Dan Pilcher

CACI Senior Vice President

& Chief Operating Officer

E-Mail: dpilcher@COchamber.com

www.COchamber.com

Friday, September 9, 2011

Colorado’s Legislative Reapportionment Process: Why it Matters to CACI Members

On Wednesday, CACI hosted a bi-partisan Colorado Reapportionment Commission presentation, which included a panel of two Commission members: Commissioner Gayle Berry and Commissioner Mario Nicolais.  Senator Pat Steadman (D-Denver), who has been following the Commission’s work very closely, also participated in the panel discussion, which was attended by more than 30 CACI members.

Although Commissioner Dolores Atencio had planned to participate, she was unable to do so due to a death in her family.  Here’s background information on each of the panel members:

Commissioner Gayle Berry  Commissioner Berry is the owner and founder of G. Berry Corporation, a public affairs and lobbying firm.  Prior to starting her company, Gayle represented Grand Junction served in the Colorado House of Representatives for eight years.  She chaired the House Transportation Committee and was a member of the Joint Budget Committee and the House Appropriations Committee.  Gail is a CACI member, whose lobbying firm represents such interests as mineral extraction, higher education, energy, health care, and local government.  Gayle was appointed to the Commission by Governor John Hickenlooper.

Commissioner Mario Nicolais, II  Commissioner Nicolais is a partner at the Hackstaff Law Group and a graduate of the University of Colorado Law School.  His legal work focuses on renewable energy, real estate finance and development.  Mario also advises candidates on election and campaign finance topics.  He served as a Senior Research Analyst for the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee, and was the Political Director for the 2004 Bob Schaffer for U.S. Senate Campaign.  Mario was appointed to the Commission by Senate Minority Leader Mike Kopp.

Senator Pat Steadman  Senator Steadman was selected in 2009 to fill a vacancy in the Colorado Senate and was elected in 2010.  The Senator is a graduate of the University of Colorado Law School, and, after law school, he worked for AFSCME Council 76, a labor union representing public employees.  His career then turned to politics as ballot-issue campaigns and lobbying work became his passion.  The Senator joined a lobbying firm in 1994 and became a partner in 2001.  The Senator has been actively engaged in the work of the Colorado Reapportionment Commission.

The presentation was moderated by Loren Furman, CACI Vice President of Governmental Relations, and the panel members were asked the following questions:

·         What are the criteria you are required to use for formulating the maps based on the provisions of the Colorado Constitution? 

·         Can you discuss the competiveness issues surrounding the districts and how you measure competitiveness?

·         Can you discuss the January 2002 decision by the Colorado Supreme, written by Court Justice Gregory J. Hobbs, Jr., that remanded the reapportionment map and how that has impacted the map drawing process this year?

·         Since you wrapped up the public hearings last week, can you discuss the timeline for voting on the maps and submitting them to the Colorado Supreme Court for approval?

In the Hobbs’ decision, the Court said:

“Because our role does not include redrawing the statewide apportionment map to comply with the applicable constitutional criteria, this being the Commission's responsibility, and because the Commission may choose to make other alterations in district boundaries on remand in redrawing the apportionment map, we set aside the Commission's action and remand the Adopted Plan to the Commission for further consideration, modification, re-adoption, and re-submittal by 5:00 p.m. on February 15, 2002.”

The panel members provided very insightful and balanced responses to each of the questions, and also shared some of the complications in trying to develop maps that meet the consensus of the entire Reapportionment Commission.

The panel discussed the criteria that the Commission is using to develop the maps as well as some of the other interest[s], including:

·         The mixed opinions by Commission members of Justice Hobbs’ decision;

·         Attempting to develop a  formula to create competitiveness in districts;

·         Uneven growth among districts;

·         Interests in staying within county boundaries; and

·         Addressing community interests and feedback received during the 25 public hearings held across the state. 

The panel also discussed the timing of submitting the maps to the Colorado Supreme Court by the deadline of October 7^th, and pointed out that the Court will be reviewing the maps very quickly once it receives them.  Click here to view the schedule for the Court and the Commission to approve the maps.

The panel told the CACI members that the Court cannot re-draw the maps if it finds them unconstitutional, but it can remand them back to the Commission to re-draw them.  This timing is very critical because county clerks will have to re-draw the precincts within their jurisdictions once the Court approves the maps and files them with the Secretary of State. 

CACI hosted the presentation because it believes that it’s very important to provide CACI members with an understanding of the reapportionment process based on its impact to nearly all legislative districts in Colorado.  The presentation allowed CACI members to hear directly from panel members who have been actively engaged in the process and ask questions as to how certain legislative seats will be affected by the drawing of the reapportionment maps. 

This presentation also was important because it will directly relate to CACI’s legislative candidate interview process in the summer of 2012 because CACI will endorse and support pro-business, Republican and Democrat legislative candidates.  CACI believes that the re-drawing of the districts should be a fair representation so that it can continue to support pro-business candidates from both major political parties.

CACI Sponsors Legislative Tour of Medtronic

On Tuesday, nine Colorado state legislators participated in a CACI-sponsored tour of the Medtronic Navigation and Imaging manufacturing and educational facility in Louisville.

Medtronic, a CACI Silver Partner, is a global leader in operating room surgical technology and an innovator in disease management. The Louisville facility includes an educational center with an operating room surgical center to train surgeons in the newest developments in surgical technology.

The nine legislators in attendance were Representatives: Cindy Acree (R-Aurora), Don Beezley (R-Broomfield), J. Paul Brown (R-Ignacio), Deb Gardner (D-Niwot), John Kefalas (D-Fort Collins), Larry Liston (R-Colorado Springs), Robert Ramirez (R-Arvada), Keith Swerdfeger (R-Pueblo), and Dave Young (D-Fort Collins).  The group was joined by a staffer from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

Hosting the tour was Natalie St. Denis, who along with other members of the Medtronic staff, met with the CACI group.  Medtronic’s Colorado division specifically focuses on surgical technologies and operating room techniques.  The CACI group was presented with in-depth information about the devices being developed to lower radiation levels to which surgeons and patients are exposed and to increase the accuracy for spinal and brain surgeries.  The group was given an opportunity to experience this technology with a hands-on demonstration and a presentation by operating-room technicians.

The Medtronic team also provided details about the Colorado operations: there are five Colorado facilities with over 400 high-salaried employees.  The company has created more than 50 jobs in the last year and contracts with more than 60 vendors and suppliers in Colorado.

The Medtronic tour was a part of CACI’s outreach initiative this summer and fall to introduce legislators to CACI members through visits to the companies to learn about the challenges facing businesses and how state laws and regulations affect their operations.  The second component of the CACI effort involves CACI staff traveling around the state to speak about the legislative session to local chambers of commerce and meet with CACI members.