House Committee on Agriculture, Livestock, & Natural Resources (02/21/2005)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, LIVESTOCK, & NATURAL RESOURCES

Date:	02/21/2005	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:43 PM to 05:48 PM	Brophy	X
		Gallegos	X
Place:	LSB A	Harvey	X
		Hodge	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Hoppe	X
	Representative Curry	McFadyen	X
		Penry	X
This Report was prepared by		Rose	E
	David Beaujon	Solano	*
		McKinley	X
		Curry	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB05-1215 HB05-1272 HB05-1266		Postponed Indefinitely Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole

01:45 PM -- House Bill 05-1215

Representative Hodge, sponsor, described the provisions of the bill and requested that the bill be postponed indefinitely.

The following person testified on the bill:

01:47 PM -- Bob Trout, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, commented on the bill.


BILL:	HB05-1215
TIME:	01:47:52 PM
MOVED:	Hodge
MOTION:	Moved to postpone indefinitely HB05-1215. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 9-0.
SECONDED:	Hoppe
		VOTE
	Brophy	Yes
	Gallegos	Yes
	Harvey	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
	Hoppe	Yes
	McFadyen	Yes
	Penry	Yes
	Rose	Excused
	Solano	Excused
	McKinley	Yes
	Curry	Yes
Final YES: 9 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:48 PM

The committee recessed.

01:50 PM -- House Bill 05-1272

The committee returned from recess and Representative Buescher, sponsor, described the provisions of the bill that transfers the State Fair Authority from a type 1 agency to a type 2 agency (Attachment
A). He explained that the bill will give the Commissioner of Agriculture greater control over the operations of the State Fair Authority.

The following persons testified on the bill:

02:01 PM -- Sheldon Jones, Deputy Commissioner of Agriculture, commented on the bill and described the Colorado Department of Agriculture's oversight and administrative support for the State Fair Authority. He also explained that the bill does not change the location of the State Fair from the City of Pueblo and responded to questions from the committee.

02:18 PM -- Jim Snook, State Fair Authority, spoke in opposition to the bill and expressed concern that it will limit the ability of the State Fair Authority to improve the financial health of the State Fair. He also said that the State Fair Authority is unanimously opposed to the bill.

02:26 PM

Testimony was closed and Representative Buescher requested that the committee adopt Amendment L. 001 (Attachment B).


BILL:	HB05-1272
TIME:	02:27:14 PM
MOVED:	McFadyen
MOTION:	Moved Amendment L. 001. The motion was adopted without objection.
SECONDED:	Hodge
		VOTE
	Brophy
	Gallegos
	Harvey
	Hodge
	Hoppe
	McFadyen
	Penry
	Rose	Excused
	Solano	Excused
	McKinley
	Curry
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

02:29 PM

The committee recessed.

02:34 PM

The committee returned from recess.


BILL:	HB05-1272
TIME:	02:34:49 PM
MOVED:	McFadyen
MOTION:	Moved HB05-1272, as amended to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 6-4.
SECONDED:	Hodge
		VOTE
	Brophy	No
	Gallegos	No
	Harvey	No
	Hodge	Yes
	Hoppe	No
	McFadyen	Yes
	Penry	Yes
	Rose	Excused
	Solano	Yes
	McKinley	Yes
	Curry	Yes
Final YES: 6 NO: 4 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:37 PM -- House Bill 05-1266

Representative Stengel, sponsor, described the provisions of the bill that increases residential wildlife fees, establishes a wildlife habitat stamp, and provides a revenue source for the Colorado Wildlife Management Public Education Advisory Council. He described the Sportsmen's Advisory Group (SAG) that developed the bill's recommendations, explained the difference between a fee and a tax (Attachment C), and described the inflation rate since 1992 for various commodities and governmental services (Attachment D). He also described the Division of Wildlife's Cash Fund Balances and Reserves since Fiscal Year (FY) 1996-97 and estimated such balances through FY 2008-09 (Attachment E).

The following persons testified on the bill:

02:53 PM -- Bruce McCloskey, Director of the Division of Wildlife (DOW), described the objectives of the SAG that proposed the bill's fee increases and responded to questions regarding use of the new revenues for real property acquisition and other purposes. He also described changes in the Wildlife Cash Fund balance since FY1990-91 (Attachment F).

03:07 PM

Representative Hoppe described the provisions of Amendment L 001 concerning the use for the new revenue raised from the wildlife habitat stamp and the process for allocating it (Attachment G).

03:17 PM -- David Gill, Colorado State Shooting Association, spoke in opposition to the bill (Attachment H).

03:26 PM -- Steve Schreiner, Firearms Coalition of Colorado, commented on the bill.

03:27 PM -- Ed Robinson, representing himself, spoke in opposition to the bill and identified DOW programs that do not generate revenue such as protection of threatened and endangered species.

