By

Dan Pilcher

CACI Senior Vice President

& Chief Operating Officer

Phone: 303.866-9600

E-Mail: dpilcher@COchamber.com

Friday, March 2, 2007

Senate Sponsor Urges Colorado Revenue Department to Implement CACI-Initiated “Letter-Ruling” Bill from 2006 Session

Senator Paula Sandoval (D-Denver) recently sent a letter to Roxanne Huber, the new Executive Director of the Colorado Revenue Department, urging the Department to implement HB-1312 to provide companies with binding “letter rulings” on the tax consequences of planned transactions.

The bill originated in the CACI Tax Council.  At that time, Colorado was one of only four states that did not issue binding letter rulings.  CACI argued that the bill would help economic development by providing tax certainty to companies considering locating or expanding in Colorado.

Cash-flow issues within the Department, however, have held up implementation of the new law.  “I am concerned, however, that the Department, prior to your appointment, vacated the rulemaking process and failed to secure a cash-flow loan from the state controller,” Sandoval wrote.

“This issue is so closely tied to economic development as companies that would like to locate in Colorado are hesitant to do so until and unless they have certainty about the tax implications of any business transaction,” wrote Sandoval, “That certainty can only be gained through the Department of Revenue in the form of a letter ruling.”

Because Governor Bill Ritter has made economic development a high priority, Sandoval noted, “there is some urgency” to the full implementation of the law.  She asked Huber to inform her of the Department’s “next steps and a time frame for full implementation.”

CACI Board Director Named to Speaker Romanoff’s Advisory Business-Labor Council

Rick Malone, Vice President for Mission Success at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company and a member of the CACI Board of Directors, has been named to the “Speaker’s Council on Renewing Economic Strength” (SCORES) by House Speaker Andrew Romanoff.  As chair of the CACI Membership Development Committee, Malone also is a member of the CACI Executive Committee.

In the wake of Governor Bill Ritter’s veto of HB-1072, which would have sunk the Colorado Labor Peace Act, the Speaker announced that he would create a group to bring together business and labor leaders to discuss ways to improve the state’s economy and labor-management relations.  The 13-member committee includes legislators, union officials and business leaders.  The Council is expected to discuss health-care, for example.

Legislature Passes Bill to Restore Funding for CU-Denver & CU Health Sciences Center

The Senate yesterday “concurred” with the House version of SB-97, which will send the bill to Governor Bill Ritter for his signature.

Endorsed by CACI, SB-97 will allocate $17 million in tobacco-settlement funds to the University of Colorado at Denver and its Health Sciences Center (HSC).  The HSC and its School of Medicine suffered substantial budget cuts in the years after the 2001 economic recession slump.  The new funding stream will help strengthen the HSC, which is critical for health-care and bio-medical research in the state.  The bill is sponsored by Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald (D-Golden) and House Majority Leader Alice Madden (D-Boulder).

House Kills CACI-Opposed Bill That Would Have Mandated that Health-Insurance Carriers Market Plans to MEWAs

On Monday, the House killed on Second Reading HB-1210, which would have extended a bill from a couple of years ago that tried to set up a pilot program to test the concept of Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements (MEWAs) in Colorado.  The idea was that chambers of commerce, trade associations and other business organizations could offer health insurance plans to members by aggregating the demand by companies and thus reducing costs.

HB-1210, however, would have made mandatory what had been optional before.  It would have required insurance carriers that offer health-benefit plans to small employers to also offer health-benefit plans to MEWAs.

CACI HealthCare Council Chair Ralph Pollock, who testified against the bill before the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee, said that the issue of MEWAs should be studied by the 208 Commission.  The bill was sponsored by Representative Gwyn Green (D-Golden).

Bill to Mandate “Mental-Disorders” Benefits for Employer-Provided Health Insurance Treads Water in Senate Appropriations Committee

Opposed by CACI, SB-36, which would mandate that employer-provided health insurance be required to cover “mental disorders,” is still pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.  The bill, sponsored by Senator Moe Keller (D-Wheat Ridge), is being advocated by the Mental Health Association of Colorado.

CACI opposes bills that would mandate additional coverage on employer-provided health-care benefits because it drives up the cost of insurance premiums for companies.  CACI members have told CACI HealthCare Council Chair Ralph Pollock that they are learning from their heath plans about the probable impact of SB-36, which could lead to at least double-digit premium increases.

CACI Continues to Monitor HB-1176, Which Would Weaken Colorado Workers’ Compensation System

HB-1176 would allow an injured worker to change doctors within 90 days of the injury, provided the worker followed certain procedures, and the request could not be denied.

CACI and other opponents believe that this bill will increase costs on employers and delay the injured worker’s return to work.  The bill also will require the insurance company, or the self-insured employer, to provide the names of two “unaffiliated” doctors or one or more networks from which the worker could choose.  Current law allows for judicial relief for the small number of workers’ comp cases that can’t be resolved administratively.

The bill is sponsored by Representative Morgan Carroll (D-Aurora) and Senator Lois Trochtop (D-Thornton).  Assigned to the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee, the bill has yet to be heard.

For More Information on Bills . . .

CACI members with questions about legislation that CACI opposes or supports should contact Chuck Berry, CACI President, at 303.866.9601 or e-mail him at cberry@COchamber.com

Questions pertaining to the health-care policy bills should be directed to Ralph Pollock, Chair of the CACI HealthCare Council at 303.866.9657 or via e-mail at ralph@apaccess.com

CACI’s Legislative Agenda is a complete listing of bills that CACI is lobbying, either in support or opposition.  The Legislative Agenda can be found on the CACI Web site, where it will be updated on a weekly basis.

www.COchamber.com

If you wish to track a particular bill’s legislative process, you can do so by going to the legislature’s Web site:

www.leg.state.co.us