J_LS_2019A 12/17/2019 08:36:30 AM Committee Summary

Jery Payne, Senior Attorney, Office of Legislative Legal Services, testified before the Committee. Mr. Payne presented the Office's rule memorandum concerning the contested rule issues of the Air Quality Control Commission concerning low emission automobile regulation.

Senators Foote and Gardner and Representative Van Winkle were present at 8:39 a.m.

Amy Beattie, Deputy Attorney General for natural resources and environment, and John Putnam, Director of Environmental Programs, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), testified before the Committee. Ms. Beattie explained CDPHE's position with regard to the Office's statutory construction argument and why a plain meaning construction of the statute doesn't work. Mr. Putnam agreed with Ms. Beattie and mentioned that CDPHE has been interpreting the statutory provision the same way since 1990 and the Office's memorandum would be a big shift in the way the statute has been interpreted for years. Mr. Putnam also explained the balancing of state and federal authority in emissions standards.

Mr. Payne responded to Ms. Beattie's and Mr. Putman's testimony and statutory interpretation.

Ms. Beattie responded to Mr. Payne's analysis.

Mr. Putnam expounded on Ms. Beattie's analysis and response.

Senator Foote and Mr. Putnam discussed the rule and state and federal implementation plans and why, when creating new regulations, they make them state only, and not part of the state implementation plan.

Representative Tipper and Mr. Putnam discussed what consequences, if any, there would be in not extending the rules.

Thomas Morris, Assistant Director, Office of Legislative Legal Services, testified before the Committee. Mr. Morris said that the statutory language is written to prohibit more stringent diesel emission standards.

Tim Jackson and Matthew Groves, representing new car dealers, Colorado Auto Dealers Association, testified before the Committee on their opposition to the rule. Mr. Groves spoke about cooperative federalism with regard to emission standard rules and the difference between regulating the existing and future fleets. Mr. Jackson spoke about how clean new cars are with regard to emissions and how the rule makes new cars more expensive for consumers.

Representative Herod spoke to Mr. Jackson and Mr. Groves about how the rule hearing was about CDHPE's authority to make the rule, and Mr. Groves responded that without federal authority there is no authority for CDHPE's rule.

Senator Foote asked about the rule-making hearing on the rule, and Mr. Groves responded that during the rule making the rule had a problem because of the lack of a pilot program in violation of the APA.

Representative Soper commented on the complexity of the rule issue.

Senator Gardner talked about the votes on rule issues the Committee has had to make in the past and the difficulty of deciding whether or not to extend a rule based on the authority for the rule and not the policy.

Senator Lee talked about the deliberation and interpretation the Committee has to take when considering a rule issue.

Senator Foote talked about his analysis of the arguments given on the rule issue and conflicting expression of legislative intent.

Michael Dohr, Managing Senior Attorney, Office of Legislative Legal Services, testified before the Committee. Mr. Dohr presented the Office's rule memorandum concerning the contested rule issue of the State Board of Education concerning the administration of medical marijuana by school personnel.

Jenna Zerylnick, State Board of Education (Board), and Jennifer Mueller, Chief Legal Counsel and General Counsel for the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB), testified before the Committee. Ms. Zerylnick expressed that the Board believes that the rule is within their statutory authority and that school boards get to decide whether staff can administer marijuana and then principals have a role in deciding how it gets done once a district decides it can be administered.

Senator Gardner discussed with Ms. Zerylnick and Mr. Dohr whether, before this rule was promulgated, school boards had the authority to adopt policies governing medical marijuana.

Representative Van Winkle asked Ms. Mueller if there was any sympathy from CASB for the fact that the ability to receive life-saving medication varies for children in the state dependent on their location. Ms. Mueller agreed with the Board in their interpretation of the authority for the rule and that the statute has to be read in context with other statutes, which give school boards the ability to govern based on policy, and on the state constitution, which gives local control to school boards.

Senator Gardner and Ms. Mueller talked about whether school boards need the rule to have authority to make decisions about whether to allow administration of marijuana.

Representative Soper and Ms. Mueller talked about whether CASB supported the rule.

