So much that happens at the legislature happens in very small steps, but each step leads in a clear direction. Far too often that direction is for more government control of private businesses, individual citizens, and families.

2012 Freedom Watch is my journal of those many steps that are taken every day during the legislative session.

It is a compilation of the good bills, the bad bills, and any other actions of note. Unfortunately, the good bills promoting healthy families, freedom and personal responsibility are rare and will seldom be found in a list of bills passed by the Colorado legislature in 2012.

Bills that take steps in the right direction, or bad bills that are defeated will be listed in bold typeface.

Here is my running commentary on the 2012 session, with the latest entry at the top of the page:

February

2 - For third reading SB-3, prohibiting employers from considering credit reports when hiring, was considered for the final vote in the Senate. Once again the debate roared on. The sponsor called this a jobs bill, but to put one more mandate on employers does not create a single job. It should also be noted that this is not about protecting credit scores. The National Federation of Independent Businesses tells me that credit scores are, by Federal law, not allowed to be used for hiring. It is the credit report, which this bill would prohibit, that is used to verify the accuracy of the details reported on a job application. This is a "government knows best" bill. The bill passed on a strict party-line vote.

20 - On the Senate floor SB-3 was heard, prohibiting employers from considering credit reports when hiring. It was touted as a job creating bill, despite the fact that this restriction on hiring considerations will not create a single job and it is one more regulation on private businesses. The bill passed second reading with a party-line voice vote.

In Judiciary HB-1100 was considered, removing possible criminal prosecution from pregnant women if a prenatal test shows they are using illegal drugs. The bill is heading the right way, but in the testimony it was pointed out that the unborn child has no legal standing, and is not considered a person. I did note to the committee that not giving the unborn child any legal standing is "barbaric," but as it is not the focus of this bill, I did not push the point.

Additionally, mandatory reporting requirements for medical professionals still constrain the mother to be reported to child welfare and legal authorities, if there are breathing children in the home, which would include the unborn child, once it is born. I supported the bill, but offered to help amend the bill to create an exception from madatory reporting requirements under the circumstances delineated in HB-1100. I report this in lowercase text, as I am not comfortable giving this bill a freedom plus mark without seeing that amendment that exempts the mandatory reporting requirements from the consequences of this bill.


16 - What a day in Health and Human Services Committee. Religious liberty is under the gun today. SB-93 would require hospitals to publish all procedures they do not allow because of religious concerns. No other procedure restrictions need be published, only religious reasons are held to this level of accountability. This would be a law to single out any institution that makes decisions based on religious values. The bill passed on a party-line vote.

Next up was SB-54, restricting private hospitals from taking any action against an employee who performed a procedure that that hospital prohibited. This bill goes along the same line as SB-93, because hospitals that have moral and religious concerns with certain procedures would not be able to enforce their policies. Because of technical problems the sponsor asked that the bill be killed.

Next up was my bill limiting the state's scope of authority in licensing day care centers, SB-138. among the testimony offered was a church, who had a day care center that had a religious exemption from the licensing process. They testified that the department has cracked down by increasing the exemption requirements to where no faith-based center can qualify. Therefore even this area of state law is being prejudiced against religious institutions. I offered amendments to pull the bill back to where it only added safety and affordability to the criteria for licensing a facility, but the bill was still killed, party- line.


15 - The Democrats continue to pound away at the social fabric of our state. In Judiciary Committee SB-2, creating civil unions in Colorado, the bill was heard. After five hours and dozens of people testifying, it passed, 5-2. The vote was never in doubt.

13 - In third reading SB-12 passed, eliminating the Health Department's program to eventually implement emission testing for all vehicles through drive-by, tail-pipe emissions tests, rather than the drive into facilities. The Health Department provided information that said the program was not working. I am not convinced that it is impossible for the more convenient drive-by tests to be used exclusively, and did not support the bill.

In State Affairs Committee my bill, SB - 135, was unanimously approved. This bill authorizes the Secretary of State to set up a statewide election night reporting system. This will be a transparent, accurate, and quick reporting of election results.

In Judiciary the meeting went past 7:30 PM, with essentially two bills. One, SB-25, passed unanimously, creating a way for somebody convicted of a crime to clear their record after a period of several years of


9 - In HHS SB-22 was heard, giving child care subsidies to families for up to two years beyond the time they actually qualify for the child care subsidy. The argument is that it eliminates the "cliff" effect, where a small raise throws the family off the entire subsidy program. This sounds reasonable, to smooth out this "cliff," but when I looked at the actual family income level where this will apply, it means we are extending an 87% subsidy (at a descending rate) for a family of five whose income is, for most counties, at least $54,000. Several counties do not cut a family off the subsidy program until a family of five makes $80,000. One county (Park) sets the maximum income level for a family of five of 86% for child care for a family of five who makes $105,000 and a family of nine (seven children) at $128,000! I was the lone vote against the bill. Sen. Mitchell was not present to vote (he was presenting a bill in another committee).

