H_SA_2017A 03/23/2017 Committee Summary

11:17 AM -- HB17-1088



Representative Neville, bill sponsor, presented House Bill 17-1088 and amendment L.003 (Attachment A). The bill requires the Department of State to compare each signature on a candidate petition with the signature stored in the statewide voter registration system (SCORE) for any candidate petition filed for an election conducted on or after January 1, 2018. Under current law, voter information including address and voter eligibility is validated, but signatures are not compared.



17HouseState0323AttachA.pdf



Beginning January 1, 2020, the Department of State must compare each signature on any ballot issue petition with the signature stored in SCORE, once it has been established that the issue petition has a sufficient number of signatures through random sampling. Under current law, signatures on ballot issue petitions are verified using random sampling with at least 4,000 signatures, or up to five percent of the signatures being verified. Similar to candidate petitions, signatures on issue petitions are validated by checking information including address and voter eligibility, but the signatures are not compared.



This bill also requires the Department of State to create a voluntary pilot program to test an electronic petition process in coordination with the county clerks.



11:19 AM -- Elizabeth Steele, Colorado Common Cause, testified in support of the bill.





















11:20 AM -- Wayne Williams, Colorado Secretary of State, testified in support of the bill. Secretary Williams answered questions from the committee.



11:38 AM -- Martha Tierney, America Votes, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Tierney answered questions from the committee.

11:42 AM



Representative Neville made concluding remarks about the bill. Committee members commented on the bill.

11:44 AM -- HB17-1217



Representative Saine and Representative Winter, co-prime bill sponsors, presented House Bill 17-1217. The bill, recommended by the Legislative Audit Committee, changes the way the board members of the Colorado Historical Society are selected. Under current law, the board has nine members: five members appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate, and four members recommended by the board for appointment by the Governor with the consent of the Senate. Under this bill, all nine members will be appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate.



The directors council of the State Historical Society is created in current law. The bill allows the board to establish the council; however, if the council is not established by June 1, 2020, the bill repeals the section authorizing its establishment.



11:48 AM -- Robert Musgraves, History Colorado, testified in support of the bill. He provided a handout to the committee (Attachment B).



17HouseState0323AttachB.pdf











































































11:49 AM



Representative Winter and Representative Saine made concluding remarks about the bill. Committee members made comments about the bill.

11:52 AM



The committee adjourned.