Senate Committee on Local Government and Energy (02/05/2009)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND ENERGY

Date:	02/05/2009	ATTENDANCE

Time:	10:04 AM to 12:36 PM	Cadman	X
		Hodge	X
Place:	SCR 353	Kester	X
		Lundberg	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Newell	X
	Senator Schwartz	Foster	X
		Schwartz	X
This Report was prepared by
	Kori Donaldson
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
SB09-104 Briefing by Governor's Energy Office SB09-018 SB09-031		Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only Amended, Referred to Appropriations Amended, Referred to Appropriations

10:04 AM -- Senate Bill 09-104

The committee was called to order. A quorum was present. Senator Paula Sandoval, prime sponsor, presented Senate Bill 09-104, which requires county human service agencies to provide a birth certificate and Social Security card to youth in foster care before they leave foster care at age 18. According to the bill, the costs of providing these documents is to be paid by the counties, not the youth in foster care receiving the documents. Senator Sandoval made introductory remarks about the bill and distributed and spoke to amendments L.001 and L.002 (Attachments A and B, respectively). Senator Sandoval explained that Amendment L.001 strikes everything below the bill's enacting clause.

The following people testified on the bill:

10:08 AM -- Ms. Kippi Clausen, representing Bridging the Gap, Mile High United Way, spoke in support of the bill. Committee members received a packet of information about youth in foster care, prepared by Mile High United Way (Attachment C). Ms. Clausen said the lack of identification documents is the top issue facing young people in the state leaving foster care.

10:11 AM -- Ms. Codie Stichter, also representing Bridging the Gap, Mile High United Way, spoke in support of the bill. Ms. Stichter described the need for identification documents for youth leaving foster care at no cost to the youth.
10:13 AM -- Ms. Diane Julio, representing Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Children, spoke in support of the bill. Committee members received a short description of Ms. Julio's experience in helping a youth in foster care obtain identification documents, prepared by CASA (Attachment D). Ms. Julio addressed a question about why youth in foster care should wait until they are released from foster care to get viable identification documents. Discussion ensued. Ms. Julio also explained that some youth in foster care may have identification documents, but these documents are damaged and thus no longer viable.

10:19 AM -- Ms. Natalia Asher, also representing Bridging the Gap, Mile High United Way, spoke in support of the bill. Ms. Asher shared her personal experiences with needing viable identification documents.

10:21 AM -- Dr. Skip Barber, representing the Colorado Association of Family and Children's Agencies, spoke in support of the bill. Dr. Barber said his agency is working to begin the process of obtaining viable identification documents for foster care youth six months before a youth's planned emancipation.


BILL:	SB09-104
TIME:	10:25:07 AM
MOVED:	Foster
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 09-104, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed on a vote of 6-0-1.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
	Kester	Yes
	Lundberg	Yes
	Newell	Excused
	Foster	Yes
	Schwartz	Yes

Final YES: 6 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	SB09-104
TIME:	10:28:48 AM
MOVED:	Hodge
MOTION:	Adopt Amendment L.002 (Attachment B). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman
	Hodge
	Kester
	Lundberg
	Newell
	Foster
	Schwartz

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

Prior to the vote, Senator Sandoval briefly explained and addressed questions about Amendment L.002.


BILL:	SB09-104
TIME:	10:25:19 AM
MOVED:	Hodge
MOTION:	Adopt Amendment L.001 (Attachment A). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman
	Hodge
	Kester
	Lundberg
	Newell
	Foster
	Schwartz

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

Prior to the vote, Senator Sandoval explained the intent of L.001. Senator Sandoval addressed questions about the bill's fiscal impact.

10:31 AM -- Briefing by Governor's Energy Office

Mr. Tom Plant, Director, Governor's Energy Office, briefed the committee about the charge and activities of his office. Committee members received a summary of his presentation (Attachment E). Mr. Plant addressed a question about the Senate Bill 07-091 report, which established a task force to identify renewable resource generation areas in Colorado that have the potential to support the development of renewable energy. Mr. Plant spoke about the state's energy capacity and walked the committee through Attachment E.

