House Committee on Finance (02/03/2009)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

Date:	02/03/2009	ATTENDANCE

Time:	10:37 AM to 11:22 AM	Apuan	X
		Benefield	X
Place:	LSB A	Gerou	X
		Kefalas	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Kerr A.	X
	Representative Judd	Lambert	X
		Roberts	X
This Report was prepared by		Summers	X
	Ron Kirk	Swalm	X
		Frangas	*
		Judd	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB09-1003 HB09-1038 HB09-1067		Postponed Indefinitely Postponed Indefinitely Amended, Referred to Appropriations

10:37 AM -- House Bill 09-1003 - Concerning A Sales and Use Tax Exemption for Certain Vehicles

Representative C. Gardner, prime sponsor, explained the provisions of the bill. He continued by saying given the fiscal impact, the committee should postpone the bill indefinitely.

10:40 AM

The bill was placed on the table for action and no amendments were offered.


BILL:	HB09-1003
TIME:	10:41:42 AM
MOVED:	Lambert
MOTION:	Moved to postpone House Bill 09-1003 indefinitely. The motion passed on a 10-0 vote.
SECONDED:	Kerr A.
		VOTE
	Apuan	Yes
	Benefield	Yes
	Gerou	Yes
	Kefalas	Yes
	Kerr A.	Yes
	Lambert	Yes
	Roberts	Yes
	Summers	Yes
	Swalm	Yes
	Frangas	Excused
	Judd	Yes

Final YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

10:41 AM -- House Bill 09-1038 - Concerning Oil Shale Taxation

Representative Judd, noted that House Bill 09-1038 was sponsored initially by Representative Lundberg when he was in the House; now he is a member of the Senate. Representative Judd commented that Senator Lundberg may choose to bring a similar bill to the Senate and asked that House Bill 09-1038 be postponed indefinitely.

10:42 AM

The bill was placed on the table for action and no amendments were offered.


BILL:	HB09-1038
TIME:	10:42:54 AM
MOVED:	Judd
MOTION:	Moved to postpone House Bill 09-1038 indefinitely. The motion passed on a 10-0 vote.
SECONDED:	Benefield
		VOTE
	Apuan	Yes
	Benefield	Yes
	Gerou	Yes
	Kefalas	Yes
	Kerr A.	Yes
	Lambert	Yes
	Roberts	Yes
	Summers	Yes
	Swalm	Yes
	Frangas	Excused
	Judd	Yes

Final YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

10:43 AM -- House Bill 09-1067 - Concerning Donations of Water Rights for Taxation Purposes

Representative Pommer, prime sponsor, explained the provisions of the bill and discussed amendment L.001 (Attachment A). Representative Pommer began by saying the bill establishes an instream flow incentive state income tax credit. The bill specifies that the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) will approve the credits by issuing certificates to water rights owners who permanently transfer water rights to the CWCB. The bill establishes a credit equal to one-half of the value of the donated water right, as determined by a qualified appraisal, with a maximum value of $250,000. The total amount of credits allowed on an annual basis is limited to $2,000,000.

The committee discussed the CWCB's program that has been in place and its performance in terms of past year donations. Representative Pommer continued to discuss the credit saying that amendment L.001 makes the credit refundable and eliminates the transferability provisions in the introduced version of the bill. The bill also specifies that the credit will not be allowed in a particular income tax year if Legislative Council's revenue forecast projects General Fund revenue will not be sufficient to maintain the 6% limit on the annual growth in General Fund appropriations. The bill also provides the Department of Revenue with rulemaking authority to administer the tax credit.

The committee continued the discussion on the refundable provisions in amendment L.001. At this time, some questions were generated and the Chairmen opened the hearing to testimony to address some of the concerns.

The following persons testified:

11:02 AM -- Ms. Linda Bassi, Colorado Water Conservation Board and the Department of Natural Resources, testified in support of the legislation. Ms. Bassi gave the committee a brief overview of the board's water right's donation program and the board's process for evaluating donations. Ms. Bassi closed by saying that water rights donations are very valuable to the state and responded to committee questions.

The committee discussed the administration of the credits through the Department of Revenue.

11:16 AM -- Mr. Phillip Horwitz, Department of Revenue, responded to committee questions and discussed the administration of the credits in the legislation.

11:17 AM

The bill was placed on the table for action and amendment L.001 was offered. At this time Representative Pommer distributed a copy of the Healthy Rivers, Healthy Economy Study by Environmental Defense (Attachment B) and asked that copies be made available for the committee.


BILL:	HB09-1067
TIME:	11:18:17 AM
MOVED:	Benefield
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.001. The motion passed without objection by those members present.
SECONDED:	Kefalas
		VOTE
	Apuan
	Benefield
	Gerou
	Kefalas
	Kerr A.
	Lambert
	Roberts
	Summers
	Swalm
	Frangas
	Judd

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


BILL:	HB09-1067
TIME:	11:20:09 AM
MOVED:	Benefield
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 09-1067, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a 9-2 vote.
SECONDED:	Summers
		VOTE
	Apuan	Yes
	Benefield	Yes
	Gerou	Yes
	Kefalas	Yes
	Kerr A.	Yes
	Lambert	No
	Roberts	Yes
	Summers	Yes
	Swalm	No
	Frangas	Yes
	Judd	Yes

Final YES: 9 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

11:22 AM

Adjourn.