My colleague Tom Roeder, fresh on the state Legislature beat, is maintaining a great list of all the bills El Paso County’s delegation are proposing at the Statehouse in Denver.
This is the nuts and bolts of governing — important stuff and a great way to keep up to speed on what your representatives are doing. The first five bills on the list:
SAY HELLO TO HIS LITTLE FRIEND: Sen. Dave Schultheis’ SB92 creates a state loophole in federal weapons laws that now regulate machine guns and other types of rifles and pistols. The bill “exempts from federal laws and regulations all firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition that are manufactured in Colorado by persons who are not federally licensed and that are sold and remain in Colorado.”
PLATES FOR WAR VETS: Rep. Dennis Apuan’s bill, HB1139, would allow veterans with proof of service in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001 to pay a $25 one-time fee to get custom plates acknowledging their overseas service. Money raised by the extra fee would go to the Colorado Veterans Trust Fund.
SCHOOL CASH ON THE WEB: Rep. Amy Stephens’ SB91 would require school districts and charter schools to post financial information online. They would have to create a database including income and expenses.
VETERANS COURTS EXPANDED: Rep. Marsha Looper’s HB1104 would allow creation of special veterans courts that would allow vets charged with nonviolent crimes to get substance abuse and metal health treatment rather than jail time.
SUBPOENAS MADE EASY: Rep. Bob Gardener’s HB1132 would allow police to serve subpoenas for business records at a time deemed convenient by the business rather than during “normal business hours” as is now required by law.
Check who represents you by entering your ZIP code at Project Vote Smart. And remember to check out what’s happening in the U.S. Congress at The Gazette’s Congress tracker page, and follow all our politics coverage.

















I'm Perry Swanson, The Gazette's data journalist. My job entails acquiring data that say something about the Pikes Peak region, analyzing it, and writing about it here.
This blog is updated at least once every weekday. For The Gazette's collection of databases, visit the