any combination thereof, for provision of food and beverages.  State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced in the House and assigned to Education 1/13/10.

House Bill  1131 Colorado Kids Outdoors Grant Program.  Sponsored by Senator Gibbs and Representative Scanlan. 
HB 1131 creates the Colorado kids outdoors grant program in the department of natural resources to provide grants for programs that allow Colorado youth to participate in outdoor activities in the state. The executive director of the department of natural resources will adopt rules to implement the grant program, including criteria for selecting grant recipients. An advisory council will assist the executive director. Directs CDE, in consultation with the department of natural resources, to create and the state board of education to adopt a state plan for environmental education.  State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced in the House and assigned to Education 1/19/10.

Senate Bill 056 Developing Standardized Immunization Information to Provide to Parents.  Sponsored by Representative Riesberg and Senator Boyd. 
SB 056 requires the state charter school institute and each school district board of education to adopt and implement a policy requiring each school to annually provide parents and legal guardians with a paper or email copy of a standardized immunization document developed and updated, as instructed, by the department of public health and environment. State fiscal impact TBD. Senate Health and Human Services referred to Senate floor 2/3/10.

Senate Bill 081 Creation of Farm-to-School Interagency Task Force.  Sponsored by Representative Solano and Senator Sandoval. 
SB 081 creates "Farm-to-School Healthy Kids Act", which establishes the interagency farm-to-school coordination task force. It sets future repeal date of December 31, 2013.  State fiscal impact TBD. Introduced in the Senate and assigned to Education 1/15/10.

House Bill  1037 Continuation of Funding for Supplemental On-line Education Services.  Sponsored by Senator Spence and Representative Massey. 
HB 1037 continues the supplemental on-line education grant program and the funding of a contract for the provision of supplemental on-line education services. State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced in Senate and assigned to Education 2/4/10.

House Bill  1009 Pinnacol Assurance Board of Directors.  Sponsored by Senator Hodge and Representative Miklosi. 
HB 1009 requires 2 employee members of the board of directors of Pinnacol Assurance board to be nonmanagement employees. It adds 2 additional members to the board: injured worker and executive director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. HB 1009 increases per diem for board members from $140 to $250. It requires the board to post date, time, and location of board meetings on Pinnacol Assurance web site at least 7 calendar days prior to meeting. It also requires the board to allow reasonable time for public comment at meetings. State fiscal impact: Although no state fiscal impact is anticipated, HB10-1009 is expected to increase expenditures for Pinnacol Assurance. House Judiciary referred to House floor 2/4/10.

House Bill  1064 Ineligible Student Arbitration Appeal.  Sponsored by Senator Spence and Representative S. Schafer. 
HB 1064 requires a student who is found by a school, school district, or any organization or association to be ineligible to participate in an extracurricular or interscholastic activity or who is otherwise sanctioned to complete an appeal process before filing a petition or complaint with a group of sitting or retired judges or other group of neutral arbitrators. State fiscal impact: TBD. House third reading laid over daily 2/5/10.

House Bill  1108 Independent Contracting Nonprofit Youth Sports Coach.  Sponsored by Senator Johnston and Representative McCann. 
HB 1008 establishes a written contract between a coach and nonprofit youth sports organization, declaring that the coach is an independent contractor and not an employee of the organization, is conclusive evidence of the independent contractor relationship between the coach and the organization.  State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced in the House and assigned to Business Affairs and Labor 1/15/10.

Senate Bill 018School Awards Program Fund.  Sponsored by Representative Merrifield and Senator K. King. 
SB 018 authorizes CDE to accept gifts, grants, and donations to the school awards program fund to pay for banners and trophies for schools that are identified as eligible to receive awards under the Colorado School Awards Program. State fiscal impact: $4,200 gifts, grants and donations. Introduced in House and assigned to Education 2/1/10.

Senate Bill 089 Religious Bill of Rights for Public Schools.  Sponsored by Senator Schultheis and Representative Sonnenberg. 
SB 089 requires the state board of education to adopt a religious bill of rights for public school students and parents and a religious bill of rights for public school teachers and employees outlining each party's respective inalienable individual religious rights. The state board shall distribute the religious bills of rights to school district boards of education and each local board shall adopt policies and procedures to implement the act, including the annual distribution of the religious bills of rights to students, parents, teachers, and employees of the school district. Local boards of education shall provide opt-out provisions to individuals for classes or course materials that are in conflict with the individual's religious beliefs. Individual members of local boards are personally liable for lawsuits brought under the act if the local board fails to adopt policies and procedures to implement the act or to ensure compliance with the act.  State fiscal impact TBD. Introduced in the Senate and assigned to Judiciary 1/20/10.

