Bill Summary for Bill Number SB09-016

Date: 03/11/2009

Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB09-016

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, LIVESTOCK, & NATURAL RESOURCES

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Moved a conceptual amendment to strike lines 9-14 Moved amendment L.004 (Attachment A). Duane Gall,	TIE Pass Without Objection

10:12 AM -- Senate Bill 09-016

Representatives King and Scanlan, prime sponsors, presented Senate Bill 09-016 concerning measures to encourage the restoration of forest areas affected by bark beetle infestation. The bill was approved by the Interim Committee on Wildfire issues in Wild Land-Urban Interface Areas, and provides a five-year property tax exemption for business personal property used to harvest, transport, process, or market timber killed by bark beetles. The applicant must meet several criteria to qualify for the tax exemption. The bill also establishes the continuously appropriated Bark-beetle Mitigation Revolving Fund for a new revolving loan program. The bill also requires the state forester to identify areas in Colorado where the bark beetle infestation has resulted in imminent fire danger.

10:25 AM

The committee discussed the revised fiscal note. The committee also discussed language in the bill on page 3, lines 9-14, added by the Senate about the responsibilities of taxpayers in restoration efforts.

10:28 AM

The committee continued to ask questions of the bill sponsors about how the funding would be routed and whether businesses need to be incentivized to use bark beetle timber.

10:35 AM

The committee discussed the reporting requirements in the bill and whether there ought to be a requirement to provide a report to the General Assembly in addition to the Governor, or whether this information ought to be included in the annual State Forester's report.

The following individual testified:

10:39 AM -- Joe Duda, Colorado State Forest Service, spoke in favor of the bill. He discussed the impact of the pine beetle and the rise of the spruce beetle. He also described some of the costs involved in conducting forest management activities. He suggested a change on page 3 line 5 should include "affected timber" in addition to beetle-killed timber. Mr. Duda answered questions from the committee.

10:49 AM

Mr. Duda continued to answer questions from the committee about forest management projects and how they relate to stewardship plans.

10:54 AM

Representatives King and Scanlan answered questions from the committee about the scope of the fiscal impact. The committee discussed difficulties that entrepreneurs have who whish to utilize beetle kill timber. The committee also discussed whether the repeal date in the bill allows a sufficient amount of time to accomplish the goals of the bill.

11:03 AM -- Andre Roy, Mill Creek Enterprises, spoke in favor of the bill. He described how he has made use of beetle-affected trees by turning the timber into fertilizer. He discussed the amount of money consumers spend on forest products. Mr. Roy described the location of his property and how tax cuts have incentivized his business.

11:11 AM -- Alexis Wheeler, New Era Colorado, spoke in favor of the bill. She talked about some of her experiences in becoming aware of beetle killed trees. She also discussed threats that dead trees pose to infrastructure.


BILL:	SB09-016
TIME:	11:16:03 AM
MOVED:	Curry
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.004 (Attachment A). Duane Gall, Office of Legislative Legal Services, explained the amendment. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Fischer
		VOTE
	Gardner C.
	Hullinghorst
	Labuda
	Looper
	McKinley
	McNulty
	Pace	Excused
	Solano
	Sonnenberg
	Tipton
	Vigil
	Fischer
	Curry

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	SB09-016
TIME:	11:21:00 AM
MOVED:	McNulty
MOTION:	Moved a conceptual amendment to strike lines 9-14 on page 3. The amendment was withdrawn.
SECONDED:	Hullinghorst
		VOTE
	Gardner C.
	Hullinghorst
	Labuda
	Looper
	McKinley
	McNulty
	Pace
	Solano
	Sonnenberg
	Tipton
	Vigil
	Fischer
	Curry

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

SB 09-016 was laid over until 1:30 PM where it will be the second bill on the calendar.