Entering Votes - Finding Sponsors & Cosponsors
Colorado
Example: HB 1299
From the bill text:
The sponsors are listed on the bill text as well as in the journal. Although the bill text will specify the primary sponsors using bold text, the rest are also considered sponsors and NOT COSPONSORS. The names of the cosponsors are listed after EACH vote on passage of the bill. That includes the passage by the chamber of introduction, the opposing chambers passage, concurrence vote (if applicable), and conference report votes (if applicable). To obtain a list of cosponsors, find the link for the vote on passage of the bill.
From the bill number search page:
Under the headline "3rd Reading Votes" (black arrow) you will find a link to the journal for HB 1299 (blue arrow) titled "H 3/17/2009" to indicate the date in which the roll call was taken. Click on that link, which will open a pdf document, and search for the bill number and locate the following roll call:
The sponsors are again listed above the roll call (red arrow) and the cosponsors are listed below the roll call (black arrow). Remember that you should check EACH vote to see if there have been additional cosponsors. Therefore, go back to the bill number search page:
Click the "History" link to open the bill history in a new window:
The bill history indicates that the bill never reached a third reading in the Senate, and therefore, no additional cosponsors would be available. If, however, there was an additional status that you needed to check, you will either find the link under the "3rd Reading Votes" headline in the bill number search page, or you will have to go to the journal calendar and locate the correct date. To do that, go back to the bill number search page:
Click the "Journals" link and a new window will open:
You will have to identify the whether you want the Senate or House Journal. In this case, if a Senate vote took place, you would click the "Senate Journal" link, and a new window will open:
From there you can select the date and a pdf document will open displaying the contents of the journal for that legislative day. Remember that you must do this for EACH vote that occurs. Also note that a link is not displayed under the "3rd Reading Votes" headline in the bill number search page for concurrence votes and conference report votes, and you must locate those votes using the history and the journal calendar.
Therefore, the PVS website will have both sponsors and cosponsors listed for this state, if applicable. In this case, the sponsors are Reps. Benefield, Carroll (T), Casso, Court, Curry, Ferrandino, Frangas, Green, Hullinghorst, Kefalas, Kerr (A) McCann, Middleton, Miklosi, Pommer, Rice, Scanlan, Schafer, Solano, Todd and Vigil and Sens. Bacon, Groff, Romer, and Viega, and the cosponsors are Reps. Apuan, Fischer, Levy, McGihon and Ryden.
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