Legislative Council Staff and the Office of Legislative Legal Services held a review and comment hearing on proposed Initiative #218, which would convert Pinnacle Assurance from a state political subdivision to an independent mutual insurance company, require a one-time $150 million payment to the state, and direct proceeds to a new Skilled Workers and Trades Fund. No vote was taken; the hearing produced 38 specific drafting changes agreed to or under consideration by proponents.
Erin Reynolds raised that the phrase 'no person' in subsections 8, 12, and 13 could be interpreted to mean 'no one is prohibited,' creating an unintended loophole, and noted the modern drafting convention is 'a person shall not.' Nate Bruggeman acknowledged the ambiguity, noted both formulations appear throughout the Revised Statutes, and agreed to look at the language, stating the intent is to bar third-party claims while preserving the state's right to claim the $150 million and Pinnacle's right to seek a legal remedy if the commissioner refused to reissue its certificate of authority.
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“The $150 million figure is grounded in the approximately $80 million adjusted surplus transferred from the state to Pinnacle previously, which has been adjusted for inflation. We believe that is the state interest in Pinnacle and it is that amount that should be paid to the state. The 305 million figure from the prior bill was not, to our knowledge, factually grounded in any similar metric or measurement.”
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Sign in to subscribePress the record. All right. I'd like to call this review and comment hearing to order. It's January 26th at 1pm and we are discussing proposed initiative measure 2025-2026, number 218, concerning separation of Pinnacle Assurance from the state to fund workforce development. All right, a bit of an overview. Section 1 40, 105. PAREN 1. Colorado Revised Statutes requires the directors of the Legislative Council staff and the office of the Legislative Legal Services to quote, review and comment on initiative petitions for proposed laws and amendments to the Colorado Constitution. We hereby submit our comments and questions to you regarding the appended proposed initiative. The purpose of this statutory requirement of the directors of Legislative Counsel Staff and the Office of Legislative Legal Services. So the directors is to provide comments and questions intended to aid designated representatives and the proponents they represent in determining the language of their proposal and to avail the public of the contents of the proposal. Our first objective is to be sure we understand your intended purposes of the proposal. We hope that the comments and questions in this memo provide a basis for discussion and understanding of the proposal. Discussion between…
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