2015 House Session

Early Childhood Educator Development Scholarships (HB 1001)–Reps. Garnett & Pettersen

House Bill 15-1001 creates a scholarship program for early childhood educators to continue their education and improve their teaching skills. This will make it more affordable for early childhood educators to improve their classroom skills and provide a better education to the children of Colorado. These scholarships will help train and retain more teachers and help the state meet it’s goal of offering a high-quality early childhood education to all Colorado kids.

Adjusting the Denver Hospital Authority Board (HB 1059) – Rep. Garnett

Currently, the Denver Hospital Authority Board has nine members. While nine allows the Hospital Authority Board to address many of the demographics and interest at hand, House Bill 15-1059, which adds two members to the board, will greatly help the Board in addressing the concerns of everyone involved with the Denver Hospital System. In addition, this bill makes it so that a unanimous vote is necessary to remove someone from the board. Current law allows the Mayor of Denver or the City Council to remove a board member with no input from the Board itself.

No Credit Card Interchange Fee on Taxes (HB 1154) – Reps. Garnett & Becker J.

Interchange fees are fees imposed on sales that will ultimately be paid to credit card companies. This bipartisan bill removes any interchange fee on taxes imposed by state and local governments. By removing these extra fees, Colorado will ensure that hard working people are not paying more because of already imposed taxes. In addition, this bill will raise revenue for the state by imposing penalties on people that continue this practice.

Creation of Career Pathways for Students (HB 1274)– Reps. Garnett & Melton

Right now, our colleges do not provide enough pathways for students who are not interested in college. Meanwhile, there are thousands of good-paying jobs in sectors like manufacturing that could use these students the second they graduate. HB 1274 will create pathways so that high school students can be connected to these jobs more easily so that they may pursue them once they graduate.  By promoting these industries, Colorado can fill these needed positions while also providing even more opportunities for students as they end high school and move on to the next phase of their life.
 
Pay for Success Contracts (HB 1317) – Reps. Garnett & Rankin

HB15-1317 creates a Pay for Success Contracts Program in Colorado. The program allows Colorado to contract with a third party for a desired program like improving economic opportunity or reducing homelessness with no up-front cost to the state. The third party is responsible for raising enough capital to launch and implement the intervention. If the program is successful and saves the state money, the state will pay the contractor back with the savings. If a program is not successful and does not save the state money, the contractor is not reimbursed. This is an innovative approach to address some of Colorado’s most difficult social challenges.

Needle-stick Prevention (SB 116) – Rep. Garnett

This bill sets out to protect our law enforcement and peace officers from coming into contact with dangerous substances and diseases. By allowing a person to voluntarily disclose if they have a syringe or hypodermic needle on their person without criminalizing them, Senate Bill 15-116 will prevent law enforcement from accidentally coming into contact with any person’s blood, as well as any other substance. This bill covers EMT interactions with people as well as police interactions. This bill will also create an education program to inform people of their rights concerning this new practice.

Yoga Exemption of Private Occupational Education (SB 186) – Reps. Garnett & Dore

The “Private Occupational Education Act of 1981” defines regulations for private occupational schools that exist for the intent of providing jobs and career. Senate Bill 15-186 exempts Yoga teacher and training schools (YTTS) from this Act. Currently, 16 YTTS are regulated in Colorado, with zero violations or problems occurring at these schools over the past three years. This bill will ensure that YTTS continue to have the diversity and inclusiveness that is emblematic of yoga communities both in Colorado and around the world.