Latest news with #ShannonBird
Miami Herald
6 days ago
- General
- Miami Herald
Gov. Jared Polis signs bill to increase number of young people Colorado can hold in pre-trial detention
DENVER - Gov. Jared Polis on Monday signed a bill into law that will increase the number of young people Colorado can hold in pre-trial detention facilities. Current law allows the state to detain up to 215 teens at any one time. House Bill 1146 increases that number to 254 in the next fiscal year. In subsequent years, a formula will determine the maximum bed count, based on the average daily population. The bill also removes the most serious type of felony charges from counting toward the cap, and creates 39 emergency beds that wouldn't count toward the total bed cap. The Colorado District Attorneys' Council spearheaded the bipartisan bill, sponsored by Reps. Shannon Bird, D-Westminster, and Dan Woog, R-Frederick, and Sens. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, and Judy Amabile, D-Boulder. The DA group originally wanted to bump the number of detained youth up to 324, a hike that received forceful pushback from juvenile justice advocates. Prosecutors argued the state doesn't have enough beds to house violent youth offenders awaiting trial. Since fiscal year 2021, detained youth admissions with violent charges have increased by 49%, and admissions for homicide or manslaughter have risen by 80%, state figures show. As a result, prosecutors say, authorities have been forced to release teens who might otherwise be deemed a danger to the public to free up spots for someone else. Critics countered that the lack of safety in these facilities - highlighted by The Denver Post in March - proves the state should not be dramatically increasing the bed count. The legislation also includes a body-worn camera pilot program for juvenile detention and commitment staff. The test program in one youth detention facility and one commitment facility requires every staff member who is responsible for the direct supervision of youth to wear a body camera while interacting with them. The program will be implemented from January 2026 through December 2028. The Colorado Department of Human Services will then recommend whether to continue and expand the program, or eliminate it. The body-camera addition comes after a Post investigation found widespread allegations of excessive force by staff in the state's 14 juvenile detention facilities. A year's worth of internal incident reports reviewed by The Post showed teens suffered broken bones, sustained concussions and overdosed on drugs in these secure centers. Colorado's child protection ombudsman, tasked with investigating child safety concerns, has been calling since last year for the state to add body-worn cameras for staff in juvenile detention. Currently, facilities are equipped with video but no audio, making it impossible for investigators to determine whether verbal altercations contributed to excessive force or restraint incidents. -------------- Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Colorado lawmakers consider Prop 130 implementation bill in final days of session
A Lakewood police vehicle is parked outside the Lakewood Public Safety Center on June 28, 2020. (Quentin Young/Colorado Newsline) The Colorado Legislature intends to use investment revenue to pay for the implementation of Proposition 130, the measure voters approved last fall to direct $350 million to law enforcement. Under a bill nearing final passage, local law enforcement agencies would get at least $15,000 per year to use for recruitment, continuing education and additional compensation. Surviving spouses or family members of an officer killed during duty would receive a $1 million survivor's benefit. To pay for it, members of the bipartisan Joint Budget Committee want to send $500 million to the Public Employees Retirement Association to invest. 'The bill before you represents a fair and faithful, balanced implementation of the voters' intent, while ensuring that we can continue to fund equally-important priorities across our state budget and maintain our necessary reserves,' Rep. Shannon Bird, a Westminster Democrat, told the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Proposition 130, backed by the conservative nonprofit Advance Colorado, passed with about 53% of the vote last November. That means lawmakers needed to grapple with its implementation during an ultra-tight budget year in which they already faced a $1.2 billion gap. Senate Bill 25-310 would establish the Peace Officer Support and Training Fund, which would receive an initial transfer of $15 million in general fund money next year. Then, $500 million from the state's general fund reserve — money set aside as a buffer for emergencies — would get sent to PERA to invest. Up to $35 million generated from that investment would be sent to the support fund annually, and other revenue would be used to offset a portion of what the state owes to PERA for pension liability every year. The plan is to always have $15 million per year in the law enforcement support fund. Rep. Rick Taggart, a Grand Junction Republican, said that the average return on PERA investments is about 7%. An expected average annual return of $35 million on the investment would mean the Legislature would fulfill its $350 million obligation under Proposition 130 in 10 years. 'This is how we are using our existing state assets to generate revenues to meet the voters' intent,' Bird said. Local law enforcement agencies would get at least $15,000 per year, and if there is enough revenue available, additional money using a formula based on department size. That would begin in December 2026. Agencies would need to prove compliance with allowable spending through an annual audit. Adam Turk with the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police told lawmakers in committee that the funding mechanism would not kick in fast enough. 'The funding structure as currently written, delays the impact of this critical investment far beyond the time frame in which departments need it most,' he said. 'The timeline does not align with the pressing public safety, staffing and resource challenges agencies are facing today. Proposition 130 was passed by voters with the expectation that the funding would help stabilize and strengthen law enforcement capacity now, not decades into the future.' The Colorado Municipal League, Colorado Counties Inc. County Sheriffs of Colorado and the Colorado Fraternal Order of Police support the bill. It passed the Senate unanimously on Tuesday. It needs to clear the House floor, including debate and preliminary voice vote followed by a final recorded vote on a separate day, before the end of the legislative session on May 7. Representatives began that debate on Thursday, but the preliminary vote was delayed on that day and again on Friday morning. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Colorado construction defect bill, meant to boost condo building, passes House
