Assembly at a glance: Monday in review

Military Aid

Military spouses who leave Colorado when their partner is transferred could get unemployment benefits under a bill unanimously approved Monday by the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee.

House Bill 1180 by Republican Reps. Amy Stephens of Monument and Marsha Looper of Calhan would expand the law allowing the benefits during wartime. About 2,500 spouses could take advantage of the benefits to the tune of $1 million a year.

The bill moves to the House Appropriations Committee.

Funding Up, Down

Three Pikes Peak-area counties would gain while another would lose out from a bill approved by the House and sent to the Senate.

House Bill 1083 by Rep. Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison, changes the formula by which severance tax revenues and federal mineral-lease dollars are distributed to counties. Now, money is distributed based on the number of energy-industry workers living in a county; the new method incorporates mine and well permits and the amount of mineral production.

Teller County would receive $549,500 more next year under the new formula, Fremont County $307,450 and Park County $195,700. El Paso County, which has little mineral production, would lose $77,380.

Cabinet Status

The Governor’s Office of Homeland Security will become a Cabinet-level department to consolidate operations and oversight under director Mason Whitney, Gov. Bill Ritter announced.

Homeland-security functions have been divided between the departments of local affairs and public safety, and audits have criticized the state for disorganization. Whitney will report to Ritter and oversee an office of 14 people with a $1 million annual payroll.

Moving On

The House Business Affairs and Labor Committee voted 7-4 to approve a bill requiring licensing or registration of funeral home directors, mortuary science practitioners, embalmers and cremationists.

House Bill 1123 by Rep. Debbie Stafford, D-Aurora, is using imprisoned Colorado Springs funeral home director Neva Nolan as its poster child in arguing that Colorado should no longer be the only state in the country without such licensing requirements. It moves to the House Appropriations Committee.