The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Here's a quick rundown of some of the week's events. I'll call it the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly report.


First, to the good.


Tax cut bill making headway:
I was pleased to pass SB 37 out of the appropriations committee today. This is a big tax cut for all businesses in CO that pay workers compensation insurance that should amount to about a $25 million annual savings to taxpayers. The bill has a pretty good voyage ahead of it still, but things look good right now.


Wildfire and Natural Resource Bills
My bill to leverage existing state resources into wildfire prone communities (SB 18) passed the full senate today. Next week it begins its journey through the house. I am also the senate sponsor of a bill that gives environmental regulators a new tool to compel compliance with solid waste disposal rules and regulations (HB 1056). This is not a typical kind of bill for me to carry, but in some cases it was cheaper for a business to risk getting a fine and dump raw sewage into a waterway, than it was to follow the law and dispose of the waste properly. I worked closely with industry advocates and regulators to be sure common sense environmental stewardship, not revenue generation, was the goal. I am confident that we have done it right, but as always: trust but verify. The bill moves to the senate appropriations committee next after receiving unanimous support in both the Senate Health and Human Services and Senate Finance committees.


Abandoned Vehicles and Truck Driver Regulatory Reform
I am carrying a bill to help tow truck companies recover their costs more quickly from the state when they help state patrol clear roadways (HB1279). Actually, this bill will really help these small businesses by simply streamlining a few outdated laws. The bill received it's first hearing in the senate this week and will likely pass the whole senate next week. Next week I introduce a bill to take trucking out of the Pubic Utilities Commission as they are already a regulated industry (HB 1244). This move will save trucking companies some money and make a modest reduction of government.


Now, on to the bad
This week the CO Supreme Court ruled against taxpayers and for the Governor's so-called "mill levy freeze" that amounts to a tax increase without voter approval. Then, the Dems were quick to take more action of their own by passing the repeal of a state spending limit that we've had in place for nearly two decades (called the Arvescoug-Bird limit). This was also protected by the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights in the Constitution. Dems also pushed through a bill today that essentially codifies into state law civil unions by simply calling it another name. Never mind that voters already voted against a civil union proposal just a couple years ago.



The Ugly
Dems are making a push to remove Colorado from the electoral college and are hoping to join other states that want to elect presidents based on a popular vote system instead (HB 1299). And in a vicious attack on the oil and gas industry in CO, Dems are pushing through HB 1292 which applies, in the Wall Street Journal's words, "the most onerous rules" in the nation, to an industry that does more than $20 billion in business and employs 70,000 Coloradans. The irony? Colorado must produce an additional 4,900 megawatts of power by 2025. And since all wind and solar power production facilities require MORE natural gas to be produced (as they require back up power for those times the wind isn't blowing or the sun isn't shining), these rules and regulations come at exactly the wrong time. Besides, it's hard to believe the Governor would be so bent on killing jobs in a recession. But that's what he and his cohorts are up to.



Finally, news isn't all that good for many people nowadays. Sometimes it seems politicians have abandoned all common sense. I must say, I have felt that way recently. But it remains my belief that America is great because her people are good. We will truly bounce back and it will be because Americans care about leaving a free and prosperous country to their children. I hope you share that outlook!