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Feb. 6, 2001 Capitol
Report Normally on Friday afternoons during the four-month legislative session, I catch a United Express flight home to Durango. The service is noticeably better than days of yore with check-in-counter folks now being candid about the cause of delays, which are fewer. But this weekend I’ll be going to Grand Junction and Montrose instead. Sen. Ed Perlmutter, D-Wheatridge, who is Senate president pro-tem, Rep. Kay Alexander, R-Montrose, and I are going to hold town meetings on the matter of growth. We’ll hold similar meetings in the reaches south of Red Mountain Pass later this month. Not getting home wears on me; I depend on the recharge that hanging out with Shari Dyer provides. Particularly after a week that saw the pace quicken and the issues get tougher. My SB-103 was heard, was amended and was voted out of Senate Agriculture and Natural resources Committee to be debated on the Senate floor. This is the bill "concerning conflict of interest requirements for members of the oil and gas conservation commission." To the disappointment of the many who wanted to completely ban those members from any financial or employment association with the industry, I had to deal with the political reality that the bill could go down in a flame of purity, or live on compromised, but having the practical effect of lessening industry clout on the seven-member panel. My old friendly adversaries, that foreboding phalanx of oil lobbyists, are fighting even the modest shift the bill now provides from a 5-2 advantage industry, to 4-3, still advantage industry. ******** Rep. Mark Larson, R-Cortez, is chortling like the Mama Bear in those kiddie books... (was it the Berenstain Bears? It’s been a while since I had the pleasure of reading to little ones.) He is reveling in my discomfort at carrying seven of my own bills and twelve House bills. That’s a load. Much like the one endured last year and forswore this year. Here’s a sampling of my 19-bill stable: •SB-43 "Extend the Tramway Board" passed from Senate Government Committee. Would keep present independent board in control of ski-lift safety for another 10 years rather reducing it to merely an advisory panel. •SB-68 "Trustees of Fort Lewis College" as written would have FLC governed by an independent board rather than being in the Colorado State University system. Also I might address giving FLC a two-year Associate of Arts mission to attract students otherwise not qualified for entry. There are many questions to be resolved on this one. If the questions are not answered or if the answers are negative for the Fort, I’ll kill it. •SB-157 "Colorado Water Conservation Board Construction Fund List" authorizes loans to projects such as the Dolores Water Conservancy District - WETPACK ($7.26 million) and funds to maintain the satellite stream monitoring system. •HB-1012 "Designate Division of Wildlife an Enterprise" would remove DOW from the strictures of TABOR and allow it to operate more like a business. •HB-1062 "Compensation for Land Surface Damages." This is Mark Larson’s puppy, and it’s a good one. Briefly, it reinforces surface owners’ rights as minerals and oil are extracted. •HB-1086 "Agriculture Value Added Cooperative." Rep. Kay Alexander is the author of this bill that would establish tax credits for agriculture producers who want to organize and process their products locally. •HB-1198 "Requirements for Petition Circulators." I’m carrying this with House Speaker Doug Dean, R-Colorado Springs. He assures me it will enrage Doug Bruce so it’s a natural for me. •And, what would a session be to me without a license plate bill for veterans. HB-1203 is also with Doug Dean. A rather eclectic array of bills I would say. But an array that I believe, makes sense for our part of Colorado. Jim Dyer is a state senator from Durango. He can be reached in Durango at (970) 259-1942, or at the Capitol in Denver at (303) 866-4884. |
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