Vetoed Bills Find New Life Under Ritter

There were a number of bills among the 222 that Gov. Bill Ritter had signed as of Friday that had previously met their demise under former Gov. Bill Owens. Versions of some of the bills had been vetoed multiple times by the former governor before having better luck under Ritter. Versions of Senate Bill 1, which allows the state to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices, were vetoed five times by Owens in previous years.

Other new laws that were vetoed by Owens:

SB 60– Requires hospitals to inform victims of sexual assault of the availability of emergency contraception

HB 1133 – Provides whistleblower protection for health care workers

SB 25 – Prohibits gay people from being fired for their sexual orientation (awaiting Ritter’s signature)

HB 1345 – Consolidates School Accountability reports to make them easier to read and puts them online

SB 98 – Allows local governments to raise the tax rate for open spaces and parks with voters’ approval

SB 26 – Allows local governments to increase property taxes with voters’ approval to fund all-day kindergarten

SB 87 – Limits liability for construction problems to the subcontractors who performed the actual work

Additionally, Gov. Ritter issued an executive order to allow Colorado to participate in multi-state drug purchasing pools, a move opposed by Owens. He also announced the creation of a P-20 education council that will study the alignment of education from preschool to graduate school. Former Gov. Owens vetoed a bill that would have created a P-16 council to do the same.

Comments are closed.