10:42 AM

Mr. Plant continued to walk the committee through Attachment E and addressed questions about energy costs, Energy Star high-efficiency homes, and existing rebates for home modifications that increase energy efficiency.

10:51 AM

Mr. Plant answered questions about the use of nuclear energy in the state and the source and amount of funding for the operation of the Governor's Energy Office. Mr. Plant continued to address questions about funding for the Governor's Energy Office and noted the use of federal match dollars for different energy-related programs in the state. Senator Schwartz briefly explained the intent and effect of Senate Bill 07-091.

11:05 AM -- Senate Bill 09-018

Senator Mike Kopp, co-prime sponsor, presented Senate Bill 09-018, which requires the Colorado State Forest Service to develop and implement a grant program for the purpose of mitigating wildfires. Senator Schwartz distributed Amendment L.001 (Attachment F). Senator Kopp made introductory remarks about the bill and spoke to Amendment L.002 (Attachment G), which reduces the fiscal impact of the bill. Senator Kopp addressed a question about forest health in Colorado.

The following people testified on the bill:

11:16 AM -- Mr. Rich Homann, representing the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS), spoke in support of the bill. Mr. Homann gave an overview of the bill and explained the need for wildfire mitigation in Colorado's forests. He told the committee the CSFS is currently using all resources available for mitigation and that if the bill were enacted, the CSFS would need additional resources in order to perform any additional mitigation. In response to a question, Mr. Homann told the committee that the CSFS is in the process of completing a state forest inventory.

11:23 AM -- Chief Chris Riley, representing the Colorado State Fire Chiefs, spoke in support of the bill. Committee members received a list of reasons the Colorado State Fire Chiefs support the bill (Attachment H). Chief Riley said the bill is about being proactive and preventing a catastrophic forest fire event in Colorado. In response to a question, Chief Riley said that fire fighting resources are extremely limited in many states, including Colorado. Discussion ensued.

11:31 AM -- Chief Jeff Berino, representing the Summit County Wildfire Council, spoke in support of the bill. Chief Berino said that Summit County has recognized the direct benefits of matching grants to mitigate wildfire risk in the community. He explained that the bill is meant, in part, to create defensible space around homes.

11:36 AM -- Mr. Gary Severson, representing the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments and the Colorado Bark Beetle Cooperative, spoke in support of the bill. Mr. Severson said that there are many communities at risk of forest fire in northwestern Colorado. He said that he is supportive of a 40 percent match from local governments for mitigation grants. Mr. Severson asked for clarification about the language of the bill and answered questions about the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments.

11:43 AM -- Ms. Kelly Causey and Mr. David Beutolatus , representing Mile High Youth Corps, spoke in support of the bill. Mr. Beutolatus talked about some of his experiences with the Mile High Youth Corps.

03:10 PM

Senator Kopp spoke to Amendment L.001.


BILL:	SB09-018
TIME:	11:49:56 AM
MOVED:	Hodge
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 09-018, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed on a vote of 7-0.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
	Kester	Yes
	Lundberg	Yes
	Newell	Yes
	Foster	Yes
	Schwartz	Yes

Final YES: 7 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

Prior to the vote, Senator Gibbs, co-prime sponsor, made concluding remarks about the bill and showed the committee a map detailing the Colorado mountain pine beetle epidemic from 1996 to 2007. Senator Kopp also made some concluding remarks about the bill.


BILL:	SB09-018
TIME:	11:57:55 AM
MOVED:	Newell
MOTION:	Adopt a conceptual amendment to include building code and land use recommendations to further mitigate the risk of wildifires. After further discussion, Senator Newell withdrew her motion.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman
	Hodge
	Kester
	Lundberg
	Newell
	Foster
	Schwartz

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: TIE

Discussion ensued about the need for building code and land use recommendations to further mitigate the risk of wildfires. The bill sponsors said that there is a need for legislation addressing this concern, but the conceptual amendment does not fit under the title of the bill.

BILL:	SB09-018
TIME:	11:50:38 AM
MOVED:	Lundberg
MOTION:	Adopt a conceptual amendment to allow the Colorado State Forest Service to use up to 3 percent of the annual appropriation for high-risk communities wildfire mitigation grants for administrative costs. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman
	Hodge
	Kester
	Lundberg
	Newell
	Foster
	Schwartz

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

Prior to the vote, Senator Kopp explained the conceptual amendment.


BILL:	SB09-018
TIME:	11:50:39 AM
MOVED:	Hodge
MOTION:	Adopt Amendment L.002 (Attachment G). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman
	Hodge
	Kester
	Lundberg
	Newell
	Foster
	Schwartz

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

Prior to the vote, Senator Kopp spoke to Amendment L.002.


BILL:	SB09-018
TIME:	11:50:26 AM
MOVED:	Lundberg
MOTION:	Adopt Amendment L.001 (Attachment F). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman
	Hodge
	Kester
	Lundberg
	Newell
	Foster
	Schwartz

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

11:59 PM

The committee recessed.

12:00 PM -- Senate Bill 09-031

The committee came back to order. Senator Schwartz reminded the committee about testimony heard on Senate Bill 09-031 at the committee's February 3 meeting. Senator Heath made some introductory remarks about Amendment L.001 (Attachment I), which strikes everything below the bill's enacting clause, and explained that he is no longer offering an amendement to change the bill's funding source.

The following people testified on the bill:

12:05 PM -- Mr. David Hiller, representing the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, spoke in support of the bill. Mr. Hiller said three higher education institutions form the collaboratory, including the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, and the Colorado School of Mines. Mr. Hiller expressed his support for the use of an increase in the Waste Tire Recycling Development Fee to fund the grants authorized by the bill. Discussion ensued about the bill's fund source.

12:13 PM -- Mr. Tom Clark, representing the Denver Metro Area Chamber of Commerce, spoke in support of the bill. Mr. Clark said that his organization supports the bill if it uses an increase in the waste tire recycling fee as the fund source. He told the committee that venture capital dollars that are coming into the state are being spent on companies with new energy-related technologies. Mr. Clark also explained the cooperative efforts of the collaboratory.

12:18 PM -- Mr. Larry Hudson, representing the Rubber Manufacturers Assocation, spoke in opposition to the bill. Mr. Hudson expressed his concern about the fund source for the grants authorized by the bill and explained how the amount and allocation of the waste tire recycling fee has changed in recent years. He addressed a question about the number of tires that have been processed as part of the recycling program. Discussion ensued.


BILL:	SB09-031
TIME:	12:27:20 PM
MOVED:	Foster
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 09-031, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed on a vote of 4-3.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman	No
	Hodge	Yes
	Kester	No
	Lundberg	No
	Newell	Yes
	Foster	Yes
	Schwartz	Yes

Final YES: 4 NO: 3 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	SB09-031
TIME:	12:31:20 PM
MOVED:	Schwartz
MOTION:	Adopt a conceptual amendment directing the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory to use grant funds awarded by the bill in part for research into converting waste tires into clean technology. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman
	Hodge
	Kester
	Lundberg
	Newell
	Foster
	Schwartz

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

Prior to the vote, discussion ensued about the conceptual amendment.


BILL:	SB09-031
TIME:	12:27:39 PM
MOVED:	Foster
MOTION:	Adopt Amendment L.001 (Attachment I). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman
	Hodge
	Kester
	Lundberg
	Newell
	Foster
	Schwartz

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

Prior to the vote, Senator Heath briefly explained Amendment L.001.

12:36 PM

The committee adjourned.