Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

SENATE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

Date:03/07/2006
ATTENDANCE
Time:02:05 PM to 04:21 PM
Brophy
X
Shaffer
*
Place:SCR 354
Taylor
X
Teck
X
This Meeting was called to order by
Tupa
*
Senator Sandoval
Veiga
X
Sandoval
X
This Report was prepared by
Jason Schrock
X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call
Bills Addressed: Action Taken:
Conf 06-Lottery Commission
HB06-1105
HB06-1095
HB06-1074		Referred to the Senate
Amended, Referred to Appropriations
Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole
Referred to the Committee of the Whole


02:06 PM -- Confirmation for the Lottery Commission

Senator Sandoval, chair, called the meeting to order. Mr. Henry Reeve, appointee to the Lottery Commission, discussed his qualifications and desire to serve on the Commission. (A copy of the Governor's appointment letter and resume for Mr. Reeve is provided as Attachment A). He indicated that the proceeds from the lottery are primarily used for Great Outdoors Colorado and for the state's parks to help preserve the state's scenery and recreational opportunities. He also stated that the Lottery Commission has no oversight over how these organizations distribute their revenue. Senator Shaffer inquired about shifting the lottery money for other purposes, such as K-12 education.
BILL:Conf 06-Lottery Commission
TIME: 02:14:04 PM
MOVED:Veiga
MOTION:Motion to refer the name of Mr. Reeve to the floor of the Senate with favorable recommendation. The motion passed on a 7 - 0 vote.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Brophy
Yes
Shaffer
Yes
Taylor
Yes
Teck
Yes
Tupa
Yes
Veiga
Yes
Sandoval
Yes
Final YES: 7 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:14 PM -- House Bill 06-1105

Senator Tapia, prime sponsor, explained that HB 06-1105, which re-establishes the pilot program initially created through House Bill 05-1046 that allowed for gifts, grants, and donations to be accepted by Legislative Council Staff in order to pursue the possibility of creating a dynamic model for analyzing tax policy changes, was similar to the other dynamic modeling bill, SB 06-048, which is in the Senate Appropriations Committee. He discussed why there were two bills and how Amendment L.001 (Attachment B) would make the two bills identical. The committee discussed the fact that there were two identical bills and how the General Assembly should pass only one.

The following person testified:

02:24 PM -- Mr. Preston Gibson, Jefferson Economic Council, testified in favor of the bill. He stated that a dynamic model would allow for a more fair and thorough analysis of tax policy changes. He continued by discussing the need to help retain and lure companies to Colorado. He indicated that many economic development organizations use economic development modeling software currently, but that a state model would be much more complicated. Some consulting firms develop state models.
BILL:HB06-1105
TIME: 02:27:13 PM
MOVED:Veiga
MOTION:Motion to adopt L.001 (Attachment B). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Brophy
Shaffer
Taylor
Teck
Tupa
Veiga
Sandoval
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection
BILL:HB06-1105
TIME: 02:27:35 PM
MOVED:Veiga
MOTION:Motion to refer HB 06-1105, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a 7 - 0 vote.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Brophy
Yes
Shaffer
Yes
Taylor
Yes
Teck
Yes
Tupa
Yes
Veiga
Yes
Sandoval
Yes
Final YES: 7 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS



02:29 PM -- House Bill 06-1095

Senator Hanna explained the provisions of HB 06-1095, a bill recommended by the Interim Committee to Study the State Procurement Process, which requires that state governmental bodies, when purchasing supplies or services, award contracts to bidders that offer "environmentally preferable products" (EPPs), subject to certain conditions. She discussed the benefits of EPPs.

The committee discussed the provision regarding the state's ability to purchase products above the five percent cap over the price of non-EPPs.

The following people testified on the bill:

02:39 PM -- Mr. Tom McGimpsay, McData Corporation, spoke in opposition to the bill. Although he agreed in principle with the bill, he expressed concern with the definition of EPPs in the bill and that the bill would be difficult to comply with. He stated that the bill could cause delays and extra costs in the state's procurement process. Mr. McGimpsay thought that the bill with L.003 (Attachment D) would still be difficult to comply with.

02:51 PM -- Ms. Jessica Wright, AeA, a computer technology trade association, spoke in opposition to the bill. Although AeA supports the bill in principle, the bill as written would be difficult to comply with and is too vague.

02:55 PM -- Ms. Peggi O'Keefe, Hewlett Packard, discussed her concern with subsection 4 of the bill which refers to a governmental body that certifies whether products are EPPs. She indicated that such an entity does not exist currently.

02:57 PM -- Ms. Marjorie Griek, Colorado Association for Recycling, spoke in favor of the bill and distributed an executive order from Governor Owens directing a council to develop policies to help increase the purchase of EPPs by the state government (Attachment C). She stated that the bill would help the recycling industry. She indicated that the council established in the Governor's executive order is still developing the plan mentioned in the order to increase the purchase of EPPs.

The committee again discussed the provision regarding the state's ability to purchase products above the five percent cap over the price of non-EPPs.

03:10 PM -- Mr. Jack Debell, University of Colorado recycling program, spoke in favor of the bill. He discussed the federal program requiring the purchase of EPPs which has resulted in a list of acceptable EPPs. He discussed how there are environmental standards for computer and electronic products, such as the energy star rating which indicates that a product will save electricity. He indicated that some EPPs are less expensive than non-EPPs but that others are more expensive. He indicated that some products that are more expensive can reduce employee sick days and increase productivity so the extra costs can be justified.

The committee discussed whether the bill allows for the purchase of EPPs that cost more than five percent of non-EPPS as long as a life-cycle analysis is conducted which shows that the product will be less costly in the long run.

03:19 PM -- Mr. McGimpsay came back to the table and indicated that he was not aware of any IT equipment that have recognized environmentally friendly ratings.







Mr. Debell responded that there are federal agencies that must purchase environmentally-friendly rated equipment and that there is a recognized environmental standard for computer and electronic equipment. The committee discussed environmentally friendly rated computer and electronic equipment, including whether servers and other IT hardware can be rated environmentally friendly. Mr. Debell indicated that CU requires all of its IT equipment to be energy star rated.

03:26 PM -- Mr. Bob Lackner, Office of Legislative Legal Services, discussed the provisions of the bill. He stated that EPPs can be purchased by the state if they are over five percent of the lowest bid if a life-cycle analysis shows that the products can result in long term savings.

03:28 PM -- Ms. Ann Marie Jensen, Colorado Association for Recycling, clarified the provisions of the bill regarding when a state agency would be permitted to purchase EPPs. She discussed amendment L.003 which would tighten up the criteria for the purchase of EPPs and make the bill easier to comply with. She highlighted the provision of L.003 that states that the law would not apply if there are is not a list of acceptable EPPs for certain products.


03:38 PM

The committee discussed the five percent cap provision and thought that bill may need to be worked on further for clarification.
BILL:HB06-1095
TIME: 03:40:24 PM
MOVED:Teck
MOTION:Motion to adopt L.003 (Attachment D). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Brophy
Shaffer
Taylor
Teck
Tupa
Veiga
Sandoval
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection
BILL:HB06-1095
TIME: 03:41:52 PM
MOVED:Shaffer
MOTION:Motion to adopt L.004 (Attachment E). The motion was withdrawn.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Brophy
Shaffer
Taylor
Teck
Tupa
Veiga
Sandoval
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: TIE
BILL:HB06-1095
TIME: 03:44:18 PM
MOVED:Veiga
MOTION:Motion to adopt L.006 (Attachment F). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Brophy
Shaffer
Taylor
Teck
Tupa
Veiga
Sandoval
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection
BILL:HB06-1095
TIME: 03:48:56 PM
MOVED:Brophy
MOTION:Motion to adopt severed section 1 of L.007 (lines 1 and 2) (Attachment G). The motion failed on a 7 - 0 vote.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Brophy
No
Shaffer
No
Taylor
No
Teck
No
Tupa
No
Veiga
No
Sandoval
No
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 7 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL
BILL:HB06-1095
TIME: 03:49:23 PM
MOVED:Brophy
MOTION:Motion to adopt severed section 2 of L.003 (line 3) (Attachment G). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Brophy
Shaffer
Taylor
Teck
Tupa
Veiga
Sandoval
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection
BILL:HB06-1095
TIME: 03:49:45 PM
MOVED:Shaffer
MOTION:Motion to refer HB 06-1095, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a 5 - 2 vote.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Brophy
No
Shaffer
Yes
Taylor
Yes
Teck
No
Tupa
Yes
Veiga
Yes
Sandoval
Yes
Final YES: 5 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


03:53 PM -- House Bill 06-1074

Senator Johnson, prime sponsor, explained the provisions of HB 06-1074 which concerns the waste tire recycling development fee. He discussed the provisions of the bill and how the fee revenue money is used. A flowchart showing how the $1 waste tire fee is allocated was distributed to the committee (Attachment H). He commented on the problem of illegal waste tire piles in the state and provided information on how money in the Advanced Technology Fund is used by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. Currently, 80 percent is used for technology and biotechnology research, while the other 20 percent is used for waste tire recycling technology research. Senator Brophy discussed how some individuals decline to pay the $1 recycling fee and then dispense of the tires on their own illegally.






The following persons testified on the bill:

03:59 PM -- Ms. Corny Snyder, JaiTire Industries, spoke in favor of the bill. She discussed the background on the waste tire recycling fee and how the surcharge helps the waste tire recycling industry. She indicated that this year close to 100 percent of waste tires will be diverted from landfills to be recycled. She explained that the extra surcharge is needed for a longer period in order to help pay for the capital costs of her company to stay in business. She also discussed the process of the recycling of waste tires and how the recycled material can be used. She thought that the subsidy from the surcharge would be needed for an additional three to five years and that about 25 to 30 percent of her company's revenue comes from grants from the state.

04:11 PM -- Ms. Marjorie Griek, Colorado Association for Recycling, spoke in favor of bill. She also discussed the background of the waste tire fee and how revenue from the fee is used to clean up tire illegal piles, support the tire recycling industry, clean up illegal tire piles, help processors and end users of waste tires, help local governments purchase recycled products, and support waste tire recycling research. She provided examples of how the 25 cent surcharge of the total $1 waste tire fee is beneficial. She also discussed the problem of illegal tire piles in the state and how the $1 fee provides funding to help local governments clean up the piles. She indicated that HB06-1074 would shift back 100 percent of the money used by CCHE for recycling research, rather than 80 percent for biotechnology research.

04:16 PM -- Mr. Jack Debell, University of Colorado Recycling, spoke in favor of bill. He discussed the research benefits of the portion of the revenue used for recycling research.
BILL:HB06-1074
TIME: 04:20:26 PM
MOVED:Teck
MOTION:Motion to refer HB 06-1074 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a 5 - 1 vote.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Brophy
No
Shaffer
Yes
Taylor
Excused
Teck
Yes
Tupa
Yes
Veiga
Yes
Sandoval
Yes
Final YES: 5 NO: 1 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


04:21 PM

The committee recessed.