Legislative Watch Write Up; May 10th

The Legislative Watch Council met Friday for our last meeting of the session to review legislation on behalf of the business community.  The 2010 legislative session will wrap up this Wednesday, May 12^th which means there are only 3 days left.  The Chamber would like to send a special thank you to all the members of our Legislative Watch Council for their hard work and time spent helping support and defend the business community – Thank you LWC!

LWC reviewed HB10-1430; New K-12 Ed Assessment System Representative Solano and Senator Hudak.  Education is a key driver for workforce quality and for overall economic health.  This bill would derail SB 191, which the Chamber’s LWC had voted to support earlier in the session, by removing the assessments that should be used to judge teacher effectiveness.  The bill takes the state of our federal compliance by eliminating the 9^th grade CSAP, and instead replaces it, and the ACT, with a yet to be created "postsecondary and workforce readiness assessment."  While the bill sponsors claim it will save money, the creation of an entirely new assessment program would most likely end up with an increase in costs, not a decrease.  The LWC voted to oppose this bill, stating that Colorado doesn’t need to create an entirely new program from scratch when one is already in use.

The next bill up for consideration was HB10-1409; State Employee Compensation by Representative Pommer and Senator Tapia.  This bill proposes to change Colorado State workers from a strictly performance-based system to a "progressive step" structure.  Legislative Watch Council members believe that it will in effect take performance out of compensation, and a higher cost to keep the same numbers of employees to the state budget.  After discussion the LWC voted to oppose this bill as likely to increase the cost of government while creating unfair competition between the state and private employers.

At last week’s LWC meeting we discussed HB10-1429; Legislative Review Of Tax Benefits by Representative Paul Weissmann.  His proposal would have mandated that the House and Senate annually review the specific business tax credits and tax incentives to decide if they should be continued, repealed, or modified.  The LWC was quite alarmed by the proposal,  believing that it singled out business when there should be a comprehensive look at all of Colorado’s tax policy if anything was going to be reviewed.  The LWC asked YOU to help fight that bill and the Chamber was successful!  On Tuesday, the House killed HB-1429 on a 32-to-26 vote with local Representatives Gardner, Waller, Liston, Looper, Lambert, and Stephens all voting against this bill.  Sadly, Representatives Merrifield and Apuan felt that it was more important to stand with the anti-business Denver leadership than with their own community and they voted in favor of passing the bill. Thank you all for reaching out and contacting Representative Apuan and others.  This legislation would have created more uncertainty for business in already tough times and we are pleased to see that it failed.

In addition to HB10-1429, the State Senate also killed HB 1350, a bill by one of the toughest critics of Colorado Springs and El Paso County, Rep. Sal Pace (D-Pueblo) and trial attorney and State Senator Morgan Carroll (D-Aurora).  HB 1350 was an incredibly unfriendly bill for Colorado businesses.  Its original form dictated that businesses had to disclose and defend economic development incentives to determine if they really did create jobs.  If they couldn’t prove that they created jobs, then the provisions would have to be eliminated.  It sends a horrible message to businesses outside Colorado looking to relocate to another state.  It also added to our concerns that Colorado is becoming known as an unfriendly state to business growth.  The Senate is to be commended for this smart move!!!

As the session wraps up things are still forward moving at high-speed, often sneaking in under the radar as they move.  In addition to all of the LWC’s efforts, the Chambers’ Director of Governmental Affairs, Ernest House, will be at the Capitol fighting for business.  The Chamber continues to work on the many bills we have reviewed this session, including SB10-114; the Taxpayer Transparency Act Of 2010 which is strongly opposed by Legislative Watch Council members, and we are proud to represent the Colorado Springs Business Community at the State Capitol every day.

The Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce supports business and business growth legislation.  If you are interested in participating in the LWC or getting involved with the chamber’s legislative advocacy, please contact Jessica McMullen at jmcmullen@cscc.org or 719-575-4327.

LWC Write Up April 9th

The Legislative Watch Council met Friday at the Chamber of Commerce to review legislation on behalf of the Chamber members and the business community. The Legislative Watch Council discussed the trip to Denver where members of the LWC traveled to Denver on Tuesday, April 6th to meet with the El Paso County delegation. The trip was a wonderful opportunity to discuss the state budget and the obvious attack on business seen this year. The LWC members were pleased to meet with Representative Mark Waller, Representative Bob Gardner, Representative Larry Liston, and Representative Marsha Looper. These busy legislators made time out of their day to meet with our group and we were honored to hear from them all.

Elected Official Guest Blog; Representative Larry Liston

Most eyes have been on the Senate this week, where the annual state budget is being debated. However, there were several important budget bills in the House this week as well. Two proposals in particular could have a disastrous impact on Colorado Springs businesses and the Colorado economy.

House Bill 1200 would limit the tax benefits that businesses in enterprise zones receive and House Bill 1396 would essentially eliminate the enterprise zone program altogether.

