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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Legislative Review Committee - 03/16/2009 -City Manager’s Office •City I-lan300LaPorte Ave.F.rt C.L in 970.221.6505 970 224.6107 -fax fcgov.com Legislative Review Committee Meeting Minutes March 16,2009 The meeting convened at 12:00 p.m. Present:Doug Hutchinson,Ben Manvel,Darin Atteberry,Steve Roy,Wendy Williams, Tess Heffeman (via telephone) Absent:Kelly Ohison The meeting summary of the March 3,2009 Legislative Review Committee was approved. Legislation Update:The Committee discussed new bills under consideration by the Legislature and received an update on several bills discussed previously.Items in italics indicate updates added after the March 16 LRC meeting. New Legislation: SB 243 Concerning Workers Compensation Benefits (Boyd) This late bill includes provisions adding mental impairment to the definition of disability for workers comp claims for both temporary and permanent disability.CML has negotiated amendments.Lance Murray,Risk Manager,notes that it now appears the City will not incur much,if any,additional exposure to normal workers compensation claims. The bill may increase costs to high exposure/litigated claims,but those are rare and should only affect those claims where mental impairment is at issue.Darin Atteberry asked for follow up to clarify what sort of mental impairment or mental illness is already covered in workers comp.Ben Manvel noted that we also want to make sure our employees are covered.Tess Heffernan and Steve Roy will follow up.The Committee deferred taking a position until more information is gathered. Existing Legislation: SB 143 Camera Radar (Bacon,Hullinghorst) -Has passed Senate;Introduced in House and assigned to Judiciary.Hearing not yet scheduled. Working with sponsor and partner cities/agencies to amend fine language to be “$40 or so much as is necessary to cover the expenses of the system,with a maximum of $60.”Also developing exemptions to ensure fines can still be doubled in construction and cone zones. -The House Judiciary hearing was held March 19.Rep.Gardner proposed an amendment keeping the fine at the existing $40.That amendment passed 1 0 0 unanimously,and the bill was then passed 8-3.House 2nd reading is scheduledfor March 24,but likely will be delayed due to a very full agenda. SB 222 Traffic Automated Vehicle Identification (Lundberg) Sets requirements for the size of the font and placement of signs warning of camera radar or red light camera ahead. -Position:Neutral -Has passed Senate;scheduled for House Transportation March 23.Likely will be delayed due to a very full agenda. HB 1272 Ltd Gaming Amend 50 Comm College Funding (Massey,Tapia) Implements “Amendment 50”.Concerns raised that provisions dealing with the share of the gambling funds that will go to “current recipients”would shrink over time while the share for the new recipients would increase and thus negative impact on historical preservation funding.Debate centered on voter intent. -Position:Neutral -Has passed both House and Senate;awaiting Governor’s signature -Tess noted that the 2”reading in the Senate generated intense debate;a number of amendments were proposed and defeated,e.g.using a different base year to establish who gets what portion,since gaming revenues in 2008 were so low.(Those against that amendment argued that the base year is reality.)The final decision seemed to center on the intent of voters,and the need/value of funding community colleges. HB 1284 Corridor Capacity Strategic Planning (Levy) Creates a process where CDOT,MPOs and local governments develop a corridor capacity strategic plan for congested areas or areas projected to become congested. -Position:Neutral for the time being;monitor closely -Amended by sponsor during hearing:impact fee provisions deleted. -CML anticipates taking a neutral stance.Bill now does little that isn’t already being done. -During the Committee hearing Rep.Levy noted that her intent was to ensure “30,000 foot planning:when more than one community’s plans impact a single corridor. Highway 7 was used as an example.She stated the bill won’t impact 125,since that traffic comes from all over.She also noted that it is very complicated to get an impact fee program in place at state level and hasn’t been done anywhere in country. She intends to address it again in future sessions. -7d Reading scheduled for March 23. Additional TIF legislation (Hullinghorst) Bill was not yet filed.Initial information:Would require URAs after 5 years to give 5000 of TIF back.Exempts Denver and Broomfield from this requirement. SB 238 Enforce Limited Local Fees Solar Panels (Mitchell) Limits the total amount of fees that a utility can charge for approving a solar installation. The bill is retroactive to May 2008 and requires damages for excess fees charged. -Position:Oppose;building fees should remain a local issue r -Assigned to Local Govt and Energy Committee HB 1129 -Precipitation Harvesting Pilot Projects Directs the Colorado water conservation board to select up to 10 residential or mixed-use developments that will conduct pilot projects to collect rainwater from rooftops and impermeable surfaces for nonpotable uses.Idea is to see if this can be done without injury to other water rights. -Position:Support -Passed House;waiting to be heard by Senate Appropriations SB 180 Collective Bargaining (Tochtrop) Grants firefighters and law enforcement officers the right to form,join,or assist a union, negotiate