Rep. Shannon Bird, pictured speaking in front of the Capitol on April 29, 2024, sponsored a bill to address Colorado's construction defect claim process. (Sara Wilson/Colorado Newsline) A bill that aims to encourage condominium construction by lowering litigation risks passed the Colorado House on Monday. House Bill 25-1272 passed on a bipartisan 59-5 vote, with some of the chamber's most progressive Democrats voting against it. It is the Legislature's second attempt in as many years to pass a policy to reverse the decline in condo construction in the state, which supporters see as an accessibly priced option for first-time buyers who want to stop renting but can't afford a detached single-family home. In February, the median single-family home in Colorado was $640,000 and the average condo was $424,200, according to RedFin. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The number of condo developers in Colorado dropped by 84% between 2007 and 2022, partially due to rising liability insurance costs and frequent litigation from homeowners, according to a report from the Common Sense Institute. 'The current course that we are on right now is unacceptable. Our kids and our grandkids, for those of us who are older — they need a better future than (for) their only hope to ever be a forever tenant,' bill sponsor Rep. Shannon Bird, a Westminster Democrat, said ahead of the vote. 'That is no way to achieve financial security and stability and to become a permanent member of your community. They need the chance to have home ownership.' The bill would create an incentive program for multifamily builders to opt into, dubbed the Multifamily Construction Incentive Program. They would need to hire a qualified third-party inspector to review the project as it is being built and offer a warranty for any defect or damage the owner discovers, ranging from one year for workmanship problems and six years for major structural issues. In exchange, the builder would be protected from construction defect claims unless the damage affects the home's functionality or safety, including an inability to use the property, failure of a building component, injury or death. Under the program, an owner would have six years to bring an action and the builder would need to offer to fix the defect. The idea is to address problems without litigation, encouraging more insurers to back projects in Colorado. 'They know that those homes will be built right in the first place, but also that the first mechanism for fixing an issue — God forbid if one exists — isn't simply litigation. In the case of the program, the expectation is that they exhaust the remedies offered to them through the warranty, knowing that if the warranty is insufficient or doesn't meet the need at stake, a homeowner still has the opportunity to litigate that claim,' bill sponsor Rep. Andrew Boesenecker, a Fort Collins Democrat, said during a committee hearing on the bill in March. That incentive program was amended into the bill, as well as a handful of other amendments, to appease some homeowners and the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association. As introduced, the bill would have protected builders during defect litigation as long as they had a certificate of occupancy from a local government. A separate bill sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Bacon, a Denver Democrat, would have added more protections for homeowners in defect litigation, but she pulled it when some of its provisions got rolled into HB-1272. That includes a requirement for builders to give a claimant documents related to building plans, soil reports, maintenance recommendations and insurance. Still, Bacon said there are questions lingering about the process and cost to homeowners who find construction defects under the proposed program. Her bill would have changed the statute of limitations for defect claims to begin when a homeowner discovers a problem, not when the problem happens in the first place, but that timeline switch did not make it into the amended HB-1272. 'We're still looking forward to striking a balance where we could confidently say that we have created a program where builders will build, but also the things that were bargained with that have to do with homeowners are not going to leave them in a place where they have to buy at their own risk, and that is incredibly important,' she said ahead of the final House vote. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration, where it is sponsored by Senate President James Coleman, a Denver Democrat, and Sen. Dylan Roberts, a Frisco Democrat. Six senators, including three Republicans, are already signed on in support. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Axios
27-02-2025
- Business
- Axios
Colorado's Opportunity Caucus faces first test with construction defects bill
State Rep. Shannon Bird says the message voters delivered in the 2024 election is simple: Focus on residents' day-to-day challenges, from affordability to crime. Why it matters: The credo is the driving force behind the Colorado Opportunity Caucus, a new group of roughly 15 lawmakers — all Democrats — who are committed to "collaboration over conflict and progress over partisanship." State of play: What's missing, Bird says, is the "voice in the middle," and the caucus is designed to elevate that in a hyperpartisan chamber. The caucus' listed priorities include "market-based housing solutions," expanding the middle class and "supporting business growth," though Bird says members won't vote on legislation as a bloc. When it comes to addressing crime, Bird is sponsoring a bill with two Republicans that makes it harder for people accused of violent crimes to get released from jail before their trial — a measure expected to draw objections from Democratic colleagues. What she's saying:"This group is pragmatic and looking for ways to partner, whether it's with more progressive members of our [Democratic] caucus or members of the Republican caucus," Bird, the caucus chair, tells Axios Denver. "We are members who are known for working across the aisle." Between the lines: The invite-only caucus highlights a key rift in the Democratic majority at the statehouse, where progressive members often clash with more-moderate colleagues. The intrigue: The group's first test is a bill that makes it harder to sue for construction defects, sponsored by Bird and fellow caucus member Sen. Dylan Roberts (D-Frisco). Bird says it will incentivize construction of more condos, a key entry point for home ownership and a pathway for middle-class residents. Gov. Jared Polis is backing the legislation. Yes, but: State Rep. Jennifer Bacon (D-Denver) introduced a competing measure to make it easier for homeowners to file legal challenges for shoddy construction. Its backers include Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez of Denver. The bottom line: Who prevails in the construction defects debate — the party's progressive wing or the pragmatic moderates — will signal the power center of the Democratic Party at the Capitol.
