| Andy Kerr

2009 Legislative Highlights

Here are some of the bills, sponsored by Andy, that were signed into law in 2009:

HB09-1057 Parental Leave Academic Activities

If Colorado parents don't get involved, nothing else we do in our schools will matter. Before this year, some families living at the margins were shut out. A single mother, working multiple part time jobs, often could not get to important parent teacher conferences. It does not take many under performing children to impact an entire school.

Most of our businesses understood this and made accommodations, but sadly some did not.

Introduced the very first day of the session, this bill was finally signed into law in June. Getting it done right meant taking time to meet with educators, parents and the business community. It was a long road, but everyone came together with a shared commitment to educate Colorado. The final product has many protections and improvements suggested by small and large employers, and it sets down a clear baseline to ensure that parents can be there when our kids need them.

HB09-1099 Colorado Youth Advisory Council

Being a leader often means preparing the leaders of tomorrow. As one of the bi-partisan sponsors of this bill, Andy helped talented young students learn about State government by getting involved. Funded entirely by donations, this council studies the issues that impact their generation, and uses their unique perspective to advise the Legislature.
Along with his participation with the West Chamber's Youth Leadership Jeffco, Rep. Kerr has helped our future legislators build the skills and experience to take us through tomorrow's challenges.

HB09-1107 HOA Limits on Energy Efficiency Measures

There are dozens of ways to make our homes more efficient and lower our energy bills. New windows, insulation, solar panels, even a well placed tree or awning can make a difference. As Colorado becomes a leader in the green economy, we need to make it as easy as possible for each homeowner to decide to make their house more sustainable. With this law, Andy Kerr helped homeowners cut through the red tape and appropriately outfit their homes.

HB09-1109 Paycheck Bounce Cause Insufficient Funds

Imagine discovering that the bills you thought you paid never were actually paid, plus imagine getting hit with late fees and bad check fees ruining your credit, now imagine it all happened because your paycheck from work had bounced - for the third time. This law, which was written to respond to a constituent's actual problem, creates new protections for workers when their paycheck is repeatedly returned.

HB09-1312 Renewable Energy Loans for Schools

One of the most applauded measures of the session, this bill brought together the Treasurer's office, the Governor's Energy Office, the Legislature, our schools and our businesses to create a landmark new program. Colorado will be providing loans to our schools, so they can lower their energy costs, stimulate local economies, and provide hands on learning experiences for our students. Solar panels, energy efficient buses, and other investments will create jobs today and save our money and environment in the future.

SB09-054 Maximum Civil Penalties Fair Trade Laws

Consumers in Colorado should not have to be easy targets for sales scams and pyramid schemes. We want to know that products are what they are advertised to be, and that con artists aren't going to just take our money and run. These crimes have been a part of Colorado law for a long time, but the associated fines have not kept pace with the times. Rep. Kerr brought them up to date and then toughened them further. We might not get rid of all the snake oil salesmen, but now when we catch them we can make them pay.

SB09-223 Retail Food Establishment Inspection

This was a Lakewood team effort, as Rep. Andy Kerr and Senator Betty Boyd worked together to keep our restaurants clean and safe. By creating uniform food safety standards throughout the state, they took some of the uncertainty out of running a business, and by including a grievance process they helped good businesses be treated fairly. There were modest increases in inspection fees, but when it came to the floor, consumer groups and restaurant owners both supported this bill.

SB09-282 Denver Public Schools Retirement PERA Merger

PERA is our public employee's retirement system, and it includes many of our teachers, fire fighters, and other government employees. For many years, Denver Public Schools had their own system, and that created all sorts of problems when a teacher had started their career in Denver, but then wanted to bring their skills to the suburbs, or vice versa. Running the two separate systems was inefficient and created instabilities. Finding a way to bring them together was the work of many hands over many years. The complex issues have finally been worked out, and Rep. Kerr was pleased to bring the agreement safely to it's conclusion.

SJR09-018 March Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

As many as 60% of the deaths to this terrible disease could be prevented with screening. More women over 75 die of Colorectal Cancer than breast cancer, but it has a 90% relative five year survival rate when detected early. As he has done in past years, Andy stepped to the podium this session to get the word out about this preventable killer.