03:37 PM -- Dennny Behrens, SAG Co-chair, spoke in support of the bill and described the process that developed the bill's recommendations. He also described the economic benefits provided to rural Colorado from hunting and fishing.

03:45 PM -- Ron Valarde, DOW and SAG Co-chair, described the SAG process including the DOW's role and responded to questions from the committee about the use of the additional revenue collected from the fee increases.

03:54 PM -- John W. Nelson, representing himself, spoke in opposition to the bill (Attachment I)
.
04:02 PM -- David Dearstyne, Colorado Resident Hunters Equality Task Force, spoke in opposition to the bill and expressed concern about the allocation of hunting licenses to residents and nonresidents. He also submitted a petition from resident hunters expressing concern about the allocation of hunting licenses to residents (Attachment J).

04:08 PM -- Brad Phelps, Commissioner of Wildlife, responded to comments about the allocation of hunting licenses to residents and nonresidents. He also spoke in support of the bill and described declines in the number of hunters in Colorado and the loss of wildlife habitat due to residential development.

04:25 PM -- Michael Graves, representing himself, spoke in opposition to the bill and expressed concern about spending by the DOW and the SAG process.

04:33 PM -- Gary Graham, Audubon Colorado, spoke in support of the bill and cost increases for habitat management.

04:37 PM -- Suzanne O'Neil, Colorado Wildlife Federation, spoke in support of the bill and expressed concern about declines in the balance of the Wildlife Cash Fund.

04:40 PM -- Paul Navare, Colorado Bowhunters Association, spoke in support of the bill (Attachment K).

04:44 PM -- Vera Smith, Colorado Mountain Club, spoke in support of the habitat stamp and described the economic benefits provided by non-consumptive wildlife activities such as bird watching.

04:48 PM -- Alan Reishus, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill.

04:53 PM -- Dick Ray, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill and described the loss of wildlife habitat in Colorado due to residential growth. He also compared New Mexico's wildlife fees with those proposed in HB05-1266.

04:56 PM -- Tom Long, Summit County Commissioner, spoke in support of the bill.

04:57 PM -- Kurt Shultz, Colorado Outfitters Association, spoke in support of the bill and described the loss of wildlife habitat in Colorado. He also described the economic benefits provided by nonresident anglers and hunters.

05:00 PM -- Dean Derby, Colorado Traditional Archers Association, spoke in support of the bill.

05:01 PM -- Joe Gerrans, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill.

05:03 PM -- Phil James, Colorado Wildlife Commission, spoke in support of the bill and described the DOW's five-year strategic plan.

05:04 PM -- Dan Williams, Colorado Cattlemen's Association, spoke in support of Amendment L. 001.

05:07 PM -- Chris Crosby, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill and described the loss of wildlife habitat in Colorado.

05:09 PM -- Carry Doyl, Colorado Environmental Coalition, spoke in support of the wildlife habitat stamp and described the growing number of non-consumptive wildlife users in Colorado.

05:11 PM -- Eddie Kochman, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill and described non-consumptive users of state wildlife areas.

05:21 PM -- Bob Radocy, Colorado Wildlife Management Public Education Advisory Council, spoke in support of the bill and described the council's activities and revenue sources since it was created in 1998.

05:24 PM -- Lynn Ensley, Colorado Wildlife Management Public Education Advisory Council, spoke in support of the bill.

05:27 PM -- David Nikum, Colorado Trout Unlimited, spoke in support of the bill and described the loss of aquatic wildlife habitat and public access to fishing resources.

05:29 PM -- Russell George, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, spoke in support of the bill. He also described the statutes that establish certain wildlife fees and proposed a change to the bill's fiscal note (Attachment L).

05:38 PM

Testimony was closed.


BILL:	HB05-1266
TIME:	05:38:27 PM
MOVED:	Hoppe
MOTION:	Moved Amendment L.001. The motion was adopted without objection.
SECONDED:	Penry
		VOTE
	Brophy
	Gallegos
	Harvey
	Hodge
	Hoppe
	McFadyen
	Penry
	Rose	Excused
	Solano
	McKinley
	Curry
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

05:42 PM

Representative Gallegos suggested, but did not move, an amendment to phase in the fee increase over three years.


BILL:	HB05-1266
TIME:	05:46:25 PM
MOVED:	Hoppe
MOTION:	Move HB05-1266 to the Committee of the Whole, as amended. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 7-3.
SECONDED:	Hodge
		VOTE
	Brophy	No
	Gallegos	No
	Harvey	No
	Hodge	Yes
	Hoppe	Yes
	McFadyen	Yes
	Penry	Yes
	Rose	Excused
	Solano	Yes
	McKinley	Yes
	Curry	Yes
Final YES: 7 NO: 3 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS