Commissioner bill sails through House County commissioners would be elected by district

DENVER — Rep. J. Paul Brown’s bill to change the way small counties elect their commissioners passed the House by a wide margin Wednesday.

House Bill 1159 allows voters or commissioners in counties with fewer than 70,000 people to put a question on the ballot to elect commissioners from each district, rather than county-wide. Currently, commissioners come from each of the three districts, but voters across the county vote on all three.

The bill passed 61-4, with three Democrats and Speaker of the House Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, opposed.

Brown, R-Ignacio, is a former La Plata County Commissioner.

Also this week at the Capitol:

A House committee killed a bill that would have allowed builders to install greywater systems in homes and businesses. House Bill 1003 would have allowed the re-use of water, except for water from toilets and kitchen sinks.

It died in the State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on a 5-4 vote.

“I’m at a loss to understand why people would vote against it,” said the sponsor, Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins.

The bill died on a party-line vote. Republicans worried that it would have required builders to install greywater systems, but Fischer said it merely allows their installation without breaking Colorado’s complicated water laws.

New bills this week:

Senate Bill 107 would tighten rules on hydraulic fracturing, require operators to post a bond, and ban fracking within half a mile of any surface water unless the operator uses a closed-loop system.

SB 109 would regulate the way the Secretary of State maintains the voter database, with a goal of making sure people are not registered at more than one address, and that voters don’t get kicked off the rolls if they don’t vote for a few elections. Rep. Don Coram, R-Montrose, is the House sponsor.

SB 125 creates a new offense for crimes against pregnant women and their unborn children, including fetal homicide and vehicular homicide.

SB 129 would direct the Public Utilities Commission to create a strategy for increasing broadband access in rural areas.