LWC Write Up February 19th

 The Legislative Watch Council met Friday, February 19^th at Delta Solutions and Strategies for a satellite feed with Representative Marsha Looper from House District 19 sponsored by the Holden House Bed and Breakfast.   Representative Looper described the legislative session environment as much faster paced and more brutal than in years past – already the legislators have had to cut millions of dollars from the state budget and they haven’t even gotten started on the budget for the upcoming year. 

Though they were pushed through the House and Senate with record breaking speed, the tax credit eliminations legislation faced heavy opposition.  Representative Looper specifically thanked those Colorado Springs businesses and employees who came to Denver to testify, or who spoke out against these tax increases.  Hearing directly from those businesses facing serious impacts was very valuable to our legislators.  These bills will be on the Governors desk by next week for his signature.

She also spoke about one of her current bills, HB10-1049 Motor Vehicle Dealer Franchise, a protection for Colorado car dealerships who were closed by the manufacturer.  Representative Looper spoke about after the bailouts last year, when car manufacturers were told to close some dealerships, they turned around and offered those franchises to out of state dealers.  This bill requires those manufacturers to offer the current dealers the right-of-first refusal.  The bill is already facing stiff opposition from the manufacturers. (Article on Opposition).

Representative Looper also spoke about the bills supporting Colorado’s military and their families, HB10-1104 Veterans Treatment Court and HB10-1175 Endorsement Competency Continuing Education.  The Chamber strongly supports our military in Colorado.  The Veterans Treatment Court bill was inspired by a federal bill and has been driven strongly by two Chamber members, Kelly Roth of Delta Solutions and Buddy Gilmore of Shape Technologies.

The LWC also reviewed, discussed and chose to support SB10-108 Higher Ed Core Courses – a higher education bill that will help students transfer their credits between schools.  This bill will make it easier for students to pursue their degrees, creating a better and more qualified workforce.  In addition, the LWC reviewed bills that the Chamber had already taken positions on, including SB10-164 Blue Print For A Leaner Government Act by Senator Kopp.  Colorado greatly needs regulatory reform and Senator Kopp had begun working towards it with this bill.  Sadly, the bill died in committee during the past week, leading one of the LWC members to state “Partisan politics won the day, and Colorado lost.”  The chamber plans to continue working towards creating a healthier regulatory environment in spite of the loss of this bill.

If you are interested in more information, or in getting involved in the LWC, contact Jessica McMullen 575-4327 or jmcmullen@cscc.org