Bill Summary for Bill Number SB06-096

Date: 01/26/2006

Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB06-096

SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NATURAL RESOURCES & ENERGY

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Moved a prepared amendment to the bill. L. 001 (At Moved to insert an appropriation of $3,250,000 fro Moved to the refer the bill to the Committee on Ap	Pass Without Objection Pass Without Objection PASS

01:58 PM -- Senate Bill 06-096

Senator Taylor, prime sponsor, said that fighting wildfires is expensive and that it is a certainty that the state will continue to see the need for funding to fight fires. The bill will expand the purposes for which the Wildfire Emergency Response Fund can be used to include costs associated with employing crews to fight a wildfire in the first two days of the fire. Senator Taylor said that specific funds should be set aside for preparedness activities.

02:03 PM -- Henry Sobanet, Director, Office of State Planning and Budgeting, commented on past funding of firefighting efforts. He said that federal funds have been dedicated to this purpose in the last few years, but that those funds will be exhausted by the end of this fire season. He said that hundreds of fires have been contained to relatively small areas as a result of past preparedness efforts. He noted that the annual cost of the program is approximately $3 million. He said that the program will allow the state to have tankers propositioned to fight fires. The bill let's the fires be confronted faster.

02:16 PM -- Kevin Klein, Executive Director, Colorado State Association of Fire Chiefs, stressed the importance of quick action in fighting fires.

02:20 PM -- William Nelson, Larimer County Sheriff's Department, reiterated the importance of having resources in place to fight fires.

02:22 PM -- Rich Holman, Colorado State Forest Service, said that wildfire preparedness is his responsibility. He noted the importance of quick access to aerial and ground resources in keeping fires smaller. He noted that Colorado keeps about 95% of its fires to under 100 acres in size. The amendment will allow counties to be reimbursed for the first two days of handcrew work. The availability of a single engine air tanker costs about $1,700 per day. Three of these are contracted during high fire danger times. He said that the state will have to increasingly rely on state-contracted resources in the future.

02:36 PM -- Mr. Klein commented on the "incident command" approach to fire-fighting.


BILL:	SB06-096
TIME:	02:39:16 PM
MOVED:	Taylor
MOTION:	Moved a prepared amendment to the bill. L. 001 (Attachment A.) The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Brophy
	Entz
	Groff
	Taylor
	Tochtrop
	Grossman
	Isgar
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	SB06-096
TIME:	02:41:11 PM
MOVED:	Taylor
MOTION:	Moved to insert an appropriation of $3,250,000 from the General Fund into the bill. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Brophy
	Entz
	Groff
	Taylor
	Tochtrop
	Grossman
	Isgar
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	SB06-096
TIME:	02:42:13 PM
MOVED:	Taylor
MOTION:	Moved to the refer the bill to the Committee on Appropriations, as amended. The motion passed 7-0.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Brophy	Yes
	Entz	Yes
	Groff	Yes
	Taylor	Yes
	Tochtrop	Yes
	Grossman	Yes
	Isgar	Yes
Final YES: 7 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	SB06-096
TIME:	02:39:16 PM
MOVED:	Taylor
MOTION:	Moved a prepared amendment to the bill. L. 001 (Attachment A). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Brophy
	Entz
	Groff
	Taylor
	Tochtrop
	Grossman
	Isgar
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection