House Committee on Economic and Business Development (02/14/2012)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Date:	02/14/2012	ATTENDANCE

Time:	11:40 AM to 04:45 PM	Balmer	X
		Holbert	*
Place:	HCR 0112	Miklosi	E
		Priola	*
This Meeting was called to order by		Singer	*
	Representative Liston	Soper	X
		Swerdfeger	*
This Report was prepared by		Szabo	X
	Christie Lee	Tyler	X
		Williams A.	X
		Wilson	X
		Swalm	X
		Liston	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB12-1210 HB12-1284 HB12-1270 HB12-1289 HB12-1115		Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Postponed Indefinitely Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Referred to the Committee of the Whole Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole

11:41 AM -- House Bill 12-1210

Representative Beezley, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 12-1210. The bill allows a person who holds a valid professional license, registration, or certification in another state to practice his or her profession in Colorado for up to one year before having to meet the state's authorizing requirements, providing the person:

is not disqualified for some other reason;
consents to be subject to the jurisdiction and disciplinary authority of the Division of Registrations in the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA); and
applies for an active Colorado license, registration, or certification within 30 days of beginning practice.

11:44 AM -- Arlene Miles, representing the Colorado Health Care Association, testified in support of the bill. She explained why the bill is necessary, stating that in some areas of the state, such as rural areas, it is difficult to find licensed administrators. She explained that both federal and state law requires that there be a licensed administrator in every nursing care facility at all times. Representative Williams asked whether the licensing requirements vary from state to state. A discussion ensued regarding varying requirements for licenses.

11:56 AM -- Diana Orf, representing the Dental Hygienists Association of Colorado, stated that the concern she has with the bill is that the scope of practice for dental hygienists in Colorado may be different than in other states. Ms. Orf stated that the bill could allow an hygienist to practice for up to 60 days before it is confirmed whether they have a valid license or not.

12:00 PM -- Marilen Reimer, representing the American Council of Engineering Companies of Colorado, testified against the bill. She asked that engineers be exempt from the bill and responded to questions from the committee.

12:07 PM -- Gwenne Hume, representing optometrists, testified against the bill and asked that optometrists be exempt from the bill. She talked about the different requirements in other states for optometrists and responded to questions from the committee. A discussion ensued about DORA's current regulatory authority.

12:24 PM -- Mark Ruzzin, representing Boulder County, testified in support of the bill. He talked about the difficulties people have had in Boulder County obtaining a license upon moving to Colorado.

12:29 PM -- Janet Stephens, representing the Colorado Hospital Association, testified on the bill. She explained that her organization is monitoring the bill and that they have some concerns over liability. Ms. Stephens stated she was also speaking on behalf of the Mental Health Professionals of Colorado.

12:34 PM -- Betsy Murray, representing the American Physical Therapist Association of Colorado, mentioned some concerns they have with the bill.


BILL:	HB12-1210
TIME:	12:38:57 PM
MOVED:	Swalm
MOTION:	Move to amend the bill on page 2, line 21, strike "WITHIN THIRTY DAYS AFTER" and substitute "PRIOR TO". The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Holbert
		VOTE
	Balmer
	Holbert
	Miklosi	Excused
	Priola
	Singer
	Soper
	Swerdfeger	Excused
	Szabo
	Tyler
	Williams A.
	Wilson
	Swalm
	Liston

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB12-1210
TIME:	12:39:30 PM
MOVED:	Holbert
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.001 (Attachment A). The motion failed on a 5-5 vote.
SECONDED:	Swalm
		VOTE
	Balmer	Yes
	Holbert	Yes
	Miklosi	Excused
	Priola	Yes
	Singer	No
	Soper	No
	Swerdfeger	Excused
	Szabo	Yes
	Tyler	No
	Williams A.	No
	Wilson	No
	Swalm	Yes
	Liston	Excused

YES: 5 NO: 5 EXC: 3 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: TIE


BILL:	HB12-1210
TIME:	12:47:00 PM
MOVED:	Liston
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.002 (Attachment B). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Swalm
		VOTE
	Balmer
	Holbert
	Miklosi	Excused
	Priola
	Singer
	Soper
	Swerdfeger	Excused
	Szabo
	Tyler
	Williams A.
	Wilson
	Swalm
	Liston

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB12-1210
TIME:	12:48:31 PM
MOVED:	Tyler
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.004 (Attachment C). The motion passed on a vote of 6-5.
SECONDED:	Williams A.
		VOTE
	Balmer	No
	Holbert	No
	Miklosi	Excused
	Priola	No
	Singer	Yes
	Soper	Yes
	Swerdfeger	Excused
	Szabo	No
	Tyler	Yes
	Williams A.	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Swalm	No
	Liston	Yes

YES: 6 NO: 5 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	HB12-1210
TIME:	12:52:41 PM
MOVED:	Balmer
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.005 (Attachment D). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Priola
		VOTE
	Balmer
	Holbert
	Miklosi	Excused
	Priola
	Singer
	Soper
	Swerdfeger
	Szabo
	Tyler
	Williams A.
	Wilson
	Swalm
	Liston

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB12-1210
TIME:	12:54:02 PM
MOVED:	Tyler
MOTION:	Moved to amend amendment L.005 to add advanced practice nurses. The motion failed on a vote of 5-7.
SECONDED:	Singer
		VOTE
	Balmer	No
	Holbert	No
	Miklosi	Excused
	Priola	No
	Singer	Yes
	Soper	Yes
	Swerdfeger	No
	Szabo	No
	Tyler	Yes
	Williams A.	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Swalm	No
	Liston	No

YES: 5 NO: 7 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:	HB12-1210
TIME:	12:59:31 PM
MOVED:	Wilson
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.006 (Attachment E). The motion failed on a vote of 5-7.
SECONDED:	Singer
		VOTE
	Balmer	No
	Holbert	No
	Miklosi	Excused
	Priola	No
	Singer	Yes
	Soper	Yes
	Swerdfeger	No
	Szabo	No
	Tyler	Yes
	Williams A.	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Swalm	No
	Liston	No

YES: 5 NO: 7 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:	HB12-1210
TIME:	01:02:16 PM
MOVED:	Balmer
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.007 (Attachment F). The motion failed on a 6-6 vote.
SECONDED:	Holbert
		VOTE
	Balmer	Yes
	Holbert	No
	Miklosi	Excused
	Priola	No
	Singer	Yes
	Soper	Yes
	Swerdfeger	No
	Szabo	No
	Tyler	Yes
	Williams A.	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Swalm	No
	Liston	No

YES: 6 NO: 6 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: TIE

01:05 PM

Committee members made comments on the bill.


BILL:	HB12-1210
TIME:	01:16:42 PM
MOVED:	Szabo
MOTION:	Moved to refer House Bill 12-1210, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 8-4.
SECONDED:	Liston
		VOTE
	Balmer	Yes
	Holbert	Yes
	Miklosi	Excused
	Priola	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Soper	No
	Swerdfeger	Yes
	Szabo	Yes
	Tyler	No
	Williams A.	No
	Wilson	No
	Swalm	Yes
	Liston	Yes

Final YES: 8 NO: 4 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:16 PM

The committee took a recess.

01:45 PM -- House Bill 12-1284

Representative Wilson, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 12-1284. The bill creates a six member legislative interim committee to meet during the 2012 interim to study issues related to small business financing in Colorado. The committee is charged with meeting with small business lenders and small business owners to determine whether there is an unfilled need for capital and loans that discourages business expansion and to identify changes to better enable the formation of capital. Members of the committee may receive per diem and reimbursement for expenses. The bill is repealed July 1, 2013.

01:54 PM

Representative Wilson responded to questions from the committee regarding what the study would seek to determine.

02:04 PM -- Jennifer Waller, representing the Colorado Bankers' Association, testified against the bill. She talked about the issue of the ability to pay and talked about current efforts that are underway to address problems with lending to small businesses.


BILL:	HB12-1284
TIME:	02:25:38 PM
MOVED:	Wilson
MOTION:	Moved to refer House Bill 12-1284 to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion failed on a vote of 5-7.
SECONDED:	Tyler
		VOTE
	Balmer	No
	Holbert	No
	Miklosi	Excused
	Priola	No
	Singer	Yes
	Soper	Yes
	Swerdfeger	No
	Szabo	No
	Tyler	Yes
	Williams A.	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Swalm	No
	Liston	No

Final YES: 5 NO: 7 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:	HB12-1284
TIME:	02:25:43 PM
MOVED:	Balmer
MOTION:	Moved to postpone House Bill 12-1284 indefinitely. The motion passed on a vote of 7-5.
SECONDED:	Holbert
		VOTE
	Balmer	Yes
	Holbert	Yes
	Miklosi	Excused
	Priola	Yes
	Singer	No
	Soper	No
	Swerdfeger	Yes
	Szabo	Yes
	Tyler	No
	Williams A.	No
	Wilson	No
	Swalm	Yes
	Liston	Yes

YES: 7 NO: 5 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:29 PM -- House Bill 12-1270

Representative Ryden, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 12-1270. Current law places an annual limit on the amount of alcohol beverages that an establishment licensed to sell alcohol on-premises may purchase at retail (rather than from a licensed alcohol beverage wholesaler). The bill increases the annual limit from $1,000 for hotel and restaurant licensees to $2,000. The retail purchase limit for all other alcohol beverage licensees is increased from $500 to $2,000 per year.

02:36 PM -- Pete Meersman, representing the Colorado Restaurant Association, testified in support of the bill.

02:37 PM -- Dan Williams and Steve Findley, representing the Colorado Beer Distributors Association, testified against the bill.

02:49 PM -- Mark Rogers, representing Cheddar's Casual Cafe, testified in support of the bill. He talked about the increase in the cost of beer over the years. Mr. Rogers responded to questions from the committee.

02:58 PM -- Mark Berzins, representing the Little Pub Company and the Tavern League of Colorado, testified in support of the bill. Representative Wilson asked about sales tax differences between purchasing retail versus wholesale.

03:07 PM -- Don Burmania, representing the Colorado Liquor Enforcement Division, responded to a question regarding the difference between the price of alcohol sold at liquor stores versus restaurants.

03:08 PM -- Mike Plancarte, representing Premier Ventures Inc., testified in support of the bill. He explained having to go to the liquor store when a shipment didn't come through during a snow storm.

03:14 PM -- Micki Hackenberger, representing the Wine and Spirit Wholesalers of Colorado, testified on the bill. She addressed earlier testimony and explained that the bill is meant to cover emergency situations. Ms. Hackenberger explained the three tiered system in Colorado that includes wholesalers, distributors, and retailers. Representative Holbert asked whether a percentage of increase would be better than simply raising the limit. Ms. Hackenburger responded and stated they would not support that concept.


BILL:	HB12-1270
TIME:	03:21:53 PM
MOVED:	Liston
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.001 (Attachment G). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Balmer
		VOTE
	Balmer
	Holbert
	Miklosi	Excused
	Priola
	Singer
	Soper
	Swerdfeger
	Szabo
	Tyler
	Williams A.
	Wilson
	Swalm
	Liston

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB12-1270
TIME:	03:25:23 PM
MOVED:	Tyler
MOTION:	Moved to refer House Bill 12-1270, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 10-2.
SECONDED:	Wilson
		VOTE
	Balmer	No
	Holbert	Yes
	Miklosi	Excused
	Priola	No
	Singer	Yes
	Soper	Yes
	Swerdfeger	Yes
	Szabo	Yes
	Tyler	Yes
	Williams A.	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Swalm	Yes
	Liston	Yes

YES: 10 NO: 2 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:26 PM -- House Bill 12-1289

Representative Nikkel, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 12-1289. Under current law, to dispute an adverse action of an auto insurance company, a policyholder must file a formal protest following specific deadlines, with the Commissioner of Insurance. If the commissioner finds the protest to have merit, he must hold a hearing within 45 days of receipt of the protest. This bill changes the formal protest process to a complaint process that is completed without a hearing. Adverse actions subject to this complaint process include nonrenewal or cancellation of a policy.

03:30 PM -- Bobbie Baca, representing the Property and Casualty Section in the Division of Insurance, testified in support of the bill and distributed a handout (Attachment H).

03:32 PM -- Mary Kuhn, representing Nationwide Insurance, testified in support of the bill.

03:35 PM -- Julie Hoerner Mowry, representing State Farm, testified in support of the bill.


BILL:	HB12-1289
TIME:	03:35:45 PM
MOVED:	Szabo
MOTION:	Moved to refer House Bill 12-1289 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 9-0.
SECONDED:	Holbert
		VOTE
	Balmer	Excused
	Holbert	Yes
	Miklosi	Excused
	Priola	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Soper	Yes
	Swerdfeger	Yes
	Szabo	Yes
	Tyler	Yes
	Williams A.	Yes
	Wilson	Excused
	Swalm	Yes
	Liston	Excused

YES: 9 NO: 0 EXC: 4 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:38 PM -- House Bill 12-1115

Representative Liston, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 12-1115. With strike-below amendment L.001, the bill requires the Legislative Council Staff to compile and make available comments received from Colorado businesses on legislation that:

creates a new or increased mandate on businesses; or
is expected to significantly increase costs on businesses.

Comments must be submitted within a 10-day window designated by the staff, and are further limited to those received from the first 50 businesses to respond. Comments are to be made available in conjunction with the fiscal note.

03:45 PM -- Terry Scanlon, representing the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, testified against the bill. Representative Liston responded to Mr. Scanlon's testimony.

04:00 PM -- Donnah Moody and Douglas Hayes, representing the Goodrich Corporation, testified in favor of the bill. Mr. Hayes gave some examples of legislative mandates that have been passed over the last few years that have increased costs for Goodrich by millions of dollars. Mr. Hayes and Ms. Moody responded to questions from the committee regarding the impact the bill will have on time frames in the last days of session.

04:16 PM -- Travis Berry, representing the Colorado Competitive Council, testified in support of the bill.

04:18 PM -- Loren Furman, Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, testified in support of the bill. She talked about other states that do similar analyses and distributed an example from Florida (Attachment I).


BILL:	HB12-1115
TIME:	04:30:35 PM
MOVED:	Liston
MOTION:	Moved to adopt amendment L.001 (Attachment J). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Holbert
		VOTE
	Balmer
	Holbert
	Miklosi	Excused
	Priola
	Singer
	Soper
	Swerdfeger
	Szabo
	Tyler
	Williams A.
	Wilson
	Swalm
	Liston

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB12-1115
TIME:	04:35:21 PM
MOVED:	Singer
MOTION:	Moved to adopt amendment L.006 (Attachment L). The motion failed on a vote of 5-7.
SECONDED:	Tyler
		VOTE
	Balmer	No
	Holbert	No
	Miklosi	Excused
	Priola	No
	Singer	Yes
	Soper	Yes
	Swerdfeger	No
	Szabo	No
	Tyler	Yes
	Williams A.	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Swalm	No
	Liston	No

YES: 5 NO: 7 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:	HB12-1115
TIME:	04:31:31 PM
MOVED:	Williams A.
MOTION:	Moved to adopt amendment L.002 (Attachment K). The chair ruled amendment L.002 does not fit under the title.
SECONDED:	Tyler
		VOTE
	Balmer
	Holbert
	Miklosi	Excused
	Priola
	Singer
	Soper
	Swerdfeger
	Szabo
	Tyler
	Williams A.
	Wilson
	Swalm
	Liston

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION:


BILL:	HB12-1115
TIME:	04:44:20 PM
MOVED:	Swalm
MOTION:	Moved to refer House Bill 12-1115, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 8-4.
SECONDED:	Liston
		VOTE
	Balmer	Yes
	Holbert	Yes
	Miklosi	Excused
	Priola	Yes
	Singer	No
	Soper	Yes
	Swerdfeger	Yes
	Szabo	Yes
	Tyler	No
	Williams A.	No
	Wilson	No
	Swalm	Yes
	Liston	Yes

YES: 8 NO: 4 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

04:45 PM

The committee adjourned.