Highlights from the Monday Legislature

- The House approved and sent to the Senate a proposal (House Bill 1225) to exempt about 30,000 small businesses from paying the business personal property tax on their equipment. Currently, businesses with less than $2,500 in equipment are exempt. The bill would gradually raise the exemption to $7,000 by 2011.

- The House approved a bill (Senate Bill 88) that would prohibit youths under 18 from possessing tobacco products. It now goes back to the Senate for consideration of amendments.

- The full Senate voted 22-12 in favor of spending $353 million to build a new state judicial building and state museum. The buildings now occupy the same plot of land near the state Capitol. The state would enter into a lease-purchase agreement to build two new buildings using increased court filing fees. Some Republican lawmakers opposed the bipartisan measure (Senate Bill 206) because they said it violated the spirit of the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, which bars the state from incurring long-term debt without voter support. A court ruling found that such arrangements are legal because the state only agrees to make annual payments subject to lawmakers approving payments each year as part of the budget.

- The Senate gave initial backing to a measure (Senate Bill 2) allowing people with developmental disabilities to receive state help and services if they remain in their homes and also allow qualified family members to be reimbursed for the care they provide. Current law requires that people can only get help if they move out of their family home. The bill is part of a package of health care bills Senate Democrats hope to pass this week.

- The Senate also gave initial backing to another Democratic health care bill (Senate Bill 90) but its sponsor, Sen. Bob Hagedorn, criticized a change made to support local pharmacies. The bill allows Medicaid patients who are physically unable to go to the pharmacy to get their medications from a mail-order company. People who have some insurance coverage besides Medicaid could also get their drugs by mail.

Hagedorn originally wanted to allow all Medicaid patients to get their drugs by mail to save the state about $149,456 compared to $74,728 under the amended bill. Sen. Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood, said she offered the change to support local pharmacies since they provide valuable advice and service to customers and can provide medication immediately when needed. Hagedorn said local pharmacies are trying to get more government support because they're losing business because of competition from large retailers like Wal-Mart.

- The House and Senate backed a resolution (House Joint Resolution 1024) honoring the 57 service members with ties to Colorado who died in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last 12 months. In the Senate, the names of all 57 people - 44 from Fort Carson and 13 Colorado residents who were based out-of-state - were read followed by a moment of silence and the playing of taps.

New bills:

- Allowing a property tax exemption for property leased by state colleges or universities (House Bill 1395).

- Spending $325,000 to study whether from the Canterbury tunnel in Leadville is leaking into a mine pool that may lead to the contamination of a public water source (House Bill 1396).

- Requiring hospitals to report the amounts they charge for common inpatient procedures (House Bill 1393).

- Continuing a requirement that the House and Senate judiciary committees get information on the treatment of mentally ill prisoners (House Bill 1394).