| EDCC Fall Conference |
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The EDCC Fall Conference was held on October 29-31, 2008 at the Doubletree Hotel in Colorado Springs.
Highlights of the conference included Governor Ritter as the opening day luncheon speaker, a review of the 3rd Annual Citizens' Survey on Economic Development, a Legislative Leadership Panel and several very interesting speakers and breakout sessions.
By an overwhelming majority (29%), the citizens of Colorado want and expect the Governor and General Assembly to focus on the economy in the 2009 legislative session. |
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Greetings!
You are receiving this newsletter from the EDCC because of your interest in and commitment to a strong and healthy Colorado economy. The Board of EDCC hopes that you find this information to be helpful, informative and of value to you and your colleagues. Please feel free to pass along this newsletter as appropriate. |
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Colorado General Assembly |
is in full operation. Monday, February 9 will be the 34th Legislative Day of the constitutionally limited 120 day session. Thursday, February 12 is the deadline for Senate committees to report Senate bills introduced on or before the 6th legislative day. The House met a similar deadline last Thursday. You can see the Deadline Schedule for the 2009 Colorado General Assembly.
The House of Representatives has passed HJR 09-1009, which would allow the House to adjourn for all or part of time from Thursday, February 26 through Sunday, March 1, 2009. To quote from the Resolution, "...such an adjournment would facilitate and encourage the members of the House of Representatives to continue to communicate with the citizens in their respective districts so that they are better prepared to make critical judgments on the impending public policy issues confronting this state;...". The Senate does not plan to adjourn on those days.
The Joint Budget Committee is working on (negative) supplemental appropriation bills last week and next to bring the FY 2008-09 budget into balance. It's important to note that we are now seven months into the FY 2008-09 budget year and that based on December 20, 2008 revenue forecasts, more than $600 million will have to be cut from this year's budget.
The federal economic stimulus package also has had impact at the Colorado General Assembly. This past week saw the introduction of SJM 09-001, urging Congress to exercise restraint in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Remember that you can listen to live audio broadcasts of the floor sessions and committee meetings through links on the home page of the Colorado General Assembly. If you have access to Comcast cable television, the floor sessions of the Colorado House are broadcast live and then repeated frequently on Channel 165.
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Economic Development Legislation |
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As of close of business on Friday, February 6 the legislature had introduced 275 House bills and 172 Senate bills - a total of 447 of the expected 600-650 bills that we are likely to see in 2009. Leadership in both houses have indicated that they will not be approving as many late bill requests as in past years. In the coming week, we expect to see many of the negative supplemental bills for the FY 2008-09 budget introduced by the Joint Budget Committee. |
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Legislation of Concern to the Business Community |
As we all know, the General Assembly is comprised of 100 individuals with different ideas on how best to make and keep Colorado a great place to live, work, grow a business, and to raise your children. Each year we see a number of bills that can best be described as "business un-friendly". We would like to point out several of those bills in order that you are aware of them and can provide your input to the proponents and opponents of the bills. The bills of most concern to the business community include:
- HB 09-1057 - Mandatory parental leave;
- HB 09-1070 - Land prohibited from urban renewal areas (URA's);
- HB 09-1117 - Recaptures of unearned compensation of corporate executives;
- HB 09-1170 - Unemployment insurance for "locked-out" employees;
- HB 09-1208 - Mandatory payment of "prevailing wages";
- HB 09-1210 - Mandatory paid sick leave;
- HB 09-1226 - No-Fault motor vehicle insurance;
- SB 09-023 - Mandatory use of "E-Verify" program
- SB 09-110 - Sunset review of the Colorado Civil Rights Division that the trial lawyers have amended to include expanded remedies to employment claims.
Several business organizations, including the Colorado Association of Commerce & Industry and the Colorado Competitive Council, are working with the sponsors of the bills and the proponents to lessen the negative impact on business and the economy of these various bills. We urge you to take a close look at these bills. |
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Joint Select Committee on Job Creation and Economic Growth |
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Just after the November, 2008 election the leadership of the Colorado General Assembly appointed this committee with the charge of "Jobs by June". The committee began meeting in late November, 2008.
In early January, 2009 the General Assembly passed SJM 09-005 which was necessary to formalize the committee and its work.
The committee members are: Senator Gail Schwartz, Chair; Representative Joe Rice , Vice Chair; Senators Rollie Heath, Shawn Mitchell, Mark Scheffel and Jennifer Veiga; and Representatives David Balmer, Larry Liston, Buffie McFadyen and Judy Solano.
