[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: Notes from the February 2012 CML Workshop & Policy Mtg

[cmosupport at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Jones, Suzanne

Dear All—
Below and attached are my belated notes from the Colorado Municipal League’s 2012 Legislative Workshop on February 22 and subsequent Policy Committee Meeting on February 23rd (apologies for the delay--I know you all have been waiting for these!).
Please feel free to contact me with questions, although your better bet is Carl Castillo, City Policy Advisor at castilloc at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:castilloc at bouldercolorado.gov>
Cheers,
Suzanne Jones
P.S. For best format, use the attached version.

NOTES FROM COLORADO MUNICIPAL LEAGUE MEETING—Feb 22-23, 2012

CML’s day-long Legislative Workshop on Feb 22nd was attended by three Boulder City Council members (me, Matt Appelbaum, and KC Becker) along with City Policy Advisor Carl Castillo. Highlights of the day included:

1)   A welcome by Denver Mayor Hancock, who put in a plug for: restoring cuts in state budget; fighting off any attacks on TIF; support for civil unions, the ASSET bill, and completion of FasTracks; and aspirational goals of building out DIA into an “aeropolis” of over 20,000 acres in multiple counties, and his desire to work more collaboratively with other metro mayors on Denver’s Road Home program to end homelessness.

2)   An in-depth overview of the 2012 General Assembly by CML Staff:

·      Roughly 700-800 bills are introduced each year, of which roughly half affect local governments; CML gets deeply involved in about 50 bills.

·      Key legislative themes of this session include:

o   a flurry of oil and gas regulation bills (both to further local government authority over the issue and conversely to take it away);

o   urban renewal authority/tax increment financing (this refers to a “transparency” bill that is expected to soon be introduced by Dickey Lee Hullinghorst);

o   HB 12—1161 Nutrients Scientific Advisory Board: has to do with an EPA rulemaking governing nutrient levels in wastewater—what will be regulated, to what level, and at what cost by whom;

o   an effort to put sidebars on Colorado Open Record Act (CORA) access to voted ballots;

o   lots of pension/PERA bills; and

o   a myriad of bills that CML was concerned might infringe on local government power—ranging from affecting authority to require sprinkler installation, video lottery terminals, and red light camera/photo radar to neighborhood revitalization districts and peace officer bill of rights.

o   While there was nothing on medical marijuana (which was noted by many people as a big and refreshing change), the latest drug concern is bath salts as a controlled substance (who knew?!), which CML remained neutral on.

3)   Concurrent Sessions on Oil & Gas, and Education in Colorado:

·      I attended the Oil & Gas session, which featured presentations by Tisha Schuller of the CO Oil & Gas Association and Geoff Wilson, CML General Counsel.

·      Per CML, legally there is a lot of gray area regarding where state and local jurisdiction overlaps in regulating this industry. Recent statewide efforts have resulted in transformation of the CO Oil & Gas Association Conservation Commission (COGCC) to be less dominated by the industry and some of the most comprehensive oil & gas regulations in the West. However, there is a real interest by local governments to have more authority over drilling in their area and have more protections for air, water and land use put into place—especially because there is so little state resources available to do inspections/enforcement (roughly 1 field inspector for every 3,400 wells). Gunnison County recently did an MOU with the state to allow the county to inspect wells, which might provide a partial solution.

·      Tisha of COGA gave an overview of how fracking works and, not surprisingly, argued against a patchwork of local regulations saying that the industry was already regulated just fine.

·      What is fascinating is how much the issue of “fracking” has recently exploded with the discovery of the Niobrara Formation and increased drilling in suburban neighborhoods. Consequently, there was a lot