Rollacks are Rollbacks Aren't They?
We love this photo! Environment Colorado does a great job of advocating its positions, including supporting House Bill 1309, a do nothing air quality bill that simply attempts to make the point that environmentalists hate the Bush Administration's efforts to clarify the Clean Air Act's New Source Review Program.
Its great to see Environment Colorado rally for clean air, but lets remember, as this rally is happening, CPA is busy defending the Denver's air quality by stopping the rollback of the Denver area vehicle emissions program. Hey Will, why not stop by the Senate and urge the State Senate from rolling back what we aknowlege is a stupid, but still necessary, air quality standard? Just checking! Oh, by the way, wasn't the vehicle emissions progam something that would eliminate the Denver Brown Cloud?
Representative Curry Expresses Frustration!
As an Association, we constantly want to make sure we're providing value to our members. We appreciate the efforts of both Representaive Curry and Senator Isgar to address the difficult surface damage issues. Both legislators worked hard, and we appreciate the frustration both legislators must feel.
Quoted in Saturday's Glenwood Post-Independent, Representative Curry expressed her frustration by promising to engage the oil and gas industry by working on other controversial issues bills.
She said she needs to be spending more time on other legislation, including other energy-related bills.
She hopes to look at legislation that would expand local government's nearly nonexistent authority over the industry, eliminate a state tax credit that energy companies receive in exchange for paying local property taxes, and revise the makeup of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which now is heavily represented by people with ties to the industry.Well now! I couldn't of come up with a better list of to scare my members than this! Thanks for the help writing next year's dues solicitation letter!
Price Gouging - A Bird in the Hand is Better Than Nothing!
Rather than accept Senate Amendments that clarified the ability of retailers to pass along justified price increased during a declared state emergency, House Sponsor Representative Gwen Green chose to reject the entire bill and convinced her House colleauges to allow her to take the bill to conference committee. It will be interesting to see if the Senate will go along with Representative Green's plan to rewrite the entire bill in Conference Committee. This is a strange move, especially because Representative Green will now have to take a conference committee report back to both the House and Senate for approval, a risky move to make on a bill that is despised by nearly everyone and loved by no one.
Senator Deanna Hanna today announced that she will resign her seat as of March 22.
CPA Governmental Affairs Committee
CPA's Governmental Affairs Committee will meet Tuesday, March 14 at Noon. Please contact Stan Dempsey at CPA for details.
Unfulfilled Blog
Unfortunately, the idea of writing a daily blog entry sounded great at the beginning of the legislative session, but going in to the last half of the session, we'll make a stronger effort to keep members up to date on a daily basis.
This last week was busy for CPA. Our hard work in amending Representative Gwen Green's Price Gouging bill paid off, as Representative Josh Penry carried amendment that make the bill apply only to retailers.
We also testified in opposition to Senate Bill 138 which mandates ethanol blending in 75% of gasoline sold in Colorado sold in Colorado form November to April.
Opening Day - 119 Days to Go!
The Colorado General Assembly convened today at 10:00 A.M., and legislative leaders delivered their annual speeches outlining their caucuses agenda for 2006.
CPA is reviewing a number of bills to determine whether they affect CPA's members. We look forward to hearing from members about any bills they would like us to review.
CPA is eagerly awaiting the introduction of Representative Curry's surface damage bill, which is still in draft form. Some Capitol observers claim that Representative Curry continues to edit her bill, even as late as last Friday.
Meanwhile, it appears that the Colorado Association of Homebuilders has declared war on the oil and gas industry, and are lobbying for a surface damage bill that has yet to be introduced. It appears our friends in the homebuilding community don't want to be partners in solving our country's energy problems!
