House Committee on Agriculture, Livestock, & Natural Resources (03/31/2009)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, LIVESTOCK, & NATURAL RESOURCES

Date:	03/31/2009	ATTENDANCE

Time:	11:59 AM to 01:57 PM	Gardner C.	E
		Hullinghorst	E
Place:	HCR 0107	Labuda	X
		Looper	E
This Meeting was called to order by		McKinley	X
	Representative Curry	McNulty	X
		Pace	X
This Report was prepared by		Solano	X
	Lauren Ris	Sonnenberg	X
		Tipton	X
		Vigil	X
		Fischer	X
		Curry	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB09-1320 SB09-174		Amended, Referred to Appropriations Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only

12:00 PM -- House Bill 09-1320

Representative Marostica, prime sponsor, presented HB 09-1320 concerning an increase in fees paid for certain dairy licenses. He distributed a factsheet (Attachment A). The bill, recommended by the Joint Budget Committee, increases license fees for people who sample or test dairy products from $3 to $50 per year. It also increases the annual permit fee to operate a dairy plant from $10 up to $1,600, based on the daily amount of production. Representative Marostica described Amendment L.001 (Attachment B). Representative Marostica answered questions from the committee.

The following individuals testified:

12:08 PM -- Jeff Lawrence, Division Director for Consumer Protection in the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, testified in favor of the bill. He described how fees are allocated to the Dairy Fund. Mr. Lawrence also discussed how consumer protection activities are funded and answered questions from the committee.

12:12 PM -- Brock Herzberg, representing Dairy Farmers of America, testified in support of the bill. He discussed other stakeholder groups involved in negotiations surrounding the bill. The committee discussed the expenditures in the fiscal note and which fund the increased expenditures would go to.

12:18 PM

Kate Meyer, Office of Legislative Legal Services, explained Amendment L.001.


BILL:	HB09-1320
TIME:	12:23:52 PM
MOVED:	Labuda
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.001 (Attachment B ). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Fischer
		VOTE
	Gardner C.	Excused
	Hullinghorst	Excused
	Labuda
	Looper
	McKinley
	McNulty
	Pace
	Solano
	Sonnenberg
	Tipton
	Vigil
	Fischer
	Curry

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 3 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB09-1320
TIME:	12:24:22 PM
MOVED:	Labuda
MOTION:	Moved to refer House Bill 09-1320, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on an 8-2 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Vigil
		VOTE
	Gardner C.	Excused
	Hullinghorst	Excused
	Labuda	Yes
	Looper	Yes
	McKinley	No
	McNulty	Excused
	Pace	Yes
	Solano	Yes
	Sonnenberg	No
	Tipton	Yes
	Vigil	Yes
	Fischer	Yes
	Curry	Yes

Final YES: 8 NO: 2 EXC: 3 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

12:26 PM -- Senate Bill 09-174

The committee took up SB 09-174 concerning pari-mutuel racing. The committee heard testimony on the bill on Wednesday, March 24.

Representative Casso, prime sponsor, provided a brief introduction to the bill.

The following individuals testified on the bill:

12:28 PM -- Peggy Brumage, a greyhound breeder, testified against the bill. She discussed purse money and how the greyhound racing industry would be affected by the purse structure and discussed HB 09-1199. She responded to questions from the committee about the reason for the decline in the racing industry.

12:45 PM -- Melvin Johnson, representing himself as a greyhound breeder, discussed his history with greyhound racing. He also expressed concern that the issues in the bill were not addressed through the Racing Commission.

12:51 PM -- Dick Figurilli, representing the National Greyhound Association, testified against the bill. He discussed the mission statement of the National Greyhound Association and provided a handout with his testimony and news articles (Attachment C).

12:57 PM -- Gary Bryan, representing the Colorado Greyhound Kennel Association, testified against the bill. He discussed potential amendments to the bill and explained the reasons for the decline in the racing industry. Mr. Bryan also expressed concern that the association was not consulted about this bill.

01:03 PM -- David Lynn Hoffman, chair of the Colorado Racing Commission and a business professor at Metro State College, spoke in favor of the bill and explained the composition of the commission. Mr. Hoffman stated that if bill does not pass that the industry will not survive in Colorado. He discussed some of the business principles as stake. He responded to questions from the committee.

01:15 PM -- Eric Morgan, Executive Director of the Colorado Greyhound Kennel Association, spoke in opposition to the bill. He discussed how the bill takes away any incentives for racing tracks to have live greyhound racing. He indicated his support for Amendment L.009, which had not yet been officially offered.

01:25 PM -- Mark McGregor, representing the Colorado Horse Racing Association, spoke in favor of the bill and provided a handout that included news articles and letters in support of the bill (Attachment D).

01:45 PM -- William Alexander, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill and provided a handout about how the bill would increase state tax revenue and Colorado jobs (Attachment E). Mr. Alexander discussed declining racing trends across the country.

01:51 PM -- Shannon Rushton, representing the Colorado Horse Racing Association, spoke in favor of the bill and discussed his experience in the racing industry. Mr. Rushton also discussed the purse money structure.

01:56 PM -- Carl Brumage, representing the greyhound racing industry, discussed his history in the racing industry.

01:57 PM

Representative Curry closed the testimony phase of the hearing and indicated that the bill would be taken up for action only on April 1 at 1:30 PM.

01:57 PM

The committee adjourned.