Issues & Campaigns
Watching this year’s legislative session, you have to remember that the action is being determined by two things: 1) the House is controlled by Republicans and 2) the Senate is controlled by Democrats, similar to the situation in the US Congress. This means that (mostly) a Republican-sponsored bill won’t pass the Colorado Senate and a Democratic-sponsored bill won’t pass the House, with rare exceptions. So it goes with governing in theseUnited Statesthis year.
An overall goal of many bills, which just happened to be introduced by Republican Members, seems to be to tie State government up in knots. For example,
- SB 6 requires the Legal Services Committee (of the legislature) to review all state regulations to find whether these regulations meet certain standards. This is where you have to wonder what these folks were thinking. Either the State must hire a large number of people to do these reviews (thus increasing State spending) or the reviews will take a VERY long time, thus handicapping the State’s ability to ensure the public health and safety. Your choice.
- HB 1075 reinstates the annual limits on State spending specified by the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) and dictates how any extra State income must be spent. We just voted to get rid of these limits – also called the ratchet effect – a few years ago.
- HB 1007 requires a cost/benefit analysis of all proposed rules. Under current law such an analysis can be requested, in any case. More time lost or more State employees needed.
There are more of these, just not the space to discuss them here. Check the Conservation page on the ASGD website for more details.
Then there are the bills that make you scratch your head in wonder. One would ban numerical standards for nitrogen and phosphorus in effluent water quality determinations. This would make it harder to treat water to new federal standards. Water treatment is expensive, yes, but it’s got to be done sooner or later, and it costs less to do it sooner.
One bill is aimed directly at a member of the Public Utilities Commission, the current environmental member Matt Baker. HB 1016 prohibits PUC members from communicating with anyone not on the PUC who has an interest in what the commission does. So Baker can’t talk to his wife, who works for a conservation organization, without being disqualified from the PUC. Did you know legislation could be that personal?
Audubon knows of only one bill so far that’s aimed at diverting lottery funds from trails, open space, wildlife and parks. It sounds innocuous enough: it sets up a new lottery game and requires that the proceeds go to support veterans’ programs. While veterans certainly deserve public support, we need to find some other way to provide it. Consider that:
- 60% of money from the lottery is used for prizes; the rest is divided among the Conservation Trust Fund that funnels money to local governments for parks, trails or open space (40% of net proceeds), State Parks (10% of net) and GOCO itself (50 % of net, for State wildlife, open space, and trails).
- If a new, separate game diverts funds, GOCO will probably not suffer, as income to that program is capped at about $50 million of the net proceeds. But the State Parks could lose part of their share, as could local governments. State Parks’ budget has already been cut drastically and more cuts will significantly affect their operations.
- Schools will also lose out. GOCO proceeds above the $50 million cap are required to be spent on capital construction forColoradoschools. If money is diverted to a new game, there will be less overflow from GOCO and less for schools.
It’s still early in the session. There are some good bills out there as well as some other bad ones. You can check the Audubon lobbyist’s report at www.auduboncolorado.org – it’s updated every two weeks. To follow bills, go to the Legislature’s website: www.leg.state.co.us.
Update on Chatfield Reallocation: the draft EIS will be out “sometime this year.” We are trying to plan for its review but it’s difficult without definite dates. Stay tuned!
Bird/Window Collisions
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