The committee has met 12 times thus far and will conclude their work no later than February 27. They have scheduled an additional three meetings. Many of the bills listed above have been endorsed by the Jobs Committee. Meeting agendas, notes and handouts provided by presenters at the meetings of the committee are available online. |
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EDCC Legislative Update |
The weekly update on legislation that is being monitored or actively lobbied by EDCC is available online at EDCC Legislative Update. Please remember to bookmark this website and then you can check the status of any of the bills at any time, with real-time updates. We hope that this bill-tracking service provided to you by EDCC is of value. If there are bills that are not included but you feel should be, please contact dtomlinson@msn.com with the bill number. Thanks! |
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Economic Activities in Other States
(Information provided by the State Science & Technology Institute - SSTI) |
Missouri
During his first State of the State Address last week, Gov. Jay Nixon outlined his priorities for the upcoming fiscal year, which include a 38 percent increase in funding for job creation and workforce development programs, an expanded college scholarship program, and level funding for a statewide science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) initiative through the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Ohio
Funding for a suite of new economic development programs under Ohio Department of Development (ODOD)'s strategic plan, a package of expanded tax incentives aimed at job retention and creation, and funding to continue the tuition freeze at Ohio's colleges and universities are included in the 2010-11 biennial budget recommendation and are key components to Gov. Ted Strickland's plan for boosting Ohio's economy. The executive budget recommends $1.2 billion in FY10 and $1.1 billion in FY11 in total funds for ODOD. This includes funding to support the following new programs outlined last September as part of the agency's strategic plan:
- Ohio Hubs of Innovation and Opportunity, an initiative to identify at least 12 targeted geographic intersections in each region and build a physical and virtual hub of knowledge to accelerate talent attraction and investment opportunities. The hubs will offer resources including entrepreneurial and productivity assistance, access to capital, and technology development;
- Ohio Means Home, a new campaign designed to recruit former Ohio residents and graduates back to the state to advance their careers or start new businesses; and
- Ohio Green Places, a program to promote the development of programs and policies that advance the goal of making Ohio a leader in sustainable green development. This includes building an advanced energy business sector with a robust supply chain and a green building industry.
Texas
Gov. Rick Perry's 2010-11 biennial budget significantly increases the state's investment in two funds aimed at technology commercialization and attracting new businesses to the state. The Emerging Technology Fund (ETF) is slated to receive $203.5 million over the next two years, up from $117.3 million approved last biennium. The ETF provides funds to recruit top researchers, loans and grants to commercialization projects with ties to state universities, and establishes research centers in key technology areas. The program was created with a $200 million appropriation in 2005.
Gov. Perry is asking lawmakers to approve $260 million in FY10-11, up from $225.3 million approved last biennium, for The Texas Enterprise Fund. This fund was created in 2003 and attracts larger employers to the state and assists existing businesses with substantial expansion.
In support of the state's 10-year, $3 billion Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, approved by voters in 2007, Gov. Perry recommends $53 million for debt service on the cancer research bonds with additional funds for operating costs over the next biennium.
Gov. Perry wants to expand higher education incentive funding by $168.9 million to give two- and four-year institutions additional rewards for increasing the number of degrees granted and awarding degrees in critical areas such as science and engineering, according to budget documents.
Arizona
Facing a $1.6 billion budget deficit, Arizona legislators set their sights on the state's three-year old 21st Century Competitive Initiative Fund. A group of four Republican lawmakers led the effort to remove the program's $22.5 million from the 2009 state budget, which was signed by new Governor Jan Brewer last week. The fund was started under former Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano, who recently left office to join the Obama administration as secretary of Homeland Security. The Fund supported the efforts of Science Foundation Arizona (SFAz), a non-profit corporation that matched the state dollars with private funds to strengthen Arizona's biomedical research and industry. With the cuts, the future of the organization is uncertain.
Michigan
From Governor Jennifer Granholm, in her State of the State Address, "To restore our state's economy, we need to tap the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship that fostered the development of our domestic auto industry more than 100 years ago. This year, our Michigan Economic Development Corporation will launch a competition among Michigan universities to develop a comprehensive statewide plan to use our higher education system to maximize entrepreneurial activity in Michigan." |
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Colorado Economic Leadership Coalition |
The Colorado Economic Leadership Coalition (CELC) normally meets on the 2nd Friday of each month during the legislative session, at a location near the State Capitol.
The next meeting of the CELC will be on Friday, February 13 at noon at the 5th floor conference room at CACI (Colorado Association of Commerce & Industry). THIS MEETING WILL BE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, AS WE PLAN TO DISCUSS 2009 LEGISLATION. Charlie Brown, former Director of the Colorado Legislative Council and now with the Economic Futures Panel will provide an update on the work of the Panel.
Please RSVP to Michelle at malcott21@comcast.net so that we will have enough lunches. We sincerely hope you can join us for this meeting of the CELC. With the economy being foremost on the minds of the legislators and people of Colorado, we're sure to have some interesting and informative discussion about plans to stimulate the Colorado economy. The CELC is under the sponsorship of the Economic Development Council of Colorado. Lunch is being sponsored this month by Mike Kazmierski of the Greater Colorado Springs Economic Development Corporation. Thanks, Mike!
CELC has no dues - we are a group of folks interested in creating and maintaining a healthy, vibrant economy in Colorado and routinely discuss potential legislative ideas, regulatory change and other issues that will assist in that goal.
Please contact us if you have any questions or would like to attend - either Danny at dtomlinson@msn.com or Michelle at malcott21@comcast.net | |
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Danny Tomlinson
Tomlinson & Associates on behalf of the EDCC |
| EDCC |
The Economic Development Council of Colorado (EDCC) is a state-wide, non-profit organization dedicated to successful, responsible economic development. EDCC professionally represents the collective economic development interests of both the private and public sectors. Our mission is to strategically retain, expand and attract primary employers. EDCC is committed to an equitable and balanced public/private partnership and to growing the economic climate of Colorado to the mutual benefit of employees, employers, governments and citizens. |
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