How not to route a bill

How not to route a bill

May 8, 2001

Life in the Legislature
By State Representative Mark Larson

A couple of weeks ago, a baseball cap showed up on the Speaker's desk on the floor of the House. A note accompanied the cap claiming that "Larson is passing these out [to the General Assembly] like candy!" The back of the cap had embroidered on it, "Larson Productions." The message on the front of the cap read, "WWW.Why I Hate The Speaker.COM". Whomever perpetrated this prank was alluding to my articles that I write for this paper which is also posted on a website. These articles came to the attention of the Speaker and others, thus the ball cap.

Unfortunately, another such disagreement surfaced this week. The Speaker's HB-1407 "Transfer and Sale of CCIA" proposed a commission that would arrange for the sale of the Colorado Compensation Insurance Authority (CCIA), now known as Pinnacol Assurance. I was baffled by this proposal which appeared to be solely motivated to cash in on Pinnacol's successes with no consideration given to the serious harm such an action would eventually have on small businesses in Colorado.

Colorado law requires that all employees be covered by workers compensation insurance to protect them when workplace injuries occur. Pinnacol Assurance is the "provider of last resort" for workers compensation insurance. They are required by law to insure any business that requests coverage, regardless of accident history. They also provide insurance to small businesses who have difficulty finding an insurer because the size of the premium they might pay is not deemed high enough to warrant the risk in the private market. Pinnacol guarantees small businesses a consistent and quality source of coverage when private insurers refuse to write the coverage. Pinnacol also guarantees that high risk businesses will have an available provider when the private market refuses coverage. As you can see, Pinnacol provides a valuable service to Colorado's business environment by providing a consistent source in a tremendously unstable market. The fact that Pinnacol has gone from a $218 million deficit in 1986 to the current $52 million surplus should not make them game for any politically motivated scheme.

We are bound in the legislature by tradition not to question another members motives for bringing legislation. However, how one maneuvers that legislation can certainly clarify that unmentionable motive. Thus is the case, again, on how this bill was routed through the process.

The Speaker sent this bill to the Local Government Committee, a committee that has oversight responsibility of the Department of Local Affairs, that arm of government whose mission statement is, "To help Colorado communities achieve their goals." While the Speaker has the authority to send this bill to any committee, I would have thought that the Business Affairs and Labor Committee would have definitely been the appropriate committee for his bill. The Business Affairs and Labor Committee has the oversight responsibility for the Department of Labor and Employment (including the Division of Workers Compensation), the Department of Regulatory Agencies (including the Division of Insurance) and Pinnacol Assurance, who has given the committee many excellent presentations on it's operations and financial condition. Sending this bill to the Local Government Committee guaranteed that the bill would be heard only by legislators who had little or no understanding of the issue.

What was particularly discerning about this bill was the 19 co-sponsors who signed on sight unseen! How can any responsible person agree to sign onto a 32-page bill without reading it? To the credit of many of these co-sponsors, after they finally read the bill and heard the whole story, several went back to the Speaker and reversed their support.

The bill was introduced on May 1, heard in committee on May 2 (with only one person in support, a pro-union and pro-trial lawyer lobbyist who would like to see Pinnacol go away) and sent to the Appropriations Committee, amended to be only a study of the sale (still a damaging prospect). I frantically talked to all the Appropriations Committee members I could, explaining the potential devastation this bill could have on small business. Finally, enough legislators agreed and the Speaker killed it for lack of support.... a victory for small business.

I may not be able to question the motives behind this bill, but I can still wear my new baseball cap!

Mark Larson is a state representative from Cortez. He can be reached at the Capitol by phoone, (303) 866-2914; by fax, (303) 866-3318; or by e-mail at marklarson@qwest.com . He also has a Web site at www.larsoncolorado.com .