The Enterprise Zone program encourages development by using tax incentives to attract investment, create jobs and stimulate economic growth. The program isn’t perfect, but every local government in the state that uses it can tell you it’s a valuable economic development tool. More than half of El Paso County is located in an enterprise zone and it has proven to be a great way to attract jobs to the Colorado Springs area.

Another enterprise zone bill, Senate Bill 162, takes a much smarter approach and as a result has not been met with the same fierce opposition from the business community. This bill makes the program more accountable and modifies the boundary of zones to make them more effective.

We can be smart and efficient in government without doing harm to our economy and job environment. I only wish more of my colleagues at the statehouse understood that reality.

By Representative Larry G. Liston
House District 16

Guest Blog - Representative Larry Liston

What Not to Do During a Recession

By Rep. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs

If the second half of the 2010 Colorado legislative session is anything like the first half, Colorado business owners need to hold on to their wallets.

The majority Democrats package of tax increases dubbed the dirty dozen, has gone into effect and is already driving businesses away from our state. With Amazon.com’s decision to terminate their relationship with their Colorado affiliates as a result of the Democrats House Bill 1193, thousands of Coloradans lost an important source of income. I am fearful that as the rest of these tax increases take effect, we are going to see even more Coloradans out of their jobs.

Statehouse Republicans stood firm against the Democrats rush to tax online sales, energy used for manufacturing, and even hamburgers and soda. Committee meetings packed to overflow capacity with Coloradans of all stripes in opposition to these bills lasted late into the evening. Despite the grassroots opposition and intense debate, ultimately these bills were adopted by our Democrat-controlled statehouse and signed into law by an outgoing governor.

Businesses and families are hurting as a result of the recession. Now is not the time to inflict further pain on our economy by way of raising taxes on businesses and costs to consumers. The actions of Democrats in the Colorado legislature, including those from right here in El Paso County, have consequences that I fear they simply ignore.

Although there is no question that Colorado is facing a significant budget shortfall, taking that money out of our local economy and into government coffers is not going to solve the problem. Republicans have pushed, for years now, the real need for true government reform and a state government that is in tune with our economy. Democrats have ignored our efforts in favor of increased government spending and a refusal to implement true budget cuts.

My message is clear. Let’s empower our small business owners to invest in our economy and get them hiring again. We can do this by rolling back unnecessary and burdensome regulations and offering incentives for new investment.

The current anti-business rhetoric and policies emerging from the offices of Democrat lawmakers is not going to get our economy moving again. Party does matter and Republicans are the Party that will stand with taxpayers and get Colorado’s economy moving again. That is why I will continue to stand up against hurtful policies in the second half of the session as much as I have in the first.

Guest Blog - Bob Stovall's Open Letter to Governor Ritter

Open letter to Governor Ritter: 

Dear Governor Ritter:

I read your statement in response to Amazon.com’s decision to end its relationship with Colorado affiliates.  I, too, am disappointed, not with Amazon but with your response.  Can you please finish up your time as Governor with a bit of intellectual honesty?  

You are the Governor, and you have to do what you think is right.  You made a decision to request then sign this House Bill 1193, along with several other bills raising taxes on certain activities.  The business community in general and Amazon in particular told you that it was not a good idea, but you insisted it was necessary.  If you felt it was necessary, be proud of your decision.

A better statement from you would have been:

I made the decision to sign House Bill 1193 even after being advised by the business community that it would have a negative impact.  I determined that the potential gain of $5 million in additional tax revenue was worth the risk that some businesses might be hurt or even leave Colorado.

I am sorry that Amazon.com felt the need to end its relationship with Colorado associates, but that was their business decision to make.  I am sorry for the jobs that may be lost, but I believe that the State will recoup sufficient revenue to make up for the loss of income in those businesses that are affected.

Unfortunately this is not the first time you have laid blame for the consequences of your decisions as Governor at the feet of others.  Remember the oil and gas rules?  Perhaps there you could have said:

I understand that these rules may result in a decrease in drilling activity in Colorado, but I am convinced that the environmental protections we gained are worth the potential loss of jobs and revenue.

Stop trying to portray the business community in a bad light to try to rationalize your actions.  You made a decision with the facts presented to you, which is your duty as Governor. 

Man up, Governor, and accept the credit and responsibility for your decisions.

Guest Blog - Stephannie Finley on HB 1205

Great news!! HB 10-1205 just passed on 2^nd reading.  This a wonderful example of the community coming together and working through some tough challenges.  Huge accolades of course need to go to Rep. Waller for being such a bulldog on behalf of our community.  He fully understood the high stakes and that to send another negative message to DC was not going to be good for our community.  At the same time, everyone joined with him to make sure that private property rights were protected.  From the Commissioners, to members of the local HBA, to the Chamber, and most especially Reps. Mark Waller and Bob Gardner, this was the best example of how we can come together for the good, even under tense conditions. 

Legislative Watch Write Up; March 5th

The Legislative Watch Council met Friday at Bistro De Pinto (26 East Kiowa St, downtown) to continue our 2010 legislative review.