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Dan Pilcher
CACI Senior Vice President
& Chief Operating Officer
Phone: 303.866.9600
E-Mail:
dpilcher@cochamber.com
Friday, January 15, 2010
Legislative Session Begins Under a Dark, Budget-Balancing Cloud
On Wednesday, the Colorado General Assembly began its 2010
session with the majority and minority leaders of each chamber
delivering opening speeches, followed on Wednesday by Governor
Bill Ritter delivering his fourth and final “State of the State”
address.
For the statewide business community represented by CACI, the
foremost issue will be protecting critical tax incentives from
suspension or elimination as the legislature scrambles to find
tax revenue to balance the state’s budget.
CACI Begins Analyzing Introduced Bills
HB-1009, sponsored by Representative Joe Miklosi (D-Denver),
would change the make-up of the Board of Directors of Pinnacol
Assurance. This is one of the bills recommended by the
legislature’s interim Pinnacol Committee.
HB-1010 was recommended by the legislatures’ interim Long-Term
Fiscal Stability Commission and is sponsored in the House by
Representative Mark Ferrandino (D-Denver) and in the Senate by
Senate Majority Leader John Morse (D-Colorado Springs). Using
the existing public-private initiative program for the Colorado
Department of Transportation as a model, the legislation would:
·
Authorize state agencies to enter into public-private initiative
agreements with nonprofit organizations; and
·
Specifies evaluation criteria to be used by, and procedures to
be followed, by the agencies in considering, evaluating, and
accepting or rejecting unsolicited proposals for public-private
initiatives.
The bill provides an incentive for an agency to enter into
public-private initiatives by amending an existing statutory
definition of "cost savings" in order to allow an agency to
retain a portion of any cost savings realized from a
personal-services contract entered into pursuant to a
public-private initiative agreement. The bill is slated to be
heard by the House State, veterans and Military Affairs
Committee when it meets at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 19th,
in Room 112 at the State Capitol.
HB-1012, a bill recommended by the legislature’s interim
Pinnacol Committee, would prohibit surveillance of a worker, who
has made a workers’ comp claim, by an employer or a workers’
compensation insurance carrier unless the insurer or the
employer have a “reasonable basis to suspect that the employee
has committed fraud or made a material misstatement concerning
the claim . . . “. The bill is sponsored in the House by
Representative Sal Pace (D-Pueblo) and in the Senate by Senator
Morgan Carroll (D-Aurora), who chaired the interim Pinnacol
Committee.
HB-1023 was recommended by the legislature’s interim Economic
Opportunity Poverty Education Task Force. Sponsored by
Representative Mark Waller (R-Colorado Springs) and Senator Evie
Hudak (D-Westminster), the bill would protect employers from
civil liability if the criminal history of a worker is withheld
from the employer. The bill, in essence, clarifies the civil
liability of an employer pertaining to “negligent hiring
practices.” If an employer hires a worker with a criminal
record, then the information cannot be introduced as evidence in
a civil action against the employer provided (a) the criminal
history is not directly related to the facts about the cause of
action, (b), a court order sealed the records of the criminal
case or a pardon was issued before the “occurrence of the civil
action,” and (c) the arrest record or charge did not result in a
criminal conviction.
HB-1038 is another bill to emerge from the Pinnacol Committee.
Sponsored by Representative Joe Miklosi and Senator Morgan
Carroll (D-Aurora), the legislation would require employers or
workers’ comp insurance carriers to provide a state-approved
brochure to workers filing claims about their rights on the
claims process, medical treatment and benefit payments. The
bill is scheduled to be heard Wednesday, January 20th,
by the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee when it meets
following adjournment of the House Floor Session in Room 112 of
the State Capitol.
HB-1055 would affect how the Colorado Department of Revenue (DOR)
pays “third-party” debt collectors or attorneys for collecting
delinquent taxes from tax payers. The DOR currently pays debt
collectors from the amount collected from taxpayers. Sponsored
by Representative John Kefalas (D-Fort Collins) and Senator Pat
Steadman (D-Denver) the bill would allow the debt collector to
add the fee to the total amount to be collected from the
taxpayer. The purpose is to allow the DOR to retain 100 percent
of the delinquent taxes collected and make the taxpayer pay the
fee of the debt collector. The CACI Tax Council will review
this bill at its February 5th meeting.
HB-1056 would proscribe how employers dispose of records or
information containing “personal identifying information” and
allow either the Colorado Attorney General or the local district
attorney to prosecute an employer for violating the provisions
of the bill under the threat of a civil penalty. The bill calls
an employer an “affected entity” that is “required to include in
its policy for the destruction or proper disposal of paper or
electronic documents and records containing personal identifying
information a requirement that such documents and records shall
be shredded or erased and rendered indecipherable and
irretrievable before the affected entity disposes of the
documents or records.” A recycling or disposal company,
however, need not verify that the materials it receives from an
employer have been properly destroyed or disposed of as the bill
requires of the employer.
The employer would be required to pay a civil penalty to the
state’s General Fund not to exceed $500 “ . . . for each paper
or electronic document or record containing personal identifying
information that the public or private entity fails to dispose
of properly . . . “ The prosecuting entity also can “ . . .
recover costs and reasonable attorney fees . . . “ The bill is
sponsored by Representative Jerry Frangas (D-Denver) and Senator
Morgan Carroll (D-Aurora).
HB-1068, sponsored by Representative Mark Ferrandino (D-Denver),
prohibits a basic telephone service provider from delivering a
white-page directory to a customer unless the customer requests
the delivery. The bill prohibits anyone from delivering paper
documents to another person's property in excess of one pound
unless the recipient requests the delivery and that request
remains valid for five years. A violation is punishable by a $50
fine per delivery for the first 100 recipients and $1,000 per
recipient for subsequent deliveries, and the fines are capped at
$100,000 per year.
Currently, an employer is required to deduct and withhold
Colorado income tax from an employee's wages. HB-1087 would
eliminate the mandatory deduction and withholding. Instead, an
employer would only deduct and withhold Colorado income tax from
an worker’s wages if both the worker and employer voluntarily
agree. The bill also makes a conforming amendment to an
income-tax credit so that the change to the withholding
requirement does not affect the eligibility for the credit.
Sponsors are Representative Spencer Swalm (R-Centennial) and
Senator Bill Cadman (R-Colorado Springs).
Another interim Pinnacol Committee bill, SB-11 requires a
physician, who has been chosen by the Worker’s Compensation
Division of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment to
perform an independent medical examination (IME) of an injured
worker, to disclose his or her relationship with the workers’
comp insurance carrier or a self-insured employer. The bill’s
intent is to prevent conflict of interests between the insurer
and the physician. The sponsors are Senator Morgan Carroll
(D-Aurora) and Representative Joe Miklosi (D-Denver).
SB-12, another interim Pinnacol Committee bill, among other
things increases the penalties for violating workers’ comp laws
from $500 to $1,000 per day. The bill changes the definition of
the mental state of from "willingly" to "knowingly" in the state
law that sets forth penalties for a self-insured employer or
workers’ comp insurance carrier for denying workers' comp
benefits, delaying payments for medical benefits or stopping
payments. Sponsors are Senator Lois Tochtrop (D-Thornton) and
Representative Sal Pace (D-Pueblo).
SB13 seeks to increase the “accountability” of workers’ comp
insurers. Another product of the interim Pinnacol Committee,
the bill is sponsored by Senator Mary Hodge (D-Brighton) and
Representative Su Ryden (D-Aurora). It directs insurers to
survey a “limited number” of injured workers at the end of their
claims and report the results to the Workers’ Comp Division of
the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, which will then
post the results on the CDLE Web site. The bill also bars an
employer from retaliating or disciplining a worker who answers
the survey. Pinnacol’s Chief Executive Officer is required to
submit an annual report to the governor and the legislature
“reporting on the business operations, resources, and
liabilities of the Pinnacol Assurance fund.”
SB-28 is a priority bill of Governor Bill Ritter. Sponsored by
Senator Rollie Heath (D-Boulder), the legislation would direct
the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) to
establish a “work-share program” that would allow the payment of
unemployment insurance (UI) benefits to workers whose hours have
been reduced by their employers. This is a voluntary program
for employers who would need to apply to the CDLE participate.
The bill’s intent apparently is to allow businesses to cut back
on hours worked by their employees instead of laying off
workers. The bill would allow the employees to use UI
compensation to backfill their hours up to 20 percent. The
employer would still have to provide all other UI benefits. The
CACI Labor and Employment Council will discuss this bill and
others at its next meeting, 12 Noon, Jan. 20th.
Members with questions or concerns about this bill should
contact Loren Furman, CACI Vice President of Governmental
affairs, at
lfurman@COchamber.com or by phone at 303.866.9642.
Another priority bill of Governor Ritter is SB-39, whose
sponsors are Senator Morgan Carroll (D-Aurora) and
Representative Sara Gagliardi (D-Arvada). The bill creates the
Colorado job retraining scholarship program to be implemented
and administered through CollegeInvest in the Colorado
Department of Higher Education. Through the scholarship program,
CollegeInvest will award scholarships to persons who have been
determined eligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits
on or after July 1, 2008, by the Colorado Department of Labor
and Employment and who are pursuing job training or education
programs that meet the goal of the scholarship program to assist
persons to achieve gainful employment, including
self-employment, in a recognized occupation or a high-need
employment area. The CollegeInvest board of directors will
adopt policies to implement and administer the scholarship
program. A recipient may use the scholarship toward a skilled
trades apprenticeship program and to attend courses and programs
at such post-secondary institutions as community colleges,
junior colleges, public universities and public colleges and
private colleges. CollegeInvest would each year award $1
million in scholarships, but the money would not come from the
state General Fund. For details on CollegeInvest, click on:
http://www.collegeinvest.org/
CACI Annual Business Day at the Legislature Scheduled for
Thursday, January 28th
CACI’s Annual Business Day at the Legislature Luncheon will
feature two state legislative leaders:
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House Speaker Terrance Carroll (D-Denver)
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Senate Republican Leader Josh Penry (R-Grand Junction)
In addition, Eric Sondermann, the well-known political analyst
and communications consultant, will provide an overview of the
state’s political races and issues, including the legislative
session. Sondermann heads up the firm, SE2:
http://www.publicpersuasion.com/about_us/people/staff_detail/?sid=10&view=pro
The Luncheon is scheduled from 12 Noon until 1:30 p.m.,
Thursday, January 28th, at The Brown Palace Hotel.
In addition, the 2 p.m.--3 p.m. CACI session in the Old Supreme
Court Chamber at the Colorado State Capitol with CACI members
will feature a panel of minority and majority legislators from
both the Senate and the House who will discuss business issues
and bills. CACI has invited both majority and minority party
legislators. Confirmed panelists include Senator Greg Brophy
(R-Wray), Senator Rollie Heath (D-Boulder), Senator Paul
Sandoval (D-Denver), Representative Joe Rice (D-Littleton),
Representative Frank McNulty (R-Highlands Ranch) and
Representative Amy Stephens (R-Monument).
For more information on the Business Day at the Legislature and
sponsorships, contact Denise Reeves, CACI Vice President of
Events and Programs, at 303.866.9622 or via e-mail a
dreeves@COchamber.com
Upcoming CACI Council Meetings
Council meetings will be held at the CACI Office beginning at 12
Noon. Council members who would like to sponsor lunches for
Council meetings should contact Misty Fox, CACI Office Manager,
at 303.866-9652 or via e-mail at
mfox@COchamber.com
·
Labor and Employment Council,
Wednesday, January 20th
·
HealthCare Council,
Thursday, January 21st, and the special guest will be
Representative Jim Riesberg (D-Greeley), chair of the
House Health and Human Services Committee; lunch sponsored by
Jim Hoffmeister, President of Test Analysis & Development Corp.
·
Governmental Affairs Council,
Tuesday, January 26th; lunch sponsored by
Matthew Block, Ameristar Casino, whose Web site is:
http://www.ameristar.com/Black_Hawk.aspx
·
Tax Council,
Friday, February 5th, and the confirmed special guest
is Representative Joel Judd (D-Denver), Chair, House
Finance Committee. Senator Paula Sandoval (D-Denver),
Chair, Senate Finance Committee, has been invited; lunch
sponsored by Jamee Allen of Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold
Inc.: http://www.fcx.com/
For the meeting schedule of CACI Councils during the legislative
session, please visit the CACI Web site:
http://www.cochamber.com/newsandevents_calendar.asp
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