Next heard was SB-85, rolling back Medicaid programs to 2008 levels. Of course, the medical system opposed the bill. They are too used to the current flow of money and cannot comprehend less. I wish that attitude could be applied to the Colorado taxpayer.

8 - finally, on day 29, we see some bills on third reading in the Senate. SB-48 passed, releasing low volume food production from heavy regulation. This is called the "Colorado Cottage Foods Act."

SB -13 allows a greater use of low speed electric vehicles on our roads.

In HHS SB-91 was passed. This bill loosens up licensure requirements for nursing home administrators.

In Judiciary Committee we heard SB-125, creating a fetal homicide law. A lawyer for Planned Parenhood opposed the bill, which is similar to laws already in 35 states, and the committee vote to kill the bill, without any vote from the Democrat side supporting the bill.

3 - No damage done today. The Senate was cancelled due to snow.

2 - In Health and Human Services several bills were heard, including SB-78, concerning protections for at-risk adults. The bill creates a task force to study elder abuse. In the testimony the concept of creating a mandatory reporting law kept coming up. It may be appropriate to study elder abuse, and develop policies that put proper protections in place, but to require professionals and clergy to be madatory reporters is a very dangerous and slippery slope. Such forced compliance among those who know best when it is appropriate and when it is not appropriate to report is unwarranted intrusion into the good judgment of trained professionals. I have seen too many instances of madatory reporting yielding destructive, unintended consequences. The bill was pulled from the table to allow the sponsor to work on a multitude of amendments, but it is obvious this bill is headed to passage.

Par for the path of this committee, today they killed my Mediciad voucher bill, SB-18.

The other significant bill considered today was SB-53, repealing the Colorado Health Care Exchange Board if the US Supreme Court throws out any of the Federal health care law. After a spirited debate, which included a remarkable, and, if anyone was actually listening to the arguments, a very persuasive presentation on how bankrupt the Federal health care law is and how real free market solutions for medical care could actually lower costs for everyone. At 8:41 PM the bill died on a party-line vote.

1 - Senator Brophy brought SB-32 before the HHS committee. This bill would help control the costs of Medicaid for the state of Colorado by allowing the state to put a cap on what can be spent, require asset tests for participation in the Children's Basic Health Plan and put in place co-payments for services. The opposition was fierce, as many of the beneficiaries of the entitlement system stood against it. I am familiar with this setup, as my Medicaid bill, SB-18 (to be voted on This Thursday), is facing the same buzz-saw. We must find alternatives to the entitlement system of today, but unfortunately the committee killed this bill on a party-line vote.

SB-73 was considered in Judiciary. This bill requires rule making to intentionally follow the clear intent of the legislation, including what was expressed in hearings and floor debate. This is a separation of powers issue. The executive branch (the rule makers) should follow the intent of the legislativ branch (the law makers), and not go off on their own and bend the rules to their own direction. SB-73 is a limited government bill that would help hold the line on excessive rules. The bill died on a party-line vote.

Then, in Judiciary again, another bill (SB-27) was also intended to control the rule making process. This time it will require new rules to be reviewed by thenappropriate legislative committees of reference. The chaiman left before the vote was taken and the vote was put off until later.

January

31 - The Senate is still gearing up slowly, but today there were, finally, a few bills to vote on. They were on the third reading consent calendar (bills that are not considered controversial, and most likely to pass). Included in these bills was SB 94, which was approved, putting in a very modest tax reduction. This bill allows the food sales tax exemption to apply the same in a convenience store as in a grocery store. It does not amount to much, but it makes our food sales tax exemption more logical.

In a joint committee meeting with House and Senate Judiciary and the JBC the Water Buffalo Milking Stations came up again. I advised the JBC to look carefully at such exotic systems before giving their approval.

25 - I presented my Medicaid reform bill, which is essentially a voucher program for long-term care needs of the elderly, SB-18. Judging from the testimony and questions that the committee asked, it does not look good for the bill. However, because one senator was excused, I asked that the bill be laid over for final action.

In Judiciary we learned that the Department of Corrections is asking for the authority to spend an additional $1,358,474 to expand the Correctional Industries Program for new ventures, including a water buffalo milking station (no kidding).

23 - In the Senate Judiciary Committee I asked the director of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) if and when the CBI ended the statewide conceal carry permittee database. He confirmed they followed the law, and on July 1, 2011 ended the database and removed all records from their system, including backup information.

