he always did his homework. Here is a list of seven of the 19 bills he sponsored that became law: HB 1027: (1987) Concerning transportation needs of the state. This bill created Denver's Light Rail system setting forth routes, and it required RTD to present an implementation plan the following year. Bowen had to take legislators to Europe to view transit systems in order to change their minds on Light Rail Rep. Faatz (R-Denver) carried a competing bill, HB1249, on behalf of private developers. It created the TCA, a special taxing authority which allowed them to build one quasi-public line from the Tech Center to downtown Denver. The developer's lobbyists and the Denver Chamber of Commerce were successful in killing Bowen's bill in committee and passing HB1249. Undeterred, Bowen successfully amended his HB 1027 onto HB1249, and thus RTD built the metropolitan-wide light rail system (Within two years, the TCA collapsed and the southeast line ended up being built by RTD, as Bowen predicted at the time.) HB1019 (1987) Concerning custody of children: This bill changed the laws regarding child custody making it easier for a court to award mutual (joint) custody of children in a divorce even if one parent objected. It provided both parents with visitation and other decision-making rights. HB1336 (1984) Concerning the right to rescind purchase of a motor vehicle. This gave consumers a fixed-time in which to rescind purchase of a motor vehicle if they feel defects were concealed. HB1363: (1988) Concerning sale of motor vehicles. This was a consumer protection bill that provided rights to buyers of used vehicles. It required used-car dealers to provide customers with written disclosures, prohibited unethical practices. HB1216: (1985) The Older Coloradans Act. This bill codified all state programs that dealt with the elderly and made elder abuse an offense. It provided nursing home patients with rights, and improved the quality of life for seniors. HB1085: (1987) Concerning reapportionment of the Highway Commission. This bill changed the districts of the Highway Commission (which preceded the current DOT) to provide proportional representation to the counties in the metropolitan Denver area. At that time, the metropolitan area had 60 percent of the population, but had only 25 percent of the seats on the commission, and only received 40 percent of the highway budget. As a result of the re-districting, the metropolitan area began seeing a larger share of the construction budgets.