House Committee on Agriculture, Livestock, & Natural Resources (02/23/2010)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, LIVESTOCK, & NATURAL RESOURCES

Date:	02/23/2010	ATTENDANCE

Time:	10:02 AM to 11:24 AM	Baumgardner	*
		Curry	X
Place:	HCR 0107	Gardner C.	X
		Hullinghorst	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Looper	X
	Representative Fischer	McKinley	X
		Ryden	X
This Report was prepared by		Solano	X
	Lauren Ris	Sonnenberg	X
		Tipton	X
		Vigil	X
		Pace	X
		Fischer	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB10-1214		Referred to Transportation & Energy

10:03 AM -- House Bill 10-1214

Representative McCann, sponsor, presented HB10-1214. This bill creates the "Adopt a Shelter Pet" special license plate. The plate will be available to applicants who pay the following:

▪ the appropriate license fees based on the vehicle type;
▪ a one-time fee of $50 that is credited equally to the Highway Users Tax Fund (HUTF) and the Licensing Services Cash Fund (LSCF);
▪ a one-time donation of $30 which is collected upon plate issuance and is credited to the newly created Adopt a Shelter Pet Account in the Pet Overpopulation Fund; and
▪ an annual $25 license plate renewal donation.

Of the $25 license plate renewal donation, the Department of Revenue (DOR) or county clerk may keep up to $2. If less than 3,000 are issued by July 1, 2014, DOR may stop issuing the special license plate. The bill also extends the pet overpopulation tax check off and adds a representative of western Colorado to the Board of Directors for the Pet Overpopulation Authority. Representative McCann answered questions from the committee regarding the license plate renewal process and how this may impact other tax check-off options.

10:10 AM

Mark Couch, Department of Revenue, discussed the revenue threshold for tax check-offs to remain on the income tax forms and the sunset timeframe for checkoffs.

The following individuals testified on the bill:

10:15 AM -- Jayme Nielson, Pet Overpopulation Fund, spoke in support of the bill. She described the history of the fund and the average donations that the fund receives. She answered questions from the committee.

10:23 AM -- David Gies, the Colorado Pet Overpopulation Fund and the Animal Assistance Foundation, spoke in support of the bill. He described the history of the foundation and the services it provides. He also discussed the money donated to the Pet Overpopulation Fund. He responded to questions from the committee about how the fund can be used for account administration.

10:34 AM -- Gary Sherman, founder of Adopt a Pet Foundation, spoke in support of the bill and described the origin of the idea for the adopt a shelter pet license plate. Mr. Sherman answered questions from the committee regarding the process for renewing license plates. He also responded to questions about the moneys that will be used for account administration. Mr. Sherman explained the objective of humane education programs described in the bill.

10:53 AM -- Maren Rubino, Department of Revenue, responded to questions from the committee regarding the expenditures from the license plate. She also described how the license renewal process would work.

10:58 AM -- Dr. Tyler Ratzlaff, Alpine Veterinary Hospital, spoke in support of the bill. He explained how funding from the Pet Overpopulation Fund is used to spay and neuter animals and what these services cost shelters and pet owners. He responded to questions from the committee.

11:06 AM -- Diana Hamilton, President of the Valley Humane League, spoke in support of the bill. She discussed why the bill is important for shelters and explained that the difficulty in spaying and neutering animals before they are adopted and how this bill would alleviate this problem. She also discussed the importance of funding educational efforts about the need to spay and neuter animals.

11:14 AM -- Melissa Petrucelli, New Hope Cattle Dog Rescue, spoke in support of the bill. She discussed the mission of the rescue and the work that the rescue does. She described some of the treatments that dogs in the shelter have needed and the cost of these services. She also discussed the costs associated with the requirement that animals be spayed and neutered before they are adopted.

11:20 AM -- Dr. Kate Anderson, administrator of the Pet Animal Care Facilities Act in the Department of Agriculture, spoke in support of the bill. She discussed the importance of the Pet Overpopulation Fund and the benefit of a tax checkoff. She responded to a previous question about the number of spay and neuter surgeries that are completed in the state.


BILL:	HB10-1214
TIME:	11:23:46 AM
MOVED:	Vigil
MOTION:	Moved to refer House Bill 10-1214 to the Committee on Transportation and Energy. The motion passed on a vote of 12-0.
SECONDED:	Tipton
		VOTE
	Baumgardner	Excused
	Curry	Yes
	Gardner C.	Yes
	Hullinghorst	Yes
	Looper	Yes
	McKinley	Yes
	Ryden	Yes
	Solano	Yes
	Sonnenberg	Yes
	Tipton	Yes
	Vigil	Yes
	Pace	Yes
	Fischer	Yes

Final YES: 12 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

11:24 AM

The committee adjourned.