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Quick Links...
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Greetings!
The Second Regular Session of the Colorado General Assembly convened on January 9, 2008. The legislature will meet for no more than the constitutionally mandated 120 day limit, meaning adjournment sine die will occur no later than midnight on Wednesday, May 7, 2008.
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· At the Capitol
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Karen Middleton, a Democrat from Aurora and formerly a member of the State Board of Education, was chosen by the vacancy committee in House District 42 to replace Rep. Mike Garcia. Rep. Middleton had earlier announced her intention to run for the seat, since Rep. Garcia would have been term- limited in 2008.
Update on the Governor's economic development initiatives. HB 1001, concerning bio-science grants, has passed from the House Finance Committee and will now be heard in the House Appropriations Committee on February 22. HB 1183 would modify the performance-based jobs creation incentive legislation from 2006. It has passed the House and will be introduced in the Senate, probably on Monday. The increase in the exemption of business personal property tax from $2500 to $7000 is HB 1225. It is scheduled to be heard in the House Finance Committee on February 19. Finally, HB 1261, the "fly-away" tax bill is also scheduled in the House Finance Committee on February 19. What happened to the single factor income tax legislation? The Governor's staff and others continue to work on this very important legislation and we expect to see another draft of the bill soon, hopefully this week. We will let you know as soon as the bill is ready for introduction. Every effort is being made to address the concerns of various stakeholders prior to the bill's introduction.
Economic Stimulus Package - As we mentioned here last week, the recently passed federal legislation will have an impact on Colorado revenues. Mike Mauer, Chief Economist of the Colorado Legislative Council published a memo this week to the members of the General Assembly detailing the net impact of a $20.5 million decrease in FY 2007-08 and a $33.6 million decrease in FY 2008- 09. Mr. Mauer's memo went on to say that "the state would see ongoing, but much smaller increases in revenue for a decade following these two years." Because of the recovering economy, the net decrease in revenues for the two year period will affect highway funding and capital construction.
Rep. Doug Bruce - redux Freshman Rep. Doug Bruce, R-Colorado Springs continues to make news, and not especially good news. This week, during Military Appreciation Day, several hundred active duty military personnel, their families and many veterans were in the House Chambers and gallery for the resolution honoring them, their service and their sacrifices for our country. Rep. Bruce asked to be excused from voting on the resolution, explaining that it was a waste since it did not have the force of law. His colleagues voted down that request and the vote on the resolution then proceeded. Rep. Bruce cast the lone dissenting vote. On Friday, House Minority Leader Mike May (R-Parker) removed Rep. Bruce from the powerful State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee. "I no longer believe it is in the best interest of the House nor for the active-duty or retired military personnel of Colorado to have Rep. Bruce continue to serve on the committee of reference for veterans and military affairs," May said in a release.
Remember too that you can listen to the live audio broadcasts over the Internet. Just go the Legislative homepage and click on Live Audio Broadcasts and then choose Old Supreme Court Chambers (or whatever the committee room is as shown in the daily calendar). The House is video- broadcast live on Comcast channel 165 and on the Internet when meeting as the full House of Representatives. This is usually Monday from 10 until noon, then at 9 for a short while on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, then from 9 until finish of business on Friday. The reason for the abbreviated sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday is the committee work done on those days.
Presidents' Day Holiday? Not at the statehouse. Monday, February 18 will be another busy day at the Capitol, even though most state employees and many others will be enjoying a three-day weekend. The General Assembly usually does not observe any of the state holidays during the legislative session, with the exception of Passover and Good Friday. With the 120- day limit on the session, it seems that every day is important.
Liquor Stores vs. Safeway and King Soopers This week saw two of the most visible bills of the session in committee on the same day. SB 149 would have allowed grocery stores to sell beer, wine and liquor. The bill was defeated in the Senate State Affairs Committee late Wednesday evening. SB 82 would allow liquor stores to be open for business on Sundays and it passed from the Senate Business Affairs Committee earlier in the day.
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We now have seen a total of 499 bills introduced - 163 in the Senate and 336 in the House. February 17 is the 40th legislative day, meaning that the session is now one-third completed. Our tracking sheet on those bills pertaining to economic development will be available at our website -
The General Assembly website has buttons that will allow you access to a wealth of legislative information available online. The 2008 Deadline Schedule is available from the Legislative Council. You can find the
At the Colorado Legislative Council website, you can also get information on how to contact your legislators, how to testify before a legislative committee, how a bill becomes a law and miscellaneous information about term limits, legislative compensation and other items of interest.
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EDCC Weekly Legislative Update
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· Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
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In a document released earlier this week, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities states that "the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a series of Medicaid regulations that could significantly affect health care at the state and local level. These regulations, most of which alter longstanding Medicaid policies, do not require congressional approval. In fact, in some cases Congress has expressly declined to enact the very same changes that HHS is now making through administrative action."
The report goes on to say, "In addition, in December the Administration issued an interim final rule to implement a provision of the 2006 Deficit Reduction Act. The new rule goes well beyond Congress's intent in that legislation, and does so in ways that will jeopardize access to essential health services. Taken together, these regulatory changes will reduce federal Medicaid spending by close to $15 billion over the next five years. Most of these costs will simply be shifted to state and local governments, at a time when states have less capacity to absorb added costs given the economic slowdown and their weakening fiscal conditions."
We would urge you to read the entire report for more information on this important issue.
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· SSTI: "Ratio of Total R&D Expenditures to Gross State Product by State, 2000-2004 "
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From the most recent edition of the SSTI newsletter, "SSTI has prepared a table showing the total R&D expenditures divided by the GSP, the percentage of which is often called the R&D intensity, for each state and the District of Columbia from 2000 to 2004. Additionally, the chart illustrates the rank of each state's 2004 R&D intensity, the percent change of R&D intensity over the five-year period, and the ranking of this percent change. Leading the pack in 2004 was New Mexico, whose R&D intensity was 8.04 percent. This was followed by Maryland (6.22 percent), Massachusetts (5.11 percent), Michigan (4.56 percent) and Rhode Island (4.4 percent). For the U.S. as a whole, the percentage was 2.56 in 2004."
Local Investment of Public Pension Funds? In its most recent newsletter, SSTI discussed increasing local investment of public pension funds. The article states, "State venture capital programs are an integral part of many state's technology-based economic development portfolio. These programs can strategically target state investments towards promising high-tech companies at the critical early stages of business development and in areas where private capital is scarce. Venture programs, however, are not always easy to implement. By definition, they require a large fund of investment capital and sufficient manpower to assist and monitor their portfolio companies. Facing these difficulties, some states have turned to other methods of making state investment capital available to entrepreneurs. One option is to target a portion of public pension fund investments toward in-state businesses. Most retirement systems already dedicate some of their investments to venture capital. Placing geographic restrictions or considerations on investments occurs less frequently, however, in respect for "prudent person" rules for investment (e.g., finding the greatest return at least level of exposure) and the monies belong to future and existing retirees, rather than the public sector. Few pensions contribute to separate funds that invest only in in-state businesses. The more common approach is to invest in other venture funds, which focus on regional investments. Indiana Investment Fund I, funded by the Indiana Public Employees Retirement Fund, is a $105 million fund managed by Credit Suisse, which invests in venture funds focusing on Indiana businesses. The fund targets its funds toward strategic industries, including manufacturing, distribution and logistics, information technology, business services and alternative energy. Other public pension funds, including the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), do not have separate funds for this purpose, but frequently invest in local venture firms that specialize in regional investments. In 2005, CalPERS agreed to invest a total of $500 million in environmental technology and clean energy, industries seen as strategically valuable to the state. Pension managers and policymakers frequently bristle at the idea of using pension funds for economic development purposes, since their primary goal must be profitable returns. In a recent review of in- state pension investment plans, SSTI found that all of these plans require in-state investments to meet the same standards as other investments. Nevertheless, state leaders continue to look for opportunities to have pension fund investments work in tangent with state economic development goals. The governors of Michigan and Texas provide two recent examples of proposals to use public pension funds to help support companies in their state. Both the Michigan and Texas plans stipulate that any in- state investments would have to offer returns on the same level as the pensions' other venture investments. "
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Ratio of Total R&D Expenditures to Gross State Product by State, FY 2000-2004
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