Senate Bill 107 Use of American Indian Mascots.  Sponsored by Senator Wiliams and Representative Todd. 
SB 107 requires each public high school that uses an American Indian mascot to either cease using the American Indian mascot or obtain approval for the continued use of the American Indian mascot from the Colorado commission of Indian affairs. The commission will evaluate the use of American Indian mascots by public high schools and either grant or deny approval of such use. For each month in which a public high school uses an American Indian mascot after July 1, 2013, without obtaining approval from the commission, the school district shall pay a fine of $1000 to the state treasurer, who shall credit the same to the state education fund.  State fiscal impact: beginning in FY 2013-14, high schools that fail to comply are subject to a $1,000/month fine, credited to the State Education Fund. Introduced in the Senate and assigned to Education 1/20/10.

House Bill 1153 Modifications to PERA Board of Trustees.  Sponsored by Representative A. Kerr. 
HB 1153 changes the composition of the board to the following 15 trustees: 8 appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate who are not PERA members or retirees and who are experts in certain fields, 5 of whom are appointed after January 1, 2011; the state treasurer; 2 elected members from the school division; 1 elected member from each of the state, local government, and judicial divisions; and 1 elected retiree. The bill requires the that elected member from the state division also be a state trooper.  State fiscal impact: although no state fiscal impact is anticipated, the bill is expected to increase expenditures for PERA beginning in 2011. Introduced in the Senate and assigned to State Affairs 1/20/10.

House Bill 1207 Modifications to PERA.  Sponsored by Representative Lambert and Senator K. King. 
For all members who are not yet eligible to draw a full or reduced service retirement benefit on January 1, 2011, the bill changes the current HAS calculation to a 5-year HAS with a base year and imposes a 5% cap on the amount of salary increase from one year to the next that will be counted toward the HAS calculation. It states that an actuarial necessity exists when the defined benefit plan is not actuarially sound and that, in the event of an actuarial necessity, the general assembly may modify the benefits allowed to certain members in the defined benefit plan of PERA. HB 1207 eliminates the AED for employers in all divisions of PERA beginning in the 2011 calendar year and eliminates the SAED for employers in all divisions of PERA beginning in the 2011 calendar year. It creates a new rule of 95 by requiring members, other than state troopers, who did not have 5 years of service credit on the effective date of the bill to have 30 years of service and to have reached the age of 65 to retire with a full retirement benefit. It allows the general assembly to annually adjust the COLA for benefit recipients from any division with an actuarial funded ratio of 90% or more and specifies that such adjustment shall be based on the rate of inflation. HB 1207 establishes the new DC plan for public employees and requires that an employee first hired on or after January 1, 2011, shall become a member of the new DC plan and shall not have the option to become a member of the defined benefit plan.  State fiscal impact TBD. Introduced and assigned to State, Veterans, & Miliary Affairs 1/26/10.

Senate Bill 001 Modifications to PERA.  Sponsored by Representative A. Kerr and Senator B. Shaffer and Penry. 
SB 001contains benefit and contribution changes to the benefit plans of the public employees' retirement association to achieve a sound actuarial response to PERA's current financial situation. SB 001 makes changes to fully amortize the unfunded actuarial accrued liability of each of PERA's divisions and thereby reach a 100% funded ratio for each division within the next 30 years. The extended summary is from PERA's website as it compares the PERA board recommendations to the introduced bill.  State fiscal impact: Cost Savings: FY 09-10 $997,657; FY 10-11 $2,992,973. Introduced in the House and assigned to Finance 2/3/10.

House Bill 1034 Credentialing of School Speech Language Pathology Assistants.  Sponsored by Senator K. King and Representative Massey. 
HB 1034 allows CDE to issue an emergency authorization to a school speech-language pathology assistant who has not yet met the statutory requirements for a school SLP assistant authorization. State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced in Senate and assigned to Education 2/4/10. 

House Bill  1013 Modification to School Finance  Sponsored by Senator Romer and Representative Middleton. 
HB 1013 requires school districts to provide funding for capital construction to each qualified charter school in the district by making a monthy payment to the qualifed charter school after the school district has received the monthly payment fom CDE. HB 1013 eliminates a local board of education's authority to negotiate business incentive agreements with a tax payer who establishes a new business facility in the school district. HB 1013 requires a district to notify the state board of education when it plans to seek voter approval to retain and spend additional property tax revenues and to submit a proposal of what the district will do with the additional revenue. HB 1013 eliminates the requirement that CDE reduce a school district's state share of total program funding by an amount equal to the payment that the district receives as impact assistance in lieu of taxes from the divison of wildlife.  HB 1013 requires the General Assembly to make an annual appropration for matching funds pursuant to the "National School Lunch Act". In 2008 the general assembly increased the charter school capital construction appropriation and required that a specific amount of the increase be distributed to a charter school for the deaf and blind for the 2008-09 budget year only. HB 1013 eliminates language that was necessary in connection with the distribution of these moneys.  State fiscal impact: TBD. House Education referred to Appropriations 2/4/10.

House Bill  1015 Stable Funding for Small School Districts.  Sponsored by Senator K. King and Representative Middleton and Massey. 
HB 1015 creates a stable funding pilot program for small school districts that provides consistent total program funding for each of 5 consecutive budget years, beginning with the 2010-11 budget year to allow a participating small district more predictability in its budgeting process. A small district that participates in the pilot program will receive total program funding equal to its total program funding for the 2009-10 budget year throughout the stable funding period. The total program funding calculated for a small district pursuant to the pilot program will be in lieu of total program as traditionally calculated. A small district that chooses to participate in the pilot program shall participate for the entire remaining stable funding period. A small district that participates in the pilot program must enter into memorandum of understanding or other agreements with one or more school districts or boards of cooperative services to jointly provide services for the districts and to share in the cost of providing the services. State fiscal impact: State Expenditures, General Fund, School Finance Program Administration - FY10-11 $0.5 to $5.1 million, FY11-12 $0.6 to $7.8 million. Introduced in the House and assigned to Education 1/13/10.

House Bill  1183 Pilot for Alternative School Finance Funding Models.  Sponsored by  Representative Middleton. 
HB 1183 creates a pilot program to test other methods of funding by collecting data demonstrating the difference for school districts as if they had been funded under a different model while still receiving existing funding. Districts applying for participation must demonstrate what the model is based upon, incentives or outcomes of applying the model, how the effects of the model will be measured, benefits/obstacles to implementing the model statewide, and any waivers that would be necessary. It creates an 9-member advisory council to review applications and select participants. State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced in the House and assigned to Education 1/22/10.

Senate Bill 008 Average Daily Membership for School Finance.  Sponsored by Senator Johnston and Representative Scanlon. 
Under current law, the pupil enrollment of a school district is determined based on the number of pupils enrolled on October 1 of the applicable budget year. SB 008 directs CDE to contract for a study to evaluate the feasibility, design, and impact of a system to determine pupil enrollment based on the average number of days that each pupil is enrolled in school during the school year (average daily membership) rather than based on a single count date; except that the department shall contract for the study only if: (1) the state receives, and makes available to the department, federal race to the top fund moneys; (2) the department is able to secure federal funding from another source in an amount necessary to cover the costs of the study; or (3) the department receives gifts, grants, or donations in an amount necessary to cover the cost of the study.State fiscal impact: $7,689 for study RFP in 10-11. In FY 2011-12, $50,000 to conduct the study and provided by gifts, grants, and donations. Senate Appropriations referred to Senate floor 2/5/10.

Senate Bill 062 Categorical Program Distribution.  Sponsored by Representative Peniston and Senator Steadman. 
SB 062 eliminates the requirement that categorical funding increases be addressed in the long bill and requires the general assembly to pass a separate bill establishing categorical increases to each categorical. It repeals the CO Comprehensive health education fund and credits any remaining money to the state public school fund. SB 062 requires CDE to increase the Tier A money for each administrative unit annually by the same percentage as the overall SPED categorical line item is increased. It replaces the term "student whose dominant language is not English" with "student with limited English proficiency".  State fiscal impact: State Expenditures: General Fund ($1,511), State Public School Fund $1,511 - These impacts result from the provisions that eliminate the Comprehensive Health Education Fund . Introduced in the Senate and assigned to Education 1/13/10.

Senate Bill 150 Temporary Transfer of Public School Land Money.  Sponsored by Representative Pommer and Senator Tapia. 
SB 152 transfers to the state public school fund, instead of the permanent school fund, moneys not otherwise allocated from: interest or income earned on the investment of the moneys in the permanent school fund; proceeds received by the state for the sale of timber on public school lands, rental payments for the use and occupation of the surface of said lands, and rentals or lease payments for sand, gravel, clay, stone, coal, oil, gas, geothermal resources, gold, silver, or other minerals on said land; and royalties and other payments for the depletion or extraction of a natural resource on said lands. State fiscal impact. Introduced in the Senate and assigned to Education 2/4/10.

Senate Bill 151 Repeal of Colorado Comprehensive Health Fund.  Sponsored by Representative Pommer and Senator White. 
SB 151 repeals the Colorado comprehensive health education fund and redirects funds to the State Public School Fund. State fiscal impact. Introduced in the Senate and assigned to Education 2/4/10.

House Bill  1136 K-12 Schools Emergency Safety Drills.  Sponsored by  Representative King. 
HB 1136 requires primary and secondary public schools to conduct at least 2 emergency safety protocol drills each academic year in addition to fire evacuation drills. All schools of a school district, boards of cooperative services, and institute charter schools are included in the safety drill requirement. State fiscal impact: None. Introduced and referred to Education 1/19/10.

