By

Dan Pilcher

CACI Senior Vice President

& Chief Operating Officer

Phone: 303.866-9600

E-Mail: dpilcher@COchamber.com

Friday, June 20, 2008

Colorado Oil and Gas Industry to Protest Draft Regulations Monday in Denver

On Monday, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) will hold a hearing in Denver on draft regulations to govern the oil and gas industry.  The hearing will be held from 8 a.m. until 12 Noon at the Paramount Theatre, 1621 Glenarm Place.  Speakers will sign up to testify in the lobby of the Paramount Theatre.  

Prior to the hearing, CACI members who support the Colorado oil and gas industry in its opposition to the draft rules are invited to attend a continental breakfast nearby at Marlowe’s at 501 16th Street from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.  If you want to attend, please RSVP today to Amanda at 303.625.1065.

For more on the COGCC hearing, visit:

www.cogcc.state.co.us

On June 10th, the COGCC held a hearing in Grand Junction, and about 2,000 people participated in the hearing.  For news coverage of the Western Slope hearing, visit:

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/10/hearing-oil-gas-rules-jammed/

Although the CACI Board of Directors has in recent months discussed the COGCC draft rules, the Board has not taken a position.

Governor Ritter Urges CACI Board to Back His Severance Tax Initiative

On Thursday, June 12th, Governor Bill Ritter urged the CACI Board of Directors to support his severance tax initiative, Proposal Number 113, that would, among other things, provide substantial funding for scholarships for college students.

CACI believes that higher education, which is critical to Colorado’s economic prosperity, needs increased funding, given the severe cuts that it suffered during the economic downturn in the early part of the decade.

The Governor’s proposal, however, would not provide funding to the operating budgets of higher educational institutions but instead would give the money to students in the form of scholarships.

CACI also is concerned about legislative and ballot proposals that seek to increase taxes on one business sector.  The Governor’s proposal would increase taxes on the oil and gas industry by $321.4 million, according to the ballot title, by eliminating a credit against the state severance tax for local property taxes paid by producers and “interest owners.”

The increased state revenues would go into three pots.  The first is the Severance Tax Trust Fund (22 percent) and the second is the Local Government Severance Tax Fund (22 percent).  The third pot would be a new Severance Tax Stabilization Fund, which would receive the rest, or 56 percent, of the new revenue. 

Within the Severance Tax Stabilization Fund, revenue would then be allocated to the following purposes:

• Scholarships for students attending state colleges and universities (60 percent);

• Local drinking and wastewater treatment (5 percent);

• Transportation projects in areas affected by oil and gas production (10 percent); Preservation of native wildlife habitat (15 percent); and

• Renewable energy and energy-efficiency programs (10 percent).

The CACI Board did not take a position on the Governor’s initiative.  The CACI Executive Committee will meet with the Board of Directors of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association in July.  The next regularly scheduled meeting of the CACI Board will be September 25-26 when the Board holds its Annual Retreat at the Antlers at Vail.

For more on the Governor’s proposal, visit:

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_9057490

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/apr/24/ritter-backs-severance-tax-college-scholarships/

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/09/severance-tax-plan-would-hurt-energy-producing-com/?printer=1/

CACI Board Backs Referendum on Ballot Initiatives

At its June 12th meeting, the CACI Board of Directors endorsed Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 3, the referendum that would make it more difficult for citizens to put an initiated constitutional amendment on the ballot but that also would make it easier for an initiated statutory measure to be placed on the ballot.

The referendum would change the minimum number of signatures currently required for a constitutional measure from 5 percent of the votes cast in the previous election for the secretary of state to 6 percent of the votes cast in the previous election for the governor.  It would require that 10 percent of the minimum number of signatures for a constitutional proposal be gathered from citizens in each of the state’s seven congressional districts.  There currently is no requirement on where signatures can be gathered.  In addition, the petition signatures for a constitutional measure would have to be filed seven months prior to an election.  This year, petition signatures have to be filed by August 4th for a measure to appear on the ballot for the November 4th election.

For a statutory measure, proponents would have to gather 4 percent of the votes cast for the governor in the prior election.  But proponents would not be required to gather signatures in the seven congressional districts.  Once voters approve a statutory initiative, it could not be changed by the legislature for six years after it became effective except for a two-thirds vote by each chamber of the Colorado General Assembly.

Because CACI has long been concerned about the ease with which the Colorado Constitution can be amended, the Board voted to support the referendum.  CACI is concerned, however, that the referendum, if approved by the voters, will result in greater numbers of statutory measures on the ballot in the future.  For more on the referendum, visit:

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/may/09/the-right-incentives/

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_9172818