20. - More reports, this time a bit of a followup to yesterday's entry on early childhood care. The Early Childhood Leadership Commission gave their annual report to several committees and the governor. This commission is laying plans for comprehensive state management of early childhood care and training. Day-care centers are one part of this larger, comprehensive plan for the state's policies for families of small children.

In looking at their report I am troubled by a lack of focus on enhancing parental authority and responsibility, and an underlying presumption that the state has a primary responsibility to insure the proper training and care of young children. This is both impractical and inappropriate. The costs associated with the state taking on this burden are more than what our tight budgets can handle. Even more importantly, the scope of programs and services envisioned by this commission goes way beyond the proper role of government.

Specific concerns I have with the Commission's plans include:

- The Commission is working on "Early Learning and Development Standards" for birth through eight years of age. Standardizing such expectations can easily lead to more programs and more state directed oversight of families, if their children do not fit their "standards." Any parent of more than one child knows that such standards will never meaningfully fit the extremely wide range of development they routinely see in their own infants and small children.

- "The Commission is supporting work to design and implement a next-generation Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System (TQRIS) for early care and education programs... The new TQRIS will be mandatory for all licensed early childhood programs and will evaluate factors like cultural-responsiveness, social-emotional development and the inclusion of children with special needs." This is a direct quote (bold text a part of the quote) from page seven of the Commission's report. Who is going to determine the criteria for such subjective categories as "cultural-responsiveness" and what will this mandatory system require of private early childhood programs? It sounds like the PC police to me.

- The Commission will create a comprehensive early childhood data system. Whenever I see the words comprehensive and data system in a government report I get nervous. When the subject is early childhood, parents should be wary of how this comprehensive data system might be used to monitor and manage the "best interests" of their children.

Finally, lest one should think this Commission report is an exception to the general direction of the governor's administration, page nine of their report includes: "In last year's State of the State address, Governor Hickenlooper announced a change management effort to make state government 'more efficient, effective and elegant.' The Commission governance project was the first major initiative of the Governor's change management effort."

Apparently the plans we see in this report are precisely what the governor intends to see implemented. This makes no sense in light of his public statements about cutting red tape and making Colorado state government more efficient. It also might give some insight into what he means by "effective and elegant" for his governance.

19. - Still not much legislative activity, but more reports from departments to committees. Today the House and Senate Health Committees heard the director of Human Services, Reggie Bicha. He emphasized his department's focus on streamlining their systems, including a 20% reduction of their regulations. In light of that, I asked why the child care regulations are being expanded from about 33 pages to almost 100 pages of micro-managing details.

Part of the director's answer was an insistence that they are determined to improve the "quality" of day care centers. This sounds a lot like the governor's statement last summer where he said they are working at moving private day care centers to early childhood education centers.

Additionally he assured me they were working with the day care operators to correct any problems with their original draft of the regulations. Based on recent conversations I have had, the Director's response was not accurate, there is not yet evidence that they are meeting the concerns of private day care operators, and I told him as much. We agreed to meet later with the day care center operators to find out where the truth really lies. I will report on that meeting when it happens.

17 - Little is happening yet. Committee meetings are just getting reports from departments.

16 - No concerns today. The legislature took the day off, in honor of Martin Luther King Day.

12 - Today the governor gave his state of the state address to a joint session of the legislature. He emphasized entrepreneurs, presenting them as the spark and energy of our economic health.

He gave several positive examples of Colorado citizens and businesses who are thriving today.

Several specific policy details were highlighted, including:

He called for more money for CBMS, to "bring it into the 21st century." I don't understand this, as CBMS is the quarter of a billion dollar software system developed over the past 12 years, all from the 21st century.

His biggest applause line (with the exception of a cheer for the Broncos) was when he called for passage of the civil unions bill. This was also his only specific call for legislative action.

As an overall observation of the speech, I note that the governor praised the entrepreneurial spirit that helped build our great state, but most of the policies he called for made more programs and will cost the taxpayer more of their personal dollars.


11 - Today the 2012 session began. Mostly ceremony and proceedure, including two speeches per house. One from the House Speaker/Senate Preseident and one from each minority leader.

In the Senate the president called for job creation legislation. Unfortunately one need look no further than SB-1, to see that his side of the isle thinks government mandates and subsidies is the best the government can do from his party's perspective.

The Senate Republican leader, Bill Cadman gave a brilliant speech, commending many in the room (both sides of the isle), and acknowledged the need for positive relationships for the legislature to be successful. He ended the speech by holding the Democrat side accountable for the political vindictiveness they employed during the last reapportionment effort.