Senator Foote and Mr. Dohr talked about where the conflict is between the statute and the rule. Ms. Mueller and Ms. Zerylnick also responded to the conversation about the conflict.

Senator Gardner and Mr. Dohr talked about whether the statute gave each individual school the authority to make decisions.

Amber Wann, Board Member for Americans for Safe Access (ASA), testified before the Committee and talked about how ASA agrees that the school principals have the authority to implement a policy concerning the administration of marijuana and not the school boards.

Representative Herod addressed Ms. Wann's testimony, and Ms. Wann discussed her experience in working on the bill that created the statute before it passed.

Representative Soper and Ms. Mueller discussed whether a principal can go against a school board's policy and vice versa.

Representative Van Winkle talked about his understanding of the purpose of the bill.

Jacob Baus, Staff Attorney, Office of Legislative Legal Services, testified before the Committee. Mr. Baus presented the Office's rule memorandum concerning the contested rule issue of the Colorado Uninsured Employers Board (Board) concerning the Colorado Uninsured Employers Fund.

Paul Tauriello, Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation (Division), Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE), and David Gallivan, Administrative Law Judge with the Division and Staff Liaison to the Board, testified before the Committee. Mr. Tauriello explained why the rule is within the Board's statutory authority. Mr. Gallivan talked about the plain language of the statute and how terms are defined and that the Board has the authority for the rule.

Representative Tipper and Mr. Gallivan talked about whether the Board hires experts and what type of attorneys the Board retains. Mr. Tauriello also talked about how there are unknowns on how things will work because this is a new program.

Mr. Baus responded to Mr. Tauriello's and Mr. Gallivan's testimony.

Representative Tipper commented on the arguments for and against the rule.

Mr. Baus testified before the Committee and presented the Office's rule memorandum concerning the uncontested State Board of Education rules concerning the rules for administration of the early literacy grant program.

Senator Lee and Mr. Baus discussed what the rule language omitted that was required by statute.

Jennifer Gilroy, Revisor of Statutes, and Jennifer Berman, Senior Attorney, Office of Legislative Legal Services, testified before the Committee and requested permission to draft bills that the Committee usually introduces and asked the Committee to consider sponsoring them.

Representatives Herod and Soper agreed to sponsor the Rule Review Bill, which will originate in the House.

Representatives Weissman and Van Winkle agreed to sponsor the Revisor's Bill, which will originate in the House.

Senator's Gardner and Lee agreed to sponsor the Bill to Enact the C.R.S., which will originate in the Senate.

Sharon Eubanks, Director, Office of Legislative Legal Services, testified before the Committee on a proposed draft policy for approval of legal representation in lawsuits involving social media accounts.

Senator Lee explained his reasoning for asking for a draft policy to be created for Committee discussion.

Senator Gardner commented on the proposal.

Representative Herod talked about the proposed policy and how fast social media platforms change and because of that not being able to know what will happen in the future.

Representative Tipper expressed her opinion that there are problems with the proposed policy.

Representative Soper commented on the proposed policy and talked about how there is, in his view, a presumption of retention of counsel for members of the General Assembly.

Representative Snyder commented on the proposal that he thought that training on how to deal with social media is where the focus should be.

Senator Lee and Ms. Eubanks discussed the training of aides and staff on managing social media accounts.

Senator Gardner and Representative Herod discussed the proposal.

Senator Lee proposed that instead of the proposed policy, the Committee issue a communication to members explaining that the Committee will strictly scrutinize all requests for retention of counsel that arise from social media issues. Ms. Eubanks clarified what needs to be done moving forward. Senator Gardner commented on what he thinks should be communicated to members of the General Assembly.

Representative Van Winkle talked about supporting members and how it would be better to educate members and not threaten them.

Julie Pelegrin, Deputy Director, Office of Legislative Legal Services, talked about the Committee schedule for next year. The Committee decided to meet the first Thursday of each month at 8:00 a.m. during session and on January 16, 2020, for an organizational meeting.

Ms. Eubanks discussed the 2019 session's impact on staff.

Senator Lee and Representative Herod responded to Ms.Eubanks' testimony.

Senator Gardner and Ms. Eubanks talked about staff coverage for late night work.