House Committee on Local Government (04/22/2015)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Date:	04/22/2015	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:31 PM to 03:45 PM	Arndt	*
		Danielson	X
Place:	HCR 0107	Keyser	*
		Klingenschmitt	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Navarro	X
	Representative Fields	Ransom	X
		Rosenthal	X
This Report was prepared by		Saine	*
	Damion Pechota	Singer	*
		Lebsock	X
		Fields	*
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB15-1357 SB15-205 SB15-207 SB15-217		Referred to the Committee of the Whole Amended, Referred to Appropriations Referred to Appropriations Referred to Appropriations

01:32 PM -- HB15-1357

Representative Court and Representative DelGrosso presented and summarized House Bill 15-1357 concerning the ratio of valuation for assessment for residential real property. The bill establishes the residential assessment rate at 7.96 percent for tax years 2015 and 2016, the same rate in place since 2003.

Representative DelGrosso answered questions from the committee regarding residential assessment rates.

01:36 PM -- JoAnn Groff, Property Tax Administrator, Division of Property Taxation in the Department of Local Affairs, spoke for questions only on the bill. Ms. Groff distributed a handout to the committee (Attachment A). She discussed the current and historic trends to determine a residential assessment rate.

15HouseLocal0422AttachA.pdf

Ms. Groff answered questions from the committee regarding residential assessment rates in relation to the Gallagher Amendment.

01:45 PM

Representative DelGrosso provided closing comments on the bill.


BILL:	HB15-1357
TIME:	01:47:14 PM
MOVED:	Singer
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 15-1357 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 9-1.
SECONDED:	Danielson
		VOTE
	Arndt	Yes
	Danielson	Yes
	Keyser	Yes
	Klingenschmitt	No
	Navarro	Yes
	Ransom	Yes
	Rosenthal	Yes
	Saine	Excused
	Singer	Yes
	Lebsock	Yes
	Fields	Yes

YES: 9 NO: 1 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:48 PM -- SB15-205

Representative Hamner and Representative Keyser presented Senate Bill 15-205 concerning the utilization of veterans' fire corps programs. The bill recognizes the existence of veterans' fire corps programs, through which certain veterans gain experience in forest management and wildland fire control. The Department of Public Safety (DPS) is authorized to use the Wildfire Preparedness Fund (WPF) to train, equip, or supervise a veterans' fire corps program hand crew.

01:53 PM -- Paul Cooke, Director of the Division of Fire Prevention and Control in the DPS, spoke in favor of the bill. He discussed the role of hand crews and the value of current programs to address firefighter needs. Director Cooke spoke on the benefits of veteran training and experience in wildfire matters.

Director Cooke answered questions from the committee regarding the veterans in current wildfire programs.

Representative Keyser distributed and discussed amendment L.002 (Attachment B).

15HouseLocal0422AttachB.pdf

02:02 PM -- Frank McCurdy, representing United Veterans Committee of Colorado, spoke in favor of the bill.

02:04 PM -- Scott Segrerstrom, representing the Colorado Youth Corps Association, spoke in favor of the bill. He spoke on the success of the Veteran Wildfire Corps program and the role of fire crews to provide operational needs for fire prevention and control. Mr. Segrerstrom answered previous questions regarding the training of veteran crew members and the number of graduates in the program.

02:11 PM

The committee members discussed the importance of hand crews and the use of veteran programs.

Representative Keyser discussed amendment L.002 regarding eligibility for the veteran program. He also answered questions from the committee regarding the definitions of discharges for veterans. The committee members discussed the discharge requirements for veteran programs.


BILL:	SB15-205
TIME:	02:18:03 PM
MOVED:	Keyser
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L.002 (Attachment B). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Klingenschmitt
		VOTE
	Arndt
	Danielson
	Keyser
	Klingenschmitt
	Navarro
	Ransom
	Rosenthal
	Saine	Excused
	Singer
	Lebsock
	Fields

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

02:18 PM

Representative Keyser and Representative Hamner provided closing comments on the bill.

The committee members provided comments on the bill.


BILL:	SB15-205
TIME:	02:21:45 PM
MOVED:	Lebsock
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 15-205, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 10-0.
SECONDED:	Klingenschmitt
		VOTE
	Arndt	Yes
	Danielson	Yes
	Keyser	Yes
	Klingenschmitt	Yes
	Navarro	Yes
	Ransom	Yes
	Rosenthal	Yes
	Saine	Excused
	Singer	Yes
	Lebsock	Yes
	Fields	Yes

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

02:22 PM -- SB15-207

Representative Brown presented and summarized Senate Bill 15-207 concerning a lease-purchase agreement. The bill authorizes the State Treasurer to enter into lease-purchase agreements on behalf of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) within the Department of Public Safety (DPS) for a period of up to 18 years to refinance revenue bonds used to construct the CBI Grand Junction forensic laboratory and regional office.

Representative Brown answered questions from the committee.

02:25 PM -- Kori Donaldson, Legislative Council Staff, answered questions from the committee regarding the process for lease-purchase agreements.

02:27 PM -- Jonathan Forbes, representing the Office of the Treasurer, spoke for questions only. He discussed lease-purchase agreements for state agencies. Mr. Forbes answered questions from the chair regarding financing for lease-purchasing.

A letter of support from the Mesa County Board of Commissioners was distributed to the committee members (Attachment C).

15HouseLocal0422AttachC.pdf

Representative Brown provided closing comments on the bill.


BILL:	SB15-207
TIME:	02:30:46 PM
MOVED:	Arndt
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 15-207 to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 10-0.
SECONDED:	Klingenschmitt
		VOTE
	Arndt	Yes
	Danielson	Yes
	Keyser	Yes
	Klingenschmitt	Yes
	Navarro	Yes
	Ransom	Yes
	Rosenthal	Yes
	Saine	Excused
	Singer	Yes
	Lebsock	Yes
	Fields	Yes

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

02:31 PM

The committee recessed.

02:40 PM -- SB15-217

The committee returned from recess.

Representative Williams presented and summarized Senate Bill 15-217 concerning police shooting data collection. The bill creates a process for public reporting of specified data concerning officer-involved shootings that occur within certain law enforcement agencies, including the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Colorado State Patrol, county sheriff's offices, municipal police departments, the Division of Parks and Wildlife within the Department of Natural Resources, and town marshal's offices. For incidents that occurred between January 1, 2010, and June 30, 2015, each named law enforcement agency is required to submit its data to the Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) within the Department of Public Safety by September 1, 2015. The data from this historical review is to be compiled into a report by March 1, 2016. For each successive fiscal year through FY 2019-20, the covered law enforcement agencies are also required to report their information by September 1 of the following fiscal year, and the Department of Public Safety is required to submit its report by March 1 of the following fiscal year. All reports are to be provided to the judiciary committees of the General Assembly and posted on the Division of Criminal Justice's website.

Representative Williams answered questions regarding current statistics on shootings and racial profiling by law enforcement officials.

She also discussed the potential uses of the data collected.

02:50 PM -- Chief John Jackson, representing the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, spoke in favor of the bill. He said that collecting data can provide important information for the law enforcement. Chief Jackson shared his opinion that all peace officers should be held to the same standards and should provide the same information.

Chief Jackson answered questions from the committee regarding the use of data collected to allow agencies to make informed decisions. He also discussed using information to strengthening community relations and law enforcement training.

03:02 PM -- Peg Ackerman, representing the County Sheriffs of Colorado, spoke in favor of the bill. She said that the data collected will provide important information for addressing issues in all areas of Colorado.

03:06 PM -- Pastor Terrence Hughes, Denver Metro Alliance, spoke in favor of the bill. He said that factual information is needed to enact proper change in law enforcement and communities. Pastor Hughes discussed previous shootings and the importance of addressing the issues.

Pastor Hughes answered questions from the committee regarding the goals of data collection and the potential use of the information.

03:10 PM -- Peggy Harper, representing herself, spoke in favor of the bill. She expressed her opinion that a lack of accountability is creating tension between the community and local police departments.

Ms. Harper answered questions regarding recent events and impacts on the Denver community.

03:16 PM -- Robert Lopez, representing himself, spoke in favor of the bill. He spoke on the need to collect data to better understand the issues.

03:19 PM -- Alex Landau, representing the Colorado Progressive Coalition, spoke in favor of the bill. He spoke on the need to collect data in order to address a variety of community needs. Mr. Landau spoke on recent shootings and the importance of having information in to address issues and concerns.

03:24 PM -- Jeanette Baust, representing Together Colorado, spoke in favor of the bill. She discussed the need to collect data to take proper action to address the issues. Ms. Baust answered previous questions from the community regarding the impact of current events and the use of data in order to enact changes.

Ms. Baust answered questions from the committee regarding the impact of antidotal evidence.

03:33 PM

Ms. Baust continued to answer questions regarding the use of data.

Representative Williams read a letter of support from the Delta County Sheriff.

03:38 PM

Representative Williams provided closing comments on the bill.

The committee members discussed the bill.


BILL:	SB15-217
TIME:	03:43:37 PM
MOVED:	Danielson
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 15-217 to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 11-0.
SECONDED:	Saine
		VOTE
	Arndt	Yes
	Danielson	Yes
	Keyser	Yes
	Klingenschmitt	Yes
	Navarro	Yes
	Ransom	Yes
	Rosenthal	Yes
	Saine	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Lebsock	Yes
	Fields	Yes

YES: 11 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:45 PM

The committee adjourned.