House Bill  1273  Arts Education for Workforce Development.  Sponsored by Representative Merrifield and Senators Spence and Steadman. 
HB 1273 requires each public school in Colorado to provide visual arts and performing arts education. Demonstration of proficiency regarding the visual arts and performing arts standards will be a condition of high school graduation from public schools beginning with the ninth-grade class of 2010-11. It requires the State Board of Education to adopt rules for each individual and career academic plan to include the student's progress in visual arts and performing arts classes.  State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced in the House and assigned to Education 2/5/10.

House Bill  1002 Priority of TABOR Refund Methods.  Sponsored by Senator Sandoval and Representative Kefalas. 
HB 1002 increases the the threshold necessary to trigger a temporary income tax rate reduction as a method to provide a constitutionally required refund of excess state revenues so that the rate reduction does not occur unless there is also an earned income tax credit refund.  State fiscal impact: None. House Appropriations referred to House floor 2/5/10.

House Bill  1129 Consequences for Higher than Actual Property Tax Valuation.  Sponsored by Senator Harvey and Representative Bradford. 
HB 1129 changes the requirements for a taxpayer to initially pay property taxes based on the valuation from the previous year. The bill requires the notice of valuation sent to certain taxpayers whose property value has increased to include a statement about initially paying taxes based on the actual valuation for the previous year. It also requires a taxpayer to receive costs, including witness fees, and reasonable attorney fees if the final adjusted valuation is less than one-third of the valuation included in the notice of valuation. State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced in the House and assigned to Local Government and Finance 1/19/10.

House Bill  1174 Increase in Oil and Gas Severance Tax for Job Promotion.  Sponsored by Representative Frangas. 
HB 1174 reduces the credit producers and interest owners are permitted to claim against the state severance tax on oil and gas by 50% for a 2 year period beginning 1/1/11. Revenues are earmarked for: 90% to the teacher retention cash fund for school districts and the charter school institute to be used for teacher retention and 10% to the small business credit cash fund to increase the credit reserve program by the CO Housing and Finance Authority. State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced in the House and assigned to Business Affairs and Labor 1/22/10.

Senate Bill  085 Business Personal Property Tax Pilot Program.  Sponsored by Senator Scheffel and Representative Priola. 
SB 085 establishes a pilot program to reimburse 5 participating counties for revenue lost as a result of a business personal property tax exemption. To qualify as a participating county, a county must enact an ordinance to eliminate the business personal property tax for 5 years and have a population that is greater than 20,000 but less than 500,000. The state will reimburse a participating county for lost property tax revenue for 4 of the 5 years that the exemption is in place. The first year the reimbursement will be 100% of the lost property tax revenue, and that percentage will be reduced by 25% in each of the next 4 years. After the 5 years of the county business personal property tax exemptions, legislative council staff will undertake a study to determine whether the exemptions stimulated economic growth. Staff will prepare a report of the findings to be delivered to the Business Affairs and Labor Legislative Committees. State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced in the House and assigned to State Affairs 1/20/10.

Senate Bill  086  Phased-in Exemption for Fully Depreciated Business Personal Property.  Sponsored by Senator Scheffel and Representative Priola. 
SB 086 exempts a percentage of all business personal property that is fully depreciated beginning in the 2011 property tax year, starting at 25% and increases every 4 years until the property is entirely exempt beginning with the 2023 property tax year. The new exemption shall apply before an existing exemption, which is on a per personal property schedule basis. State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced in the House and assigned to State Affairs 1/20/10.

Senate Bill  133  Creation of Income Tax Credit for Rehiring Employees.  Sponsored by Senators Heath and Rommer. 
SB 133 establishes an income tax credit to incentivize Colorado businesses to rehire laid-off workers sooner. The tax credit is available for the income tax year commencing January 1, 2011, only.  State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced in the Senate and assigned to Business, Labor and Technology 2/3/10.

House Bill  1232  School Bus Vehicle Definitions.  Sponsored by Representative Baumgardner. 
HB 1232 defines the term "school vehicle"; amends the definition of "school bus"; and amends certain statutory provisions that refer to "school vehicle" and "school bus" to clarify when each term applies.  State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced in the House and assigned to Education 2/2/10.

House Bill  1296  Incentive for Enrollment of Qualified Children in Private Schools.  Sponsored by Representative Swalm and Senator Penry. 
HB 1296 creates a new income tax credit for the income tax year commencing January 1, 2011, and each income tax year thereafter, of $1,000 for a taxpayer that enrolls a qualified child in private school. It also requires a grant to be made to any public school district that loses a student for whom an income tax credit is claimed. That school district would receive a $1,000 grant for each student the district loses. The grant must then be distributed by the school district to the particular school the qualified child would have attended if he or she had not been enrolled in a private school. The grant is received by the school district for every year that the qualified child is enrolled in private school.  State fiscal impact: TBD. Introduced in the House and assigned to Education 2/5/10.