Today is Feb. 6, 2024, and here’s what you need to know:

Colorado House speaker turns away families of Hamas victims from chamber, while Senate welcomes them

A delegation of Israeli officials and representatives of six families of hostages and victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack was turned away Monday by House Speaker Julie McCluskie.

That wasn’t how it was supposed to happen, according to Rep. Ron Weinberg, R-Loveland, who told Colorado Politics he had obtained permission from the speaker for the families to visit the House floor.

Weinberg sent a press release on Sunday night announcing that the six families and dignitaries would be honored in both the Senate and House.

Bill requiring residents to register, pay for pets is likely dead

A bill that would have required Colorado residents to pay an annual pet registration fee, or face steep penalties for not doing so is dead, according to its sponsor.

Under the legislation, registering every pet, including fish, would have cost residents $8.50 per animal a year.

House Bill 1163 would have required the Department of Agriculture to develop, implement, and maintain an online pet registration system. In Colorado, with upwards of 60% of households owning a pet, many of them with multiple animals, the cost can increase quickly.

Colorado justices agree Jeffco not immune from parking garage slip-and-fall suit

The Colorado Supreme Court agreed on Monday that a parking garage owned by Jefferson County qualified as a “public building” and a resurfacing project that created a hazard amounted to “maintenance,” which, in combination, meant the county is not immune from liability for a woman’s slip-and-fall.

The case implicated the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act, which generally insulates public entities from liability. Its purpose was to prevent disruptions to government services and to protect tax dollars from being frequently diverted to pay injured parties.

There is an exception to liability, however, for the “dangerous condition of any public building,” meaning a defect caused while “constructing or maintaining” the facility.

Colorado bill would modify felony charges for harming or killing law enforcement animals

A bill that increases the penalty for intentionally harming a law enforcement animal from a misdemeanor to a Class 4 felony is moving forward in the Colorado House.

House Bill 1074, sponsored by Reps Ryan Armagost, R- Berthoud, and Monica Duran, D-Wheat Ridge, passed the House Judiciary Committee in a 6-5 vote.

If signed into law, the bill would penalize anyone who “knowingly or recklessly” kills or causes serious harm resulting in the death of a law enforcement animal. A Class 4 felony carries a fine of up to $500,000 and up to six years in prison.

Under current laws, harming a law enforcement animal is considered a Class 1 misdemeanor, carrying a fine of up to $1,000 and up to 364 days in prison.

Colorado Supreme Court to review limits on negligence claims in case over Denver restaurant fire

The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will review whether a judicially created rule barring certain types of negligence claims applies when a defendant acts recklessly to cause an injury.

At least three of the court’s seven members must agree to take up an appeal.

The justices also signaled they may intervene in an ongoing civil case in Jefferson County, in which a judge has ordered the disclosure of communications between plaintiffs and their attorneys detailing their potential exposure to toxic chemicals.

Finally, the Supreme Court narrowly turned down an appeal out of Pueblo County involving an error in a criminal case that the state’s appeals court nonetheless excused as not “obvious.”