As the session slows to a close over the next few weeks, bills are still trickling in. This week lawmakers introduced a bill that would repeal the ability of a preregistered 17-year-old to vote.
Also introduced was a bill that would create more frameworks for divisions within the Department of Public Health and Environment and the Department of Revenue to regulate hemp and cannabinoid products
Bill Number: SB23-273
Title: Agricultural Land In Urban Renewal Areas
Introduced: April 11
Sponsors: J. Marchman, B. Pelton, A. Boesenecker
Summary: Currently, an urban renewal area can’t contain agricultural land unless the land meets an exception. One exception is the land was included in an approved urban renewal plan prior to June 1, 2010. The bill would update the exception to specify agricultural land may be included in an urban renewal area if the urban renewal plan was originally approved or modified to include the agricultural land prior to June 1, 2010, and if the land still remains in the same urban renewal plan.
Bill Number: SB23-276
Title: Modifications To Laws Regarding Elections
Introduced: April 11
Sponsors: S. Fenberg
Summary: The bill would modify the Uniform Election Code of 1992, the law regarding initiatives and referendums, and the Fair Campaign Practices Act. The bill would allow any form of identification currently specified in the code to be presented in digital format. Among other updates, the bill would also repeal authorization for a preregistered 17-year-old in a general election from voting as a 17-year-old.
Bill Number: SB23-277
Title: Public Safety Programs Extended Uses
Introduced: April 11
Sponsors: J. Buckner
Summary: The Crime Prevention through Safer Streets Grant Program currently exists within the Department of Public Safety. The program repeals on Nov. 1. The bill would extend the program, the reporting requirements and the authority for the DPS to use the appropriation received in the 2022-23 state fiscal year to pay for the program until the appropriation is fully expended.
Bill Number: HB23-1291
Title: Procedures For Expulsion Hearing Officers
Introduced: April 11
Sponsors: J. Joseph, S. Gonzales-Gutierrez, F. Winter, R. Fields
Summary: The bill would clarify the school expulsion hearing process. Specifically, the bill would state a school district has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence a student violated state law and the school district’s policy, alternative remedies weren’t appropriate and excluding the student from school through expulsion or denial of admission is necessary to preserve the learning environment, among other provisions.
Bill Number: SB23-271
Title: Intoxicating Cannabinoid Hemp And Marijuana
Introduced: April 7
Sponsors: D. Roberts, K. Van Winkle
Summary: Current law requires the manufacturer of cosmetic products, dietary supplements, food products and food additives, including hemp products, to be registered with the Department of Public Health and Environment. The bill would create a new framework for the department to regulate and register hemp products and certain intoxicating hemp products. It would also allow the Marijuana Enforcement Division in the Department of Revenue to regulate intoxicating products or potentially intoxicating compounds that are or may be cannabinoids.
Law Week’s legislative tracking is done through State Bill, a product of our publisher, Circuit Media.