February 2010 - 2nd half

FEBRUARY FLURRY OF ACTIVITY! 

 The first two weeks of February were a flurry of activity at the Capitol, with many meetings lasting until late into the night.  People have been remarking that the pace is more like the last month of the session than the first month.  (Yes, we’ve been in session only one month!)   

TOWN HALL MEETING THIS SATURDAY

Find out what’s going on with the state budget and how we plan to balance it despite the revenue shortfall of over a billion dollars.  State Representative Mark Ferrandino from the Joint Budget Committee will be coming to explain at my next Town Hall Meeting on Saturday, February 20, 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at the Standley Lake Library, 8485 Kipling Street.    

FREE HELP WITH INCOME TAXES

Sooper Credit Union, located at 5005 West 60^th Avenue in Arvada, is offering volunteer income tax assistance to those with a total household income at or below $49,000.  The walk-in assistance will be available through April 10 on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon.  To find out what you need to bring to receive this help with your tax return, call 1-800-829-1040. 

PREVENTING DEEPER CUTS

The main reason for so many late-night meetings during the past two weeks was a package of nine bills the Senate and House passed that suspend or repeal various tax exemptions adding up to approximately $148 million.  These tax exemptions include about 5% of the total corporate tax credits currently on the books in Colorado.  As our state works to deal with the worst recession since the Great Depression, ending some of these giveaways will help us protect education, health care, and other vital state services from even deeper cuts.   

Here is a quick run-down of some of the corporate tax exemptions that were eliminated:

• Junk mail:  Companies in the U.S. spend tens of billions of dollars producing and sending junk mail every year.  In Colorado, they don’t pay taxes on those materials.
• Industrial energy use:  Manufacturing companies currently consume as much energy as they please without paying taxes on it, while residential customers are paying these taxes.
• Agriculture compounds, pesticides, and bull semen:  Agriculture is a $16-billion-a-year industry in Colorado.  Farmers and ranchers do not have to pay taxes on the pesticides, insecticides, fungicides, and other compounds used to treat their livestock and crop, including bull semen used to breed cattle.
• Take-out and “doggie bags”:  Restaurants do not have to pay taxes on bags, plastic-ware, paper napkins, and other items not essential to serving food to diners, whereas you and I pay taxes when we purchase these items in the grocery store.
• Software:  You and I pay sales tax when we buy a new computer program or game, but businesses do not have to pay that same tax.
• Online shopping:  Companies that sell goods online in our state do not collect state sales tax.  This creates unfair competition for Colorado businesses that must collect sales taxes.
• Net operating losses:  By capping net operating loss claims at $250,000 for the next three years, we are requiring businesses to take a temporary timeout from accounting methods that allow them to reduce their tax liability in profitable years.

We also eliminated one other tax exemption, the 2.9% sales tax on candy and soft drinks (that’s about 3 cents on the dollar).  Colorado does not tax food, in order to ensure that people of all incomes can afford nutritious foods that promote health and reduce risks of malnutrition, obesity, and other significant health problems.  Candy and soda are high-calorie, low-nutrition foods which are luxuries, not the necessities that must be protected by tax-free status.  

MY BILLS

This is the status of bills I’m sponsoring which I have described previously:

• SB 5 – Continuity of Kindergarten Services – Passed the Senate Education Committee; currently awaiting a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
• SB 7 – Collaborative Management of Multi-Agency Services – Passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
• SB 54 – Education Services for Juveniles Charged as Adults – Passed the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• SB 66 – Reporting of Child Abuse or Neglect – Passed the Senate Judiciary Committee.

These are my other Senate bills:

• SB 128 – Invasion of Privacy – This bill updates the invasion of privacy law to include live-feeds through “peep-holes.”  It reduces the crime of eavesdropping to a misdemeanor and increases the crime of invasion of privacy for sexual gratification to a felony when the victim is under 18 years of age or the perpetrator has previously been convicted of a sexual offense.  Will be heard in Senate Judiciary on Tuesday, February 16.
• SB 129 – HCBS Autism Services Coordination – This bill amends the part of law regarding Home- and Community-Based Services (HCBS) for Children with Autism by allowing agencies in addition to community centered boards to provide for the case management of services for children with autism when the community centered board is unwilling or unable to provide those services.  Will be heard in Senate Education on Wednesday, February 17.

This is the status of the previously described House bills I’m sponsoring in the Senate:

• HB 1023 (with  Rep. Waller) – Employer Liability in Negligent Hiring – Passed the House and scheduled in the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 23.
• HB 1026 (with Rep. Solano) – Quality Child Care Grant Incentive Program – Passed the House Education Committee and referred to House Appropriations.
• HB 1046 (with Rep. Tyler) – Receipt of Tax Payment by County Treasurer – Passed the House and the Senate Local Government Committee.
• HB 1074 (with Rep. Soper) – Consumer Protection in Automobile Insurance – Killed in the House Business Affairs Committee.
• HB 1118 (with Rep. Jim Kerr) – Regulation of Distressed Real Property – Passed the House Local Government Committee with amendments.
• HB 1128 (with Rep. Looper) – Registrations Regulatory Efficiency – Passed the House Health and Human Services Committee and referred to House Appropriations.
• HB 1135 (with Sen. Newell and Rep. Ryden) – Define Domestic Violence in Child Custody – Passed the House Judiciary Committee.

This is one of the additional House bills I am sponsoring in the Senate:

• HB 1228 (with Rep. Benefield) – Dependent Coverage Health Benefits – This bill requires ineligible dependents to be removed from state group health plans when the dependents cease to be eligible because of age.