House Committee on Finance (04/10/2014)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

Date:	04/10/2014	ATTENDANCE

Time:	12:53 PM to 02:09 PM	Becker	X
		DelGrosso	X
Place:	LSB A	Foote	*
		Joshi	*
This Meeting was called to order by		Kagan	X
	Representative Court	Melton	X
		Pabon	*
This Report was prepared by		Priola	A
	Matt Kiszka	Saine	X
		Swalm	X
		Wilson	*
		Labuda	X
		Court	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB14-1348 HB14-1350		Referred to the Committee of the Whole Amended, Referred to Appropriations

12:53 PM -- HB14-1348

Representative Court, Chair, called the meeting to order.

Representative Ferrandino, Speaker of the House, came to the table to present House Bill 14-1348. He explained that the bill changes the effective date for the definition of "retail sale" that was adopted with the passage of House Bill 13-1295 from July 1, 2014 to until after the federal "Marketplace Fairness Act" passes. The definition for retail sale that was adopted in HB 13-1295 requires sales taxes to be calculated based on where the consumer takes possession of the property rather than where the property is purchased. This change in definition would not impact sales tax collections when the consumer takes possession of the property at the store, which is most common. This change in definition would impact the sales taxes on property that was delivered to the consumer at a location other than the physical store. The Speaker responded to questions on the status of the federal "Marketplace Fairness Act" and the intent of the bill.

12:58 PM -- Rhonda Sparlin, representing the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, spoke in favor of the bill. She stated that the revisions to statute made by the bill will tighten up existing statute and fix language that had unintended consequences for state-collected county and municipal tax liabilities. She responded to questions on the tax policy changes made by the bill.


BILL:	HB14-1348
TIME:	01:04:09 PM
MOVED:	Labuda
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 14-1348 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 10-2, with 1 member absent.
SECONDED:	Court
		VOTE
	Becker	Yes
	DelGrosso	Yes
	Foote	Yes
	Joshi	No
	Kagan	Yes
	Melton	Yes
	Pabon	Yes
	Priola	Absent
	Saine	No
	Swalm	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Labuda	Yes
	Court	Yes

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

01:05 PM -- HB14-1350

Representative Ferrandino, Speaker of the House, came to the table to present House Bill 14-1350. He explained that the bill changes the application process for Regional Tourism Act projects and limits the amount of state sales tax increment financing that can be approved for each future project. The bill requires the Office of State Planning and Budgeting (OSPB), rather than the project applicant, to pay for the third-party analysis. The bill allows OSPB to be reimbursed by the local government applicant for this expense. In addition, the bill limits the amount of financing that can be awarded by the Economic Development Commission (EDC) in the following ways:

requires the third-party economic analysis to consider the historical growth rate in sales tax revenue in the regional tourism zone in an attempt to limit the increment to sales taxes that are directly related to the project, rather than broader economic growth;

changes the requirement that a significant portion of the sales tax revenue generated from the proposed project be attributable to transactions with nonresidents of the regional tourism zone to a requirement that a significant portion of the revenue be attributable to transactions with nonresidents of Colorado;

allows the Economic Development Commission to approve funding of up to 25 percent of the sales tax increment; and

caps the amount that is remitted back to the Regional Tourism District to the amount that is approved by the Economic Development Commission.

Amendments L.001, L.002, L.005, L.006, and L.007 (Attachments A, B, C, D, and E, respectively) were distributed to the committee. The Speaker responded to questions on how the Regional Tourism Act is currently working in relation to its original intentions and how the bill will lead to a growth in sales tax revenue as laid out in the fiscal note for the bill.

14HseFin0410AttachA.pdf

14HseFin0410AttachB.pdf

14HseFin0410AttachC.pdf

14HseFin0410AttachD.pdf

14HseFin0410AttachE.pdf

01:17 PM -- Jeff Kraft, representing the Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) and the EDC, spoke in favor of the bill. He said that OEDIT supports the bill because it would tighten the analytical approach taken by OSPB in estimating the sales tax growth that will result from a new project and requires the third party analyst and the applicant to use this estimation; requires the EDC to set a fixed maximum of the cumulative revenue that can be dedicated to a project and protects the state from a windfall distribution to a project; and allows the EDC to continue to set the percent of state sales tax increment revenue to a project. He added that the EDC is also in favor of the amendments being offered. He responded to questions on what would happen if revenue projects increased tax revenue less than was forecasted, how the economic analysis is performed on a project, how much the Regional Tourism Act is costing the state of Colorado and how much revenue it could potentially bring in, and how the bill tightens up the current Regional Tourism Act process.

