Colorado Capitol
Economic Development Council of Colorado
Public Policy Update 
March 1, 2009
In This Issue
Governor Ritter to Sign SB 09-108
Colorado General Assembly
Economic Development Legislation
Spotlight on Adams County
Colorado Economic Leadership Coalition - Next Meeting is Friday, March 13 at noon.
EDCC Legislative Real-Time Update
Governor Ritter to Sign SB 09-108 - FASTER
Governor Bill Ritter will sign SB 09-108, the transportation funding legislation, on Monday, March 2 at 1 pm at the southwest corner of I-25 and 84th Avenue.  Senator Dan Gibbs and Representative Joe Rice, the primary sponsors of the legislation, will join the Governor for the signing.  The public is invited to attend.
 
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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. 
Colorado General Assembly
is in full operation.  Monday, March 2 will be the 55th Legislative Day of the constitutionally limited 120 day session.  You can see the Deadline Schedule for the 2009 Colorado General Assembly. 
 
The Senate Finance Committee this week passed SB 09-228, Concerning Flexibility to Use State Revenues on a straight party-line vote.  The bill deals with the Arveschoug-Bird limit.  Arveschoug-Bird was a statutory limit passed by the General Assembly in 1991 in an effort to head off the passage of TABOR, a constitutional limit on revenues and spending which passed in 1992.  (See "Confluence of Colorado's Constitutional Spending Rules",  "The Arveschoug-Bird Spending Limit" and "OLLS Memorandum on Arveschoug-Bird").  
 
On Monday, March 2 at 1 pm, Governor Ritter will sign SB 09-108, Funding Advancement for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery (FASTER). The bill is estimated to raise nearly $250 million per year in new highway and bridge funding.  The local governments' share, as well as the list of the state's 126 structurally deficient bridges is available for your review.  Details on the signing are available and the public is welcome to attend.
 
Also introduced this past week was HB 09-1293, the Colorado Healthcare Affordability Act.  The bill will use revenue from a new hospital provider fee to cover more than 100,000 uninsured Coloradans through Medicaid and CHP+, increase hospital reimbursement rates under Medicaid and the Colorado Indigent Care Program (CICP), as well as pay the administrative costs of the program.
 
Finally, this past week saw the final passage of nearly all the legislation needed to balance the FY 2008-09 budget.  The Joint Budget Committee will begin work anew on the FY 2009-10 buget in the coming week.
 
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.
 

Economic Development Legislation - New Bills Added This Week
 
HB 09-1001, Concerning an Income Tax Credit for Colorado Job Growth.  The bill has now passed the full House of Representatives and is awaiting committee hearing in the Senate.  The EDCC Board has endorsed this bill.
HB 09-1010, Concerning Film Production in Colorado, passed from the House Finance Committee to the Appropriations Committee.  The EDCC Board has endorsed this bill.
HB 09-1035, Concerning Clean Tech Medical Device Tax Refund, has passed from the House Finance Committee to the Appropriations Committee. The EDCC Board has endorsed this bill.
HB 09-1105, Concerning Innovation Investment Tax Credit, passed from the House Business Affairs & Labor Committee and the House Finance Committee. The EDCC Board has endorsed this bill.
SB 09-016, Concerning Measures to Encourage the Reforestation of Forest Areas Affected by Bark Beetle Infestation has passed the Senate on February 18.  The EDCC Board has endorsed this bill.
SB 09-031, Concerning Clean Tech Research Grant Program  has passed the Senate and is awaiting hearing in the House.  The EDCC Board has endorsed this bill.
SB 09-067, Concerning the Colorado Credit Reserve Program  has passed from the Senate Business, Labor & Technology Committee to the Appropriations Committee. The EDCC Board has endorsed this bill.
SB 09-076, Concerning Employment and Training Technology has passed the Senate and is awaiting hearing in the House. The EDCC Board has endorsed this bill.
SB 09-085, Concerning the Phase-Out of Business Personal Property Tax has passed from the Senate Business, Labor & Technology Committee and the Senate Finance Committee to the Appropriations Committee.  The EDCC Board will continue to monitor this bill and engage in dialogue with the proponents and opponents.
SB 09-108, Concerning Transportation System Planning & Funding has passed the Legislature and will be signed by Governor Ritter on March 2.  The EDCC Board has endorsed this bill.
SB 09-162, Concerning a Project to Create an Inventory of Broadband Service Areas, passed from the Senate Business Affairs Committee and the Appropriations Committee to the full Senate.  The EDCC Board has endorsed this bill.
SB 09-177, Concerning the Valuation of New Solar Energy Facilities for the Purpose of Property Taxation.  The EDCC Board has endorsed this bill.  
SB 09-233, Concerning the Entrepreneurial Uses of Property for Property Tax Purposes.  This bill comes from the Jobs Committee and has not been scheduled for hearing.
SB 09-234, Concerning Enterprise Zone Recommendations to the General Assembly.  This bill also comes from the Jobs Committee. 
Most of the bills listed above have been vetted by the Joint Select Committee on Job Creation and Economic Growth.  The Committee will meet next on February 27 at noon.
 
 
As of close of business on Friday, February 27 the legislature had introduced 293 House bills and 243 Senate bills - a total of 536 of the expected 600-650 bills that we will see in 2009.  Leadership in both houses have indicated that they will not be approving as many late bill requests as in past years. 
Spotlight on Adams County
In a November, 2008 article on www.Forbes.com , Adams County was named the "3rd Most Affordable Place to Weather the Downturn".  Low property taxes, job growth and a diversified economic base all contribute to this ranking, of which Adams County is justifiably proud.
 
On February 26, Adams County Economic Development (ACED)  presented the Adams County Economic Forecast, with special guest speakers Dr. Rich Wobbekind from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado and Dr. Eugenio Aleman with Wells Fargo.
 
This was a very interesting presentation and we commend it to your reading.
 
Dr. Aleman was kind enough to share some additional information on the federal bailout program that we are sure you will find informative.
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! 
 

 

Colorado Economic Leadership Coalition 
Colorado Capitol 
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 CELC met on January 16 at the Colorado Municipal League.  Notes from that meeting are available.
 
 
The next meeting of the CELC will be on Friday, March 13 at noon.
 
 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 next month by Preston Gibson and the Jefferson Economic Council.  Thanks, Preston!
 
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 

Sincerely,
 

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.