collectively or express a grievance through representatives of their choice and engage in other activity for the purpose of collective bargaining. -Position:Oppose -Has been laid over twice in Appropriations;sponsor is working on amendments to remove the Div.of Labor from any responsibility and therefore eliminate any fiscal impact.It appears support is waning.Will continue to monitor. -Passed Appropriations after being amended to remove role for Division of Labor. (This in effect removed any fiscal impact.)Appears likely that it will not pass reading,or else it may be amended to exclude home rule cities.There has also been discussion of an amendment to make the law apply to State Patrol,which means the bill would be sent back to Appropriations. -Scheduled for ~reading March 24 HB 1282 -Electronic Device Recycling Task Force (Fischer) Creates a task force within the CDPHE to make recommendations regarding the implementation of an electronic device recyling program by December 2009. -Position:Support -Passed Committee unanimously;not yet scheduled for Appropriations SB 003 Motor Vehicle Emissions Programs (Bacon &Fischer) Beginning in 2010 moves Weld and Larimer counties from the basic emissions program of the automobile inspection and readjustment program to the enhanced emissions program. -Position:support -Scheduled for ~reading March 24 HB1 105 Colorado Innovation Investment Tax Credit (Kefalas) Creates the Colorado innovation investment tax credit for an equity investment in a qualified small business that is in the aerospace,bioscience,clean energy,or information technology industry. -Position:support -Passed Finance,not yet scheduled with Appropriations. SB 99 State Procurement Supplier Databases 0 Would allow the State Purchasing department to develop a fee for vendors who have state cooperative agreements.City Purchasing has no problem with the State imposing such a fee built into their cooperative agreement.We do have a problem with a provision to charge local public procurement units an additional fee. -Position:Opposed -Amended on 2~reading not perfect,but better than it was.Language clarified to state that local governments can now be charged a fee (only)if they use the e procurement system.State has also agreed to meet with others,work on this over the summer to address this and other aspects of the state purchasing system. -CML will likely take a neutral position. SB 75 Low Speed Elec Self Propelled Vehicles (Marostica) Authorizes the operation of low-speed electric vehicles (NEVs)on roads with a speed limit of 35 miles per hour or less. o Position:Neutral o Passed Senate with amendments (higher mph);passed House Committee,not yet scheduled for House Appropriations HB1094 Cell Phone Prohibitions for Drivers Prohibits drivers under 18,school bus drivers,and carriers regulated by the PUC from using cell phones while the vehicle is in motion.Otherwise,permits use of a cell phone with a hands-free accessory. o Passed Committee.Not yet scheduled with Appropriations SB 95 Construction Contract Prompt Pay (Tapia) Ft Collins has standard contract language which protects both the City and Contractors. This bill would require a complete rewrite of that language.It would make it more difficult to manage projects.Time frames demanded in the legislation may make ensuring construction was done properly impossible before payment must be made. o Position:opposed o Passed Committee and Appropriations.Hoping there will be enough opposition that it does not pass 2’~”reading.(Currently scheduled for March 13,but schedule keeps getting pushed back.) o On March 20 the sponsor laid the bill over until May,effectively Içilling it. SB 51 Renewable Energy Financing Act (Carroll,M.) Expand opportunities for financing retrofits,other aspects of renewable energy.Original version of bill mandated utilities rebate a portion of their revenue for this purpose; amended to exempt municipal utilities from this requirement. o Passed Senate;passed House Committee,not yet scheduled 2”reading SB 52 Waste Tire Fee Higher Ed Research Fund (Bacon) A new funding source was found for the matching monies needed for the higher ed grants,thus preserving the recycling funds. o Passed Senate;passed House Committee,not yet scheduled for House Appropriations r HB 1273 Health Care for Colorado (Kefalas) Creates the Colorado Health Care Authority,a political subdivision of the state.Its mission is to create a health care system in Colorado that will be the benefits administrator and payer for health care services.Requires the authority to create a system to recomnend to the general assembly that provides comprehensive medical benefits to Coloradans. -Position:Neutral -Passed Committee;not yet scheduled for Appropriations Other Business: Tess noted that Daylan Figgs,Natural Resources Land Manager,attended the March 6 hearing on revisions to the oil and gas rules;a request for City staff to participate was made by Susan Kirkpatrick,DOLA Director.These recommendations focus on impacts of oil and gas drilling on public health,wildlife and the environment;they came from an Oil and Gas Conservation Commission that met for 18 months.The hearing focused on whether the Commission appointed by the Legislature acted within its authority.Most of the recommendations were upheld,though the Attorney General did advise against some of them. The new rules were passed the following week after 6 hours of floor debate.Susan expressed her appreciation for Daylan’s assistance. The meeting was adjourned at 1:00 pm.