| Today, March 7, 2024, is day 58 of the legislative session. I shouldn’t have looked; I knew the session hadn’t reached the halfway mark, but the temptation was too great. Almost there, the counter will click day 60 over the weekend. We will start the legislative week on Monday officially on the downhill slide.
The Capitol is getting busier. First, it is spring, so the school buses have arrived. The halls are filled with bright young minds taking tours and meeting legislators. I overheard one lobbyist say, “the Capitol, like a brothel, it is no place for a child!” I must admit navigating the halls around classrooms of children is bit like roller derby.
The legislative calendar is packed in both the House chamber and Senate. Legislators are hard at work. Committee work to hear legislation is routinely taking well into the late evening. While CBA is working weekends, the legislature has not called for sessions over the weekend yet, but I expect that is just around the corner.
BILL UPDATE
HB24-1351 Concerning the Sunset of the Division of Banking and State Banking Board – Section 9 of the bill authorizes a credit union to purchase the assets and liabilities of a banks. CBA is opposed to this section. The hearing for the legislation is scheduled for next Thursday, March 14, 2024, in House Business Affairs. It will be an evening hearing. The bill is number 4 on the agenda. The three bills prior to this legislation are controversial and are expected to take 6 hours. Please contact the members of the House Business Affairs Committee and ask them to VOTE NO on Section 9 of HB1351. You can find the Call to Action here.
HB24-1324 Restrictive Employment Agreements – The bill grants rule-making authority to the Attorney General over restrictive employment agreements. Current law allows an employer to recover the expense of educating and training a worker where the training is distinct from normal, on-the-job training. The bill regulates the recoverable expense as other consumer debt and student debt. The bill will be heard this afternoon, March 7, 2024, in the House Business Affairs committee. The bill is a good example of compromise. CBA has taken an amend position on this legislation. In working with the Attorney General’s office and the bill sponsor, we will not get all the amendments we identified, but we will get several concessions on this bill. In the end it will be a better bill. As introduced, the penalty to the employer for violations of the statute was five times the amount of any recovery attempted by the employer on the employee. The compromise language is three times the amount. In addition, the penalties were under deceptive trade practice under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act and that section will be removed from the bill. CBA tried to have the original private right of action by the employee removed from statute but was unsuccessful. We were able to add a compromise that if the AG pursues actions against the employer, it will preclude a worker from recovering actual damages.
SB24-106 Right to Remedy Construction Defect – This is the “Construction Defect Action Reform Act”. The bill establishes procedures for bringing a lawsuit for a construction defect claim. The first hearing for this bill was Tuesday March 5, 2024. Over 100 witnesses signed up to testify in support, opposition or amend on this bill. CBA is in support of this bill to address construction defects so that we revitalize the condominium construction market in Colorado. The hearing continued late into the evening on Tuesday. The committee did not “take action” or vote on the bill on Tuesday. There will be amendments offered as a compromise to get this much needed legislation passed. The next hearing will be Tuesday March 12, 2024.
Another bill that will further harm the construction market in Colorado was heard in the House Judiciary Committee last night March 6, 2024, HB 24-1230 Protections for Real Property Owners makes it a violation of the Consumer Protection Act to obtain or attempt to obtain a waiver or limitation on legal rights or remedies under construction defect. This bill further undermines construction defects and will escalate litigation. CBA is opposed to this legislation. The passed committee last night on a party line vote of 7-4.
A FINAL THOUGHT March 10, 1862 – After intense debate, Congress authorized the issuance of paper US notes (popularly called greenbacks) declaring them lawful money for all payment except interest on public debt and import duties. Back in the day, you could use it at the general store but not to pay the government - what a way to boost confidence. The Civil War had depleted the Union’s reserves of gold and silver coins, which was the only legal tender at the time.
Alison Morgan, Director of State Government Relations |
