Senate Committee on Local Government and Energy (01/15/2009)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND ENERGY

Date:	01/15/2009	ATTENDANCE

Time:	10:49 AM to 01:27 PM	Cadman	X
		Hodge	X
Place:	SCR 353	Kester	X
		Lundberg	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Newell	*
	Senator Schwartz	Foster	*
		Schwartz	X
This Report was prepared by
	Kori Donaldson
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
SB09-050 SB09-001		Amended, Laid Over Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole

10:49 AM -- Senate Bill 09-050

The meeting came to order. A quorum was present.

Senator Scheffel, prime sponsor, presented Senate Bill 09-050. The bill requires that at least one member of the Limited Gaming Control Commission reside in Gilpin or Teller counties. The bill does not change the total membership of the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission. Senator Scheffel addressed questions about future appointees to the board.

10:55 AM -- Mr. Mark Sievers, private citizen from Teller County, spoke in favor of the bill. Committee members received pictures of abandoned casinos in Gilpin and Teller counties and a table comparing limited gaming in various states, prepared by Mr. Sievers (Attachment A). Mr. Sievers walked the committee through Attachment A and said that Colorado underperforms almost every other state with legalized gambling in terms of revenues collected. Mr. Sievers addressed questions about limited gaming restrictions.

11:10 AM -- Ms. Carol Clark, private citizen from Teller County, spoke in favor of the bill. She said that Teller County residents do not have a voice about limited gaming in their community.

11:12 AM -- Ms. Treon Goossen, private citizen, spoke in favor of the bill. In response to a question, Ms. Goossen said the bill is not about whether limited gaming is good for the state, but about whether community members from limited gaming communities have representation on the board.

11:15 AM -- Mr. Bob Campbell, County Commissioner, Teller County, spoke in favor of the bill. He said he believes the bill meets a need for representation of the interests of residents in limited-gaming communities. Commissioner Campbell responded to questions about citizen members of the Limited Gaming Control Commission.

11:19 AM -- Ms. Lois Rice, Executive Director, Colorado Gaming Association, spoke in opposition to the bill. Ms. Rice said the gaming industry is one of the most regulated industries in the state. She said placing a community member on the board may lead to conflicts of interest because community members benefit financially from limited gaming activities. Ms. Rice suggested changes to the bill. Ms. Rice explained that Colorado is one of only two states with limited gaming stakes.

11:26 AM

Senator Scheffel made concluding remarks about the bill, and then distributed and spoke about amendment L.001 (Attachment B). Senator Cadman remarked on possible conflicts in the language of the bill.


BILL:	SB09-050
TIME:	11:32:43 AM
MOVED:	Foster
MOTION:	Refer SB 09-050 to the Committee of the Whole. Following discussion of the amendments, the chair laid the bill over for future consideration.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman
	Hodge
	Kester
	Lundberg
	Newell
	Foster
	Schwartz

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: TIE


BILL:	SB09-050
TIME:	11:38:44 AM
MOVED:	Cadman
MOTION:	Amend introduced bill to simplify language about family members of future board members, and remove inconsistencies about the possible county residence of future board members. After some discussion, the motion was withdrawn.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman
	Hodge
	Kester
	Lundberg
	Newell
	Foster
	Schwartz

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: TIE


BILL:	SB09-050
TIME:	11:33:50 AM
MOVED:	Hodge
MOTION:	Adopt Amendment L.001 (Attachment B). The motion passed on a vote of 6-1.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
	Kester	Yes
	Lundberg	Yes
	Newell	Yes
	Foster	No
	Schwartz	Yes

Not Final YES: 6 NO: 1 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

Prior to the vote, Senator Foster explained why she would not support the amendment.

11:48 AM -- Senate Bill 09-001

Senator Gibbs and Senator Penry, co-prime sponsors, presented Senate Bill 09-001. The bill requires the state forester to establish guidelines for Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs). CWPPs are plans to identify and mitigate fire hazards. The bill was recommended by the Interim Committee on Wildfire Issues in the Wild Land-Urban Interface Areas.

11:55 AM -- Mr. James Reid, Deputy County Fire Marshall, El Paso County, spoke in opposition to the bill. He said the bill will require him to implement CWPPs throughout the county and this will be cost-prohibitive. Senators Penry and Gibbs responded to Mr. Reid's concerns and said CWPPs can be one-page documents adapted from existing fire plans. Mr. Reid said there is a cost to counties even if they qualify for state or federal grants.