01:36 PM

Committee discussion of improvements made by the bill to the Regional Tourism Act process ensued.

01:41 PM

Larson Silbaugh, Legislative Council Staff, addressed questions on the fiscal note for the bill. Mr. Kraft responded to questions on the analytical work performed on applications for Regional Tourism Act projects.

01:51 PM

Mr. Kraft responded to questions on Regional Tourism Act zoning, and committee discussion ensued.

01:55 PM -- Kelly Leid, representing the North Denver Cornerstone Collaborative (NDCC), spoke in favor of the bill. He stated that the NDCC is in support of the bill with the incorporation of the amendments that were distributed by the Speaker.

01:58 PM

The Speaker explained how Amendment L.001 changes the amount a project can exceed third-party analysis from twenty-five percent to fifty percent.


BILL:	HB14-1350
TIME:	01:58:55 PM
MOVED:	Court
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L.001 (Attachment A). The motion passed on a vote of 8-4.
SECONDED:	Labuda
		VOTE
	Becker	Yes
	DelGrosso	No
	Foote	Yes
	Joshi	No
	Kagan	Yes
	Melton	Yes
	Pabon	Yes
	Priola	Absent
	Saine	No
	Swalm	Yes
	Wilson	No
	Labuda	Yes
	Court	Yes

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

02:00 PM

The Speaker explained Amendment L.002, which reiterates that the changes made by the bill are proactive and not retroactive, and addresses which projects the act applies to.


BILL:	HB14-1350
TIME:	02:00:21 PM
MOVED:	Court
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L.002 (Attachment B). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Labuda
		VOTE
	Becker
	DelGrosso
	Foote
	Joshi
	Kagan
	Melton
	Pabon
	Priola	Absent
	Saine
	Swalm
	Wilson
	Labuda
	Court

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

02:01 PM

The Speaker explained the changes made by Amendment L.005, which includes a provision for projects that could bring revenue into the state. He responded to questions on the amendment.


BILL:	HB14-1350
TIME:	02:02:04 PM
MOVED:	Court
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L.005 (Attachment C). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Pabon
		VOTE
	Becker
	DelGrosso
	Foote
	Joshi
	Kagan
	Melton
	Pabon
	Priola	Absent
	Saine
	Swalm
	Wilson
	Labuda
	Court

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

02:02 PM

The Speaker explained that Amendment L.006 adds funding for third-party analysts to the bill.


BILL:	HB14-1350
TIME:	02:03:15 PM
MOVED:	Court
MOTION:	Adopt Amendment L.006 (Attachment D). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Labuda
		VOTE
	Becker
	DelGrosso
	Foote
	Joshi
	Kagan
	Melton
	Pabon
	Priola	Absent
	Saine
	Swalm
	Wilson
	Labuda
	Court

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

02:03 PM

The Speaker explained Amendment L.007, which amends the approval requirements for a project, and responded to questions.


BILL:	HB14-1350
TIME:	02:03:43 PM
MOVED:	Court
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L.007 (Attachment E). The motion failed on a vote of 5-7.
SECONDED:	Labuda
		VOTE
	Becker	Yes
	DelGrosso	No
	Foote	No
	Joshi	No
	Kagan	Yes
	Melton	Yes
	Pabon	Yes
	Priola	Absent
	Saine	No
	Swalm	No
	Wilson	No
	Labuda	No
	Court	Yes

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

02:06 PM

The Speaker made his closing comments and the committee discussed the merits of the bill.


BILL:	HB14-1350
TIME:	02:08:13 PM
MOVED:	Court
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 14-1350, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 10-2, with 1 member absent.
SECONDED:	Swalm
		VOTE
	Becker	Yes
	DelGrosso	Yes
	Foote	Yes
	Joshi	No
	Kagan	Yes
	Melton	Yes
	Pabon	Yes
	Priola	Absent
	Saine	No
	Swalm	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Labuda	Yes
	Court	Yes

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

02:09 PM

The committee was adjourned.