Source: https://cbaclelegalconnection.com/tag/governor/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 04:00:35+00:00

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The Colorado Supreme Court issued its opinion in Kuhn v. Williams on Monday, April 23, 2018.
In this expedited appeal under C.R.S. § 1-1-113(3), the supreme court addressed whether the Colorado Secretary of State (Secretary) could certify incumbent Representative Doug Lamborn to the 2018 Republican primary ballot for Colorado’s Fifth Congressional District. Relying solely on the Colorado Election Code, the court concluded he may not.
The court held that although the Secretary properly relied on the circulator’s affidavit and information in the voter registration system in verifying the petition and issuing a statement of sufficiency, petitioners nonetheless had the statutory right to challenge the validity of the petition under C.R.S. §§ 1-4-909 and 1-1-113 before the Secretary certified Rep. Lamborn’s name to the ballot. Petitioners properly presented additional evidence to the district court in challenging the actual residence of the petition circulators.
The court concluded that the district erred when it focused on the challenged circulator’s subjective intent to move back to Colorado, rather than the test set forth in C.R.S. § 1-2-102, when determining the challenged circulator’s residency. In applying the correct test to the essentially undisputed facts here, the court concluded that the challenged circulator was not a resident of Colorado when he served as a circulator for the Lamborn campaign. Accordingly, the court reversed the district court’s ruling to the contrary. Because the challenged circulator was statutorily ineligible to serve as a circulator, the signatures he collected are invalid and may not be considered. That caused the Lamborn campaign’s number of signatures to fall short of the 1,000 required to be on the Republican primary ballot.
Therefore, the court held that the Secretary may not certify Rep. Lamborn to the 2018 primary ballot for Colorado’s Fifth Congressional District. The court did not address the Lamborn campaign’s arguments regarding the constitutionality of the circulator residency requirement in C.R.S. § 1-4-905(1) because the court lacks jurisdiction to address such claims in a proceeding under C.R.S. § 1-1-113.
On Thursday, May 19, 2016, Governor Hickenlooper signed six bills into law. To date, he has signed 192 bills this legislative session. The bills signed Thursday include a bill to allow depositions of at-risk persons in criminal trials in which the at risk persons may not be available to testify, a bill repealing certain mandatory terms of incarceration, and more. The bills signed Thursday are summarized here.
HB 16-1027 – Concerning Depositions in Criminal Cases in Which an At-Risk Person May Not Be Available for Trial, by Rep. Jessie Danielson and Sens. Nancy Todd & Jerry Sonnenberg. The bill expands and streamlines the allowable use of recorded depositions for at-risk elders. Under the bill, upon receipt of a motion the court must schedule a recorded deposition within 14 days without further findings if the victim is an at-risk elder, defined as any person 70 years of age or older; however, the bill allows the defense to challenge the motion for recorded depositions of other at-risk adults.
HB 16-1227 – Concerning Exemptions from Child Support Enforcement Requirements as a Condition of Receipt of Child Care Assistance Under the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program, and, in Connection Therewith, Making an Appropriation, by Reps. Daniel Kagan & Brian DelGrosso and Sens. Owen Hill & Larry Crowder. The bill specifies that a teen parent is not required to submit an application for child support establishment as a condition of receiving child care assistance. However, the county can require the parent to submit an application for child support establishment in order to receive child care assistance once they no longer qualify as a teen parent.
HB 16-1302 – Concerning the Alignment of the Colorado Statutes with the Federal “Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act” Through the “Colorado Career Advancement Act,” by Reps. Crisanta Duran & Brian DelGrosso and Sen. Linda Newell. The bill changes the title of the “Colorado Workforce Investment Act” to the “Colorado Career Advancement Act.” It also clarifies the roles of specific entities in workforce development programs and removes statutory requirements made inapplicable by the federal act.