12:06 PM Discussion continued about challenges counties may face if they are required to write CWPPs. Senator Gibbs spoke to the federal requirement that local county fire departments write fire plans. Senator Cadman asked why it is necessary for the state to regulate the counties' actions regarding CWPPs.

12:17 PM -- Mr. Robert Harvey, Fire Chief, Leadville, spoke in favor of the bill. Chief Harvey said Colorado is behind other states in the development of pre-incident planning. He explained that evacuation plans are a part of CWPPs that lead to cost-savings when fighting large-scale fires.

12:26 PM -- Mr. Jeff Jahnke, State Forester, Colorado State Forest Service, spoke in favor of the bill. Mr. Jahnke explained factors leading to an increased risk of catastrophic wildfires in the state, including bark beetle kill and the growth of the wild land-urban interface. He said there are currently 108 CWPPs in the state. About 5 CWPPs are county-wide. Mr. Jahnke said about 20 percent of the communities at risk in the state have put together a CWPP. He outlined available sources of funding for writing CWPPs. Mr. Jahnke said that he is not aware of much resistance from local fire authorities to CWPPs.

12:38 PM Mr. Jahnke answered a question about the bill's fiscal note and said that there will be no fiscal impact to his department because they have already completed state-wide mapping to show areas at-risk for wildfire.

12:40 PM -- Mr. Gary Severson, Executive Director, Northwest Colorado Council of Governments, spoke in favor of the bill. Mr. Severson explained what parts of Colorado are represented by the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments. He gave an overview of the risk of catastrophic wildfire in the state because of the bark beetle epidemic and stressed the need for CWPPs. Mr. Severson said many northwestern communities already have CWPPs in place. Mr. Severson addressed questions about the requirements of county fire plans and cooperation with entities managing federally-owned lands.

12:55 PM -- Mr. Chris Piper, representing Denver Water, spoke in favor of the bill. He explained that Denver Water is adversely affected by wildfires. He said Denver Water supports the bill because it encourages collaboration with municipalities. Mr. Piper spoke to L.001 (Attachment C), which was later distributed to committee members.

12:58 PM -- Ms. Peg Ackerman, representing the County Sheriff's of Colorado, spoke about a recent meeting of county sheriffs. She said all the sheriffs were interested in keeping their legislative authority to manage wildfires and are willing to modify existing fire plans to meet the CWPP requirements in the bill. She said the bill would be more favorable if some of the language was changed to allow for existing plans to be used in lieu of requiring new CWPPs. Senator Gibbs spoke in support of this change.

01:03 PM -- Mr. John Giardino, representing Colorado Mountain College, spoke in favor of the bill. He explained that Colorado Mountain College is located in the mountains and it is very concerned about the potential for catastrophic wildfire. He added that the college has a vested interest in protecting its surrounding community because it is primarily funded by property taxes.


BILL:	SB09-001
TIME:	01:05:34 PM
MOVED:	Hodge
MOTION:	Refer SB 09-001 to the Committee of the Whole, as amended, with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed on a vote of 7-0.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
	Kester	Yes
	Lundberg	Yes
	Newell	Yes
	Foster	Yes
	Schwartz	Yes

Final YES: 7 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	SB09-001
TIME:	01:09:00 PM
MOVED:	Cadman
MOTION:	Amend SB 09-001, page 9, line 23, after "CWPP" insert "or an equivalent plan". The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman
	Hodge
	Kester
	Lundberg
	Newell
	Foster
	Schwartz

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	SB09-001
TIME:	01:06:27 PM
MOVED:	Newell
MOTION:	Adopt Amendment L.001 (Attachment C). After some discussion, Senator Newell agreed to amend L.001 to replace "SERVING" with "IN" throughout. The bill sponsor accepted this as a friendly amendment. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman
	Hodge
	Kester
	Lundberg
	Newell
	Foster
	Schwartz

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

01:10 PM

Mr. Bob Lackner, Office of Legislative Legal Services, addressed questions from the committee. Senator Gibbs made some concluding remarks about the bill and asked for a favorable recommendation. Senator Gibbs addressed questions regarding whether the State Forester is granted authority by the bill to make sure that counties complete CWPPs.

01:27 PM

The meeting adjourned.