Senate Committee on Local Government and Energy (02/26/2009)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND ENERGY

Date:	02/26/2009	ATTENDANCE

Time:	09:58 AM to 11:08 AM	Cadman	X
		Hodge	X
Place:	SCR 353	Kester	X
		Lundberg	*
This Meeting was called to order by		Newell	*
	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:
HB09-1162 HB09-1079 HB09-1148		Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Referred to the Committee of the Whole Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole

09:58 AM -- House Bill 09-1162

The committee was called to order. A quorum was present. Senator Mike Kopp, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 09-1162, which requires local governments that own land located inside the territorial boundaries of a county, which contains at least 50 percent forest or wild land area, to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the county. The purpose of the intergovernmental agreement is to mitigate forest land / wild land fires affecting the contiguous land areas of the local government and county. Senator Kopp made some introductory remarks about the bill. Senator Kopp distributed and spoke to amendments L.003 and L.004 (Attachments A and B, respectively). He then addressed questions from the committee. Discussion turned to requirements of intergovernmental agreements and the scope of various wildfire mitigation efforts.

The following person testified on the bill:

10:15 AM -- Commissioner Kathy Hartman, representing herself, spoke in support of the amendments. Commissioner Hartman said that without the amendments, the bill may require unnecessary intergovernmental agreements. She addressed questions from the committee. Discussion turned to counties impacted by the bill and whether the bill is supported by various municipal stakeholders.


BILL:	HB09-1162
TIME:	10:23:33 AM
MOVED:	Cadman
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 09-1162, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation. The motion carried on a vote of 6-1.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
	Kester	Yes
	Lundberg	Yes
	Newell	Yes
	Foster	No
	Schwartz	Yes

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

Prior to the vote, the committee discussed whether various municipal stakeholders may or may not support the bill.


BILL:	HB09-1162
TIME:	10:24:00 AM
MOVED:	Cadman
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L.004 (Attachment B). The motion carried on a vote of 6-1.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
	Kester	Yes
	Lundberg	Yes
	Newell	Yes
	Foster	No
	Schwartz	Yes

Not Final YES: 6 NO: 1 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	HB09-1162
TIME:	10:23:38 AM
MOVED:	Cadman
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L.003 (Attachment A). The motion carried on a vote of 6-1.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
	Kester	Yes
	Lundberg	Yes
	Newell	Yes
	Foster	No
	Schwartz	Yes

Not Final YES: 6 NO: 1 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

10:27 AM -- House Bill 09-1079

Senator Scott Renfroe, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 09-1079, which establishes procedures by which a city or group of cities may be annexed to an existing junior college district. Senator Renfroe made some introductory remarks about the bill. He explained that the reengrossed bill is specific to the potential annexation of the town of Berthoud to the Aims Community College district. Senator Renfroe addressed questions from the committee about the cost and impact of the bill on the local taxpayers and Aims Community College. Discussion turned to the eligibility of local junior colleges to use College Opportunity Funds.

The following people testified on the bill:

10:34 AM -- Dr. Marsi Liddell, representing Aims Community College (ACC), and Mr. Jim White, representing the Town of Berthoud, spoke in support of the bill. Committee members received a map of the ACC Service Area (Attachment C), a summary of the effect of House Bill 09-1079 (Attachment D), and a Greeley Tribune article, "The future looks bright for Aims," (Attachment E), all distributed by Dr. Liddell. In response to a question, Dr. Liddell said ACC's in-district cost is $55 per credit hour, the out-of-district cost is about $82 per credit hour, and the out-of-state cost is $350 per credit hour. Dr. Liddell addressed a question about the student population at ACC. She explained that if the bill passes new students from parts of Larimer County would be eligible for the in-district cost. Mr. White said the Town of Berthoud is very interested in the possibility of annexing to the ACC district. Mr. White told the committee about a survey conducted in Berthoud to gage the community's interest in annexing to the ACC district. Discussion ensued about the survey. Dr. Liddell addressed questions from the committee about future plans for ACC and potential future ballot language about the proposed annexation. Discussion turned to the various school districts and municipalities included in ACC taxing district.

10:53 AM

Senator Renfroe made some concluding remarks about the bill.


BILL:	HB09-1079
TIME:	10:55:36 AM
MOVED:	Foster
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 09-1079 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation. The motion carried on the vote of 6-1.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
	Kester	Yes
	Lundberg	No
	Newell	Yes
	Foster	Yes
	Schwartz	Yes

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

10:57 AM -- House Bill 09-1148

Senator Gail Schwartz, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 09-1148, which permits the Department of Revenue to provide information to the Department of Local Affairs regarding severance tax payers. Senator Schwartz made some introductory remarks about the bill, and distributed and spoke to amendment L.002 (Attachment F). Senator Schwartz explained that House Bill 09-11048 is intended to clean up parts of both House Bill 08-1083 and Senate Bill 08-218.

The following people testified on the bill:

11:01 AM -- Mr. Bruce Eisenhauer, representing the Department of Local Affairs, spoke in support of the bill. Mr. Eisenhauer explained that the bill allows the department to meet statutory obligations.

11:03 AM -- Mr. Stan Dempsey, representing the Colorado Petroleum Association, spoke in support of the bill. Mr. Dempsey said the Colorado Petroleum Association supports sharing information with the Department of Local Affairs about severance taxpayers.

11:05 AM

Senator Schwartz addressed questions from the committee.


BILL:	HB09-1148
TIME:	11:06:31 AM
MOVED:	Schwartz
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 09-1148, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole with a recommendation that it be placed on the consent calendar. The motion carried 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


BILL:	HB09-1148
TIME:	11:06:38 AM
MOVED:	Schwartz
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L.002 (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

Prior to the vote, Senator Schwartz briefly explained amendment L.002.

11:08 AM

The committee adjourned.