HB 16-1390 – Concerning Immunity for Certain Persons who Are Involved with a Reported Overdose Event, by Rep. Dominick Moreno and Sen. Lucia Guzman. The bill provides immunity from arrest for underage persons reporting alcohol or marijuana overdoses and extends immunity from arrest and prosecution to the underage person requiring medical assistance.
SB 16-072 – Concerning an Increase in the Maximum Total Amount of Annual Lease Payments Authorized for Lease-Purchase Agreements Entered into Under the “Building Excellent Schools Today Act”, and, in Connection Therewith, Making an Appropriation, by Sen. Andy Kerr and Reps. Alec Garnett & Jim Wilson. Currently under the Building Excellent Schools Today Act (BEST), the state may enter into lease-purchase agreements for public school facility capital construction projects, subject to the limitation that the maximum total annual amount of lease payments payable under these agreements does not exceed $80 million in a fiscal year. This bill establishes incremental caps on these lease payments.
SB 16-102 – Concerning the Elimination of Mandatory Sentences to Incarceration for Certain Crimes, and, in Connection Therewith, Making and Reducing an Appropriation, by Sen. Andy Kerr and Rep. Dominick Moreno. The bill removes the mandatory term of incarceration that must accompany convictions of certain types of second degree assault or violations of bail bond conditions.
On Tuesday, April 5, 2016, the governor signed three bills into law. To date, he has signed 73 bills into law this legislative session. The bills signed Tuesday include a bill to extend the time to complete residential reconstruction, a bill regarding the costs of district public health agencies, and a bill repealing the “Medicaid Clean Claims Task Force.” These three bills are summarized below.
SB 16-012 – Concerning the Authority of a Local Assessor to Grant Additional Time for a Landowner to Reconstruct Residential Improvements that were Destroyed by a Natural Cause, by Sen. Rollie Heath and Rep. Jonathan Singer. The bill allows residential property to maintain its property tax classification for an indefinite period of time if the county assessor finds the property owner is making a good faith effort to rebuild after a natural disaster.
SB 16-094 – Concerning the Shared Costs of a District Public Health Agency by the Counties in the District, by Sen. Larry Crowder and Rep. Ed Vigil. Currently, the largest county in a multi-county public health district must serve as treasurer and district costs must be apportioned based on population. The bill allows multi-county health districts with small populations more flexibility in choosing which county will act as treasurer and apportioning costs.
SB 16-127 – Concerning the Repeal of the “Medicaid Clean Claims Transparency and Uniformity Act,” by Sen. Jack Tate and Rep. Jeni James Arndt. The bill repeals the Medicaid Clean Claims Transparency and Uniformity Act, repeals all ongoing work of the Medicaid Clean Claims Task Force, and repeals the requirement that insurance companies bill using codes developed by the task force. Related statutory definitions are also repealed.
For a complete list of the governor’s 2016 legislative decisions, click here.
The Colorado Supreme Court issued its opinion in Colorado Medical Society v. Hickenlooper on Monday, June 1, 2015.
To receive Medicare reimbursement, hospitals and other medical service providers must require certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) who administer anesthesia to do so under physician supervision. However, states may opt out of this requirement if the Governor submits a letter to the relevant federal agencies attesting that the opt-out is in the best interest of the state’s citizens and is consistent with state law. In 2010, Governor Bill Ritter, Jr. sent such an opt-out letter, which attested that Colorado law permits CRNAs to administer anesthesia unsupervised.
Here, the Supreme Court held that the Governor’s attestation to the federal agencies that Colorado law permits CRNAs to administer anesthesia without supervision is not a generally binding interpretation of Colorado law subject to de novo review. Instead, the attestation’s sole effect is to exempt certain Colorado hospitals from the federal physician supervision requirement. This decision, if reviewable at all, is reviewable only for a gross abuse of discretion. Because petitioners do not allege that such a gross abuse occurred in this case, the Court affirmed the court of appeals’ dismissal of petitioners’ claims.

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