House Committee on Business Affairs and Labor (01/20/2015)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AFFAIRS AND LABOR

Date:	01/20/2015	ATTENDANCE

Time:	10:30 AM to 11:58 AM	Arndt	X
		Garnett	X
Place:	LSB A	Navarro	X
		Nordberg	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Pabon	X
	Representative Williams	Rosenthal	X
		Roupe	X
This Report was prepared by		Szabo	*
	Luisa Altmann	Tate	X
		Thurlow	*
		Winter	X
		Kraft-Tharp	X
		Williams	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB15-1010 Legislative Staff Briefing HB15-1055 HB15-1028 HB15-1071		Referred to the Committee of the Whole Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Referred to the Committee of the Whole Referred to the Committee of the Whole

10:31 AM -- HB 15-1010

Representatives Kraft-Tharp and Nordberg, bill sponsors, introduced House Bill 15-1010 to the committee. The bill provides an option for people to receive their information as a beneficiary in trust accounts electronically. The committee questioned the bill sponsors about how personal information is safeguarded in this process. Committee members also questioned the sponsors about the standards for a trust regarding mailings and any presumptions in place regarding recipient receipt of mailing information.

10:35 AM -- Ms. Jennifer Waller, representing the Colorado Bankers Association, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Waller testified that unlike most banking accounts, trust accounts are regulated by both state and federal law dictating how statements are delivered. Ms. Waller also provided other details pertaining to current practices and protection of consumer information. There were no questions for Ms. Waller from the committee.

10:38 AM

Representatives Kraft-Tharp and Nordberg gave concluding remarks regarding the bill.


BILL:	HB15-1010
TIME:	10:39:28 AM
MOVED:	Kraft-Tharp
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 15-1010 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 12-0.
SECONDED:	Nordberg
		VOTE
	Arndt	Yes
	Garnett	Yes
	Navarro	Yes
	Nordberg	Yes
	Pabon	Yes
	Rosenthal	Yes
	Roupe	Yes
	Szabo	Excused
	Tate	Yes
	Thurlow	Yes
	Winter	Yes
	Kraft-Tharp	Yes
	Williams	Yes

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

10:41 AM -- Introductory Briefing by Legislative Staff

Alex Schatz and Christy Chase introduced legislative staff to the committee. Alex Schatz, Legislative Council Staff, introduced other fiscal note analysts who will mainly be working on business-related bills, explained staff responsibilities, and discussed the fiscal note, its purpose, and its layout for the committee members' reference. Christy Chase, Office of Legislative Legal Services, introduced several bill drafters and introduced the office's other services and responsibilities. Ms. Chase referenced a handout passed out to committee members (Attachment A), with an article from the Legal Services' blog, Colorado LegiSource, regarding other services offered by the Office of Legislative Legal Services.

150120 AttachA.pdf

10:48 AM -- HB 15-1055

Representative Esgar, bill sponsor, introduced House Bill 15-1055 to the committee. The Colorado State Employee Assistance Program (C-SEAP) provides short-term counseling, mediation, conflict resolution, and other services to Colorado state employees. This bill clarifies that the dependent of a state employee is not eligible to be the sole and direct recipient of services from an employee assistance program, but that the program may allow the participation of a state employee's dependent or any other person who is not a state employee to participate in an employee assistance program if such participation is necessary to provide effective counseling and assistance to a state employee.

Representative Esgar answered questions from the committee regarding who can initiate the service from the household and explained the rationale for the safety clause in the bill.

10:55 AM -- Mr. Jack Wylie, legislative liaison for the Department of Personnel and Administration (DPA), and Ms. Randi Wood, Director of C-SEAP, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Wylie testified that this bill would not change current practice by the program, but would clarify who the program is able to serve and under what circumstances another person would be included. Ms. Wood referenced a handout given to committee members that provides program highlights of the C-SEAP program (Attachment B). Ms. Wood discussed C-SEAP and the work of the program.

150120 AttachB.pdf

Ms. Wood and Mr. Wylie responded to questions from the committee members about the vision for the future of the program, where C-SEAP's nine office locations are throughout the state, the departments that most commonly use C-SEAP's services, the number of state employees who currently use services provided by C-SEAP, how many visits are currently allowed before employees are referred to an outside service provider, who can initiate counseling services with C-SEAP, and the impact of this bill on costs.

11:07 AM

Representative Esgar introduced amendment L.001 (Attachment C), which would correct the misspelling of "dependent" within the bill.

150120 AttachC.pdf

Representative Tate introduced amendment L.002 (Attachment D), which would change "any other person" in the bill language to "spouse" in order to make the bill language more specific. Representative Esgar responded regarding concern that this amendment would change the original intent of the bill. Other committee members questioned Representative Tate regarding the intent of the amendment. Representative Esgar clarified that the bill as written would not change current C-SEAP program practices. Committee members also questioned Representative Esgar and Ms. Wood regarding the language of "any other person," circumstances when another person would be included in services, the fiscal impact of this language, and current program practices. Ms. Wood also answered questions from committee members regarding the average number of sessions used by program participants and how including other people in the employee's live in the counseling services impacts their use of counseling services, how long it takes to resolve the issue, and involvement of other family members. After committee discussion the motion was withdrawn.

150120 AttachD.pdf

11:20 AM

Representative Esgar provided closing remarks on the bill.


BILL:	HB15-1055
TIME:	11:07:09 AM
MOVED:	Williams
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L001 (Attachment C). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Kraft-Tharp
		VOTE
	Arndt
	Garnett
	Navarro
	Nordberg
	Pabon
	Rosenthal
	Roupe
	Szabo
	Tate
	Thurlow
	Winter
	Kraft-Tharp
	Williams

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


BILL:	HB15-1055
TIME:	11:08:35 AM
MOVED:	Tate
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L002 (Attachment D). This motion was withdrawn.
SECONDED:	Szabo
		VOTE
	Arndt
	Garnett
	Navarro
	Nordberg
	Pabon
	Rosenthal
	Roupe
	Szabo
	Tate
	Thurlow
	Winter
	Kraft-Tharp
	Williams

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


BILL:	HB15-1055
TIME:	11:23:34 AM
MOVED:	Kraft-Tharp
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 15-1055, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 13-0.
SECONDED:	Rosenthal
		VOTE
	Arndt	Yes
	Garnett	Yes
	Navarro	Yes
	Nordberg	Yes
	Pabon	Yes
	Rosenthal	Yes
	Roupe	Yes
	Szabo	Yes
	Tate	Yes
	Thurlow	Yes
	Winter	Yes
	Kraft-Tharp	Yes
	Williams	Yes

Final YES: 13 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

11:25 AM -- HB 15-1028

Representative Keyser, bill sponsor, introduced House Bill 15-1028. The bill repeals a requirement that auctioneers, corporations, and other persons obtain a license from the board of county commissioners before selling, vending, or retailing any goods, wares, or merchandise. The bill also repeals standards for the licensing process and penalties for operating without a license. The bill leaves it open to local entities to determine whether licensing is needed. Representative Keyser described the history of this law, explained how he could not find any evidence of this statute being enforced by any county, and explained how the bill leaves local governments to determine if a licensing requirement would be appropriate.

The committee questioned Representative Keyser regarding the safety clause in the bill.

11:30 AM -- Mr. Donald (Don) Rosier, representing Jefferson County Commissioners, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Rosier then spoke about his county's practices regarding mercantile licenses and his survey of other Colorado counties regarding issuance of mercantile licenses. The Board of County Commissions supports the bill. Mr. Rosier answered questions from the committee regarding the ability of the state to use the mercantile license as a future revenue source, if Denver county is currently issuing mercantile licenses under this law, and how circuses and other special events that set up in incorporated parts of a county are currently permitted.

11:40 AM

Representative Thurlow offered amendment L.002 (Attachment E) to replace the bill's safety clause with an enacting clause.

150120 AttachE.pdf

Representative Keyser responded to questions from the committee regarding the inclusion of the safety clause in the bill.

Mr. Rosier responded to questions from the committee regarding the urgency of this matter.

After committee discussion the motion was withdrawn.

11:43 AM

Representative Keyser offered closing remarks on the bill.


BILL:	HB15-1028
TIME:	11:40:43 AM
MOVED:	Thurlow
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L002 (Attachment E). This motion was withdrawn.
SECONDED:	Rosenthal
		VOTE
	Arndt
	Garnett
	Navarro
	Nordberg
	Pabon
	Rosenthal
	Roupe
	Szabo
	Tate
	Thurlow
	Winter
	Kraft-Tharp
	Williams

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


BILL:	HB15-1028
TIME:	11:45:35 AM
MOVED:	Szabo
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 15-1028 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 13-0.
SECONDED:	Kraft-Tharp
		VOTE
	Arndt	Yes
	Garnett	Yes
	Navarro	Yes
	Nordberg	Yes
	Pabon	Yes
	Rosenthal	Yes
	Roupe	Yes
	Szabo	Yes
	Tate	Yes
	Thurlow	Yes
	Winter	Yes
	Kraft-Tharp	Yes
	Williams	Yes

Final YES: 13 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

11:49 AM -- HB 15-1071

The committee took a recess

11:50 AM

Representative Keyser, bill sponsor, introduced House Bill 15-1071. The bill clarifies that an attorney-client privilege is among the privileges that vest as a matter of law in the surviving entity and are thereafter the privilege of the surviving entity in a merger agreement. This bill specifies that in a merger agreement, "privileges" does include attorney-client privilege.

Representative Keyser responded to questions from committee members regarding the protection of privileged information as desired by an entity in a merger.

11:56 AM

Representative Keyser offered closing remarks on the bill.


BILL:	HB15-1071
TIME:	11:57:56 AM
MOVED:	Szabo
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 15-1071 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 13-0.
SECONDED:	Nordberg
		VOTE
	Arndt	Yes
	Garnett	Yes
	Navarro	Yes
	Nordberg	Yes
	Pabon	Yes
	Rosenthal	Yes
	Roupe	Yes
	Szabo	Yes
	Tate	Yes
	Thurlow	Yes
	Winter	Yes
	Kraft-Tharp	Yes
	Williams	Yes

Final YES: 13 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

11:58 AM

The committee adjourned.