Date: 02/07/2013

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB13-1102

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Moved Amendment L.003 (Attachment A). The motion p
Refer House Bill 13-1102, as amended, to the Commi		Pass Without Objection
PASS



10:54 AM -- House Bill 13-1102 - Concerning Gift Cards and the Unclaimed Property Fund

Representative Gerou, prime sponsor, explained the provisions of the bill and distributed Amendment L.003 (Attachment A). She continued by saying that with the amendment, it exempts unclaimed gift cards from businesses with $200,000 or less in gift card revenue from the Unclaimed Property Act. She noted that the policy change will make it easier for small businesses to comply with the requirements of the act as they pertain to gift cards. Representative Gerou continued by saying the bill defines "gift cards" as a prefunded tangible or electronic record evidencing a business' agreement to provide good, services, and other things of value. Gift cards include various types of cards with electronic or magnetic storage used to deduct credit from the card. Several other types of cards are excluded from the definition of "gift card" in the bill, including cards issued by governmental agencies, paper-only gift certificates, prepaid telecommunications cards, loyalty and award cards, cards used to pay wages, cards used to issue refunds, and cards issued or sold at below face value to an employer or charitable organization.

13HseFin0207AttachA.pdf13HseFin0207AttachA.pdf

The committee discussed the current practices under state law. Representative Gerou responded saying that under current law, there are two main exemptions to the Unclaimed Property Act that may affect businesses. First, holders of unclaimed property may retain $25 dollars or 2 percent of the unclaimed property, whichever is greater, before remitting the property to the state treasurer. Second, businesses with less than $500,000 in revenue per year are not required to remit property to the unclaimed property fund unless the business (1) has more than $3,500 in unclaimed property over the previous 5-year period, or (2) has unclaimed property of any individual person that is worth $250 or more. The gift card exemption created in this bill is in addition to these existing exemptions. After a brief committee discussion, the committee heard testimony.

The following person testified:

11:05 AM -- Mr. Pete Meersman, representing the Colorado Restaurant Association, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Meersman noted that keeping track of gift cards for five years as required by the law, is a cost to businesses and redeeming cards with a balance presents an accounting challenging for small businesses. He closed by urging the committee to vote for the legislation.
BILL:HB13-1102
TIME: 11:06:59 AM
MOVED:DelGrosso
MOTION:Moved Amendment L.003 (Attachment A). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:Pabon
VOTE
DelGrosso
Foote
Joshi
Kagan
May
Melton
Pabon
Priola
Saine
Swalm
Wilson
Hamner
Court
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:HB13-1102
TIME: 11:08:09 AM
MOVED:DelGrosso
MOTION:Refer House Bill 13-1102, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 13-0.
SECONDED:Priola
VOTE
DelGrosso
Yes
Foote
Yes
Joshi
Yes
Kagan
Yes
May
Yes
Melton
Yes
Pabon
Yes
Priola
Yes
Saine
Yes
Swalm
Yes
Wilson
Yes
Hamner
Yes
Court
Yes
Final YES: 13 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS