Monday in the General Assembly

HEALTH CARE RALLY

Health care reform activists rallied on the Capitol steps, with many shouting for Colorado to adopt a Canada-style government-run universal insurance system.

Gov. Bill Ritter told a crowd representing some 70 organizations that he wants to get every Coloradan insured, but that he believes government leaders must inform the public more about the problem before asking for a tax hike. Ritter has proposed a $25 million plan this year that would add some 45,000 children to the insurance rolls.

Rally organizer Dede de Percin of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative said the event was to show the faces of uninsured residents and remind officials that health care bills affect people. The organization has not backed a specific solution, she noted.

Colorado Springs resident Wendy Limbert said she supported Ritter’s proposal as a first step but added that it is not enough. Activists must speak up to convince officials that universal health care is needed, she said.

MALPRACTICE CAPS

SB164 passed 18-16 in the same form in which it received preliminary approval Thursday. The measure by Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, removes the caps on medical malpractice awards in cases of disfigurement or impairment and caps the amount insurance companies can raise malpractice insurance premiums in response to the bill.

HOMEGROWN LAWS

The Senate passed two El Paso County legislators’ bills without dissent.

HB1162 by Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, would streamline the process by which incoming military spouses can apply to get teaching licenses. It goes now to Ritter.

HB1130 by Rep. Stella Garza Hicks, R-Colorado Springs, increases the number of times that law-enforcement officials can request extensions on phone taps of suspected criminals.

Because the Senate limited the number of requests to three and the House had voted to allow unlimited extensions, the measure goes back to the House.

THANKS, ANDY

Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, received the Colorado Press Association’s Friend of the First award for sponsoring a bill last year that reduced the cost of copying public documents to 25 cents per page. Law enforcement is exempt from it.

“What is really important is that all of the public, including every voter and taxpayer, has access to government and the record it keeps,” McElhany said.