Wildfires, floods and retail marijuana drive 2014 Colorado Legislature

• Gov. John Hickenlooper signs into law the College Affordability Act, which places restrictions on tuition hikes and increases financial aid. 
• The Colorado Legislature approves the Student Success Act, a new law that restores recession-era budget cuts by $110 million a year, increases money for struggling readers by $18 million and adds $13 million for charter school construction. 
• Lawmakers sign off on a bill that sends the Safe2Tell program to the state Attorney General's Office. It provides an online tip hotline for schools and a funding stream.

• The governor signs into law the $24 billion state budget.
• The state Legislature approves a law that clamps down on the theft of wages by employers. It also allows the state to levy fines for wage nonpayment.

• Lawmakers sign off on a bill to expand housing tax credits with a focus on increasing the number of reasonably priced homes.

• The state Legislature approves a bill that forgives property taxes if a property is destroyed by natural disaster.
• Lawmakers approve a bill requiring the Colorado Department of Education to check with school districts in disaster areas before spending money from the Public School Capital Construction Assistance Fund.   
• The state Legislature approves a measure that creates a flood debris cleanup grant to facilitate watershed cleanup efforts in areas affected by the Colorado floods in September 2013.

• Repeal of 2013 law limiting ammunition magazines to 15 rounds fails.

• Repeal of 2013 law requiring new background checks for private and online firearm sales fails.

Health Care

• Lawmakers sign off on a vaccination opt-out bill that gives parents more information about vaccination rates at schools but does not require that parents receive education before refusing vaccines.
• The state Legislature approves a bill that would provide women the right to sue for damages if they miscarry because of the intentional or reckless actions of others.
• Lawmakers approve a bill allowing experimental drug treatments for terminally ill patients.

• The state Legislature approves telecommunications reforms that modernize Colorado telecommunication laws and expand broadband internet access in unserved and underserved areas. 
• Lawmakers approve a bill on "revenge porn," a term that describes when former romantic interests post intimate photos or videos of their former partners online. Under the law, offenders face a hefty new fine and a misdemeanor charge.
• Cyberbullying effort to give prosecutors more options fails

• The state Legislature approves a bill that would let marijuana businesses form financial cooperatives, or co-ops, to handle banking, if federal authorities allow it.
• Lawmakers sign off on a bill to study a ban on marijuana edibles that resemble other foods or candy.
• The state Legislature approves a bill to determine equivalency standards for marijuana concentrates and edibles.
• Lawmakers approve a bill to create a plan on how to spend the roughly $24 million in taxes the state will collect in FY 2014. The legislation also adds funding for marijuana regulation, law enforcement and programs for education, prevention and addiction.

• Time runs out on an effort that gives more authority to local government over oil and gas development.
• Effort to study the impact of oil and gas drilling on human health in six Front Range counties fails.
• The state Legislature approves a bill that would increase fines on oil and gas producers from $1,000 per day to a maximum penalty of $15,000 per day. 

• The state Legislature approves a law that restricts the Colorado Department of Corrections from placing a mentally ill offender in long-term solitary confinement in most cases.
• Lawmakers approve legislation that forbids courts from jailing those who can't afford to pay a fine.  
• A ban on cameras that track drivers who speed or run red lights fails.
• The governor signs into law a bill that limits how long government agencies can keep passive surveillance records like images of traffic conditions.
• Legislators fail to approve an effort to place on the ballot a constitutional amendment that expands the list of items protected from warrantless government searches, including electronic and other data.

• The state Legislature approves a law that adds transparency in future public-private partnership deals, like the deal regarding the Boulder Turnpike, or U.S. Highway 36. 
• Lawmakers approve a bill that enhances regulation of insurance and background checks for ride-sharing companies like UberX and Lyft.
• A proposal to restrict cellphone use while driving fails.

• The state Legislature approves a ban on the sale of water-wasting plumbing fixtures by 2016.  
• Lawmakers sign off on a bill that allows ranchers and other irrigators to voluntarily leave water saved through conservation in mountain streams.

• The state Legislature approves a bill that provides $20 million for a state firefighting fleet. It includes the purchase of two fire-spotting planes and the lease of four tankers and four helicopters.
• Lawmakers approve a grant program that invests $3.25 million in gear and training for local firefighters.
• The state Legislature approves a tax credit for property owners who clear brush.
• Lawmakers pass a resolution that seeks better coordination of firefighting radio frequencies.
• A bill fails that would give local governments the ability to restrict ranchers from burning debris during high-fire danger periods.
• The Legislature approves a measure that creates an online wildfire resource center to provide the latest fire information.
• Lawmakers approve legislation that sets aside $17.6 million to pay the claims of some victims after the 2012 Lower North Fork Fire.