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Dan Pilcher
CACI Senior Vice
President
& Chief Operating Officer
E-Mail:
dpilcher@COchamber.com
Phone: 303.866.9600
www.COchamber.com
Friday, July 30, 2010
Mark the Date: CACI Fundraiser Set for August 31st, for
Key Legislative Candidates in Critical Races
CACI is planning a fundraising reception on Tuesday, August 31st,
for its small-donor committee to support key pro-business
legislative candidates in a small number of races that may well
determine whether or not the 2011 and 2012 session of the
Colorado General will be business friendly—or a replay of the
fractious session earlier this year that was the most difficult
for the business community in recent memory.
The reception will be held, beginning at 4:30 p.m., in the
Augusta Room at The Westin Tabor Center, which is the event
sponsor.
To attend, a person must have contributed $50 in advance to
CACI’s small-donor committee, The CACI Prosperity Fund,
or bring a personal check for that amount made out to the
Fund to the event.
In addition, an individual can give up to $400 to a candidate
over the two-year election cycle. These candidates would deeply
appreciate CACI members giving them personal checks to support
their races.
If you have already donated to The CACI Prosperity Fund,
Tricia Smith, CACI Director of Events and Programs, will have a
master list and will have you checked off.
For those who have contributed to The CACI Prosperity Fund
and who attend this event, there will be drawings for several
door prizes, including a Southwest Airline’s ticket and Outback
Steakhouse gift certificates.
To help CACI members and others support our small-donor
committee, CACI has activated a PayPal account to allow you the
convenience of making a secure, on-line contribution of $50. We
urge you to contribute now by clicking here:
The 2010 general election for seats in the Colorado General
Assembly is less than 100 days away, and business-friendly
candidates and legislators need your support.
Under Colorado’s campaign finance laws, an individual can
contribute $50 per calendar year to a small-donor committee.
You, your co-workers, friends and family members who want to
support CACI’s effort to elect pro-business candidates can each
contribute $50.
Why is this important? A small-donor committee can give up to
$2,125 to a state legislative candidate. A political action
committee, such as CACI’s Colorado Business Political Action
Committee, however, can only give $400 to each candidate.
The reason that a small-donor committee contribution is
important is because organized labor advocated this provision in
Amendment 27, the campaign-finance initiative approved by
Colorado voters in 2002. Common Cause was the main advocate of
Amendment 27, which banned direct contributions by unions and
businesses to candidates.
Rest assured that the unions--using the payroll deduction
mechanism for their members--are pouring tens of thousands of
dollars into the key legislative races to advance their
interests in the 2011 and 2012.
CACI’s small-donor committee contribution, therefore, will be an
important factor in the financial support of CACI-endorsed
legislative candidates in the fight for these critical,
competitive seats.
In short,
we urgently need your
help. For the business community, the stakes cannot be higher.
Additional details about CACI’s August 31st event
will be sent to CACI members within a few days.
CACI HealthCare Council Members Attend Health-Exchange Forum
Note: This section was
written by Dan Anglin, CACI Governmental Affairs Representative.
Last Friday, July 23rd, the
Colorado
Department of Health Care Policy and Funding, in
partnership with the Colorado Coalition for the Medically
Underserved (CCMU) and the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative (CCHI),
conducted the first of several public meetings to address the
formation of a health-care insurance “exchange” in Colorado.
An exchange is the concept that a new “entity” will emerge that
provides a marketplace for the purchase of health insurance,
primarily for the uninsured, which is one of many mandatory
measures required by the Federal Patient Protection and Care Act
(PPACA).
Attendance at the forum was standing-room only as more than 100
interested persons arrived to discuss the formation of a health
exchange. CACI members and other representatives of the
business community attended—along with consumers, providers,
brokers, insurers, nurses and physicians--to hear how the
exchange will be formed.
The PPACA requires that a state either create its own exchange
or “opt out” of a state exchange, which will then mean that the
state will be required to participate in an exchange governed by
a national administrator.
It is unlikely that Colorado will opt out of creating a state
exchange, but it is still a possibility. Legislative action by
the Colorado General Assembly will be required in 2011 to create
an exchange, and the bill (or bills) will likely determine
whether the exchange will be governed by a state agency or a
nonprofit organization as required by the PPACA.
During the presentation, Gretchen Hammer, Executive Director of
CCMU, presented a slideshow asking key questions of the
attendees:
·
What are the goals for the exchange(s) in Colorado?
·
How will the exchange influence the insurance market in
Colorado?
·
How will the exchange help consumers and small businesses
understand, compare and purchase insurance?
·
How will the exchange support compliance with Federal and
Colorado regulations and requirements?
·
What is the best structure for governance and sustainability?
Although the meeting did not provide answers to these questions,
the discussion is still in an early stage. Concerns were raised
by many representatives of the health-care industry--including:
physicians, nurses, brokers, and providers--that the exchange,
if not properly created, may have an adverse impact on employers
and the thousands of workers in Colorado’s health-care
industries.
The discussion will continue in a series of public meetings that
will be held over the next three months. The next meeting is
scheduled for August 12, 9:00 a.m. to 11 a.m., at the Molly
Blank Center at National Jewish Health. Additional meetings
are tentatively scheduled for:
Date
Time
Location
Aug. 30 3:00 p.m.--5:00
p.m. TBD
Sept. 13 3:00 p.m.--5:00
p.m. TBD
Sept. 29 9:00 a.m.--11:00
a.m. TBD
October
Outside metro Denver
Meanwhile, Mountain States Employers Council, a CACI member,
will be hosting a series of health-care educational forums for
its members on the exchange.
The panel will consist of Steve ErkenBrack, President and CEO,
Rocky Mountain Health Plans; Leo Tokar, Vice President, Lockton
Companies; and Lorez Meinhold, Office of Governor Ritter
The first forum will begin at 8:30 a.m., Tuesday, August 17, at
the MSEC Office. To learn more about these forums, please visit
the MSEC
Website.
For more information on CACI HealthCare Council issues, please
contact Dan Anglin, CACI Governmental Affairs Representative, at
303.866.9641 or via e-mail at
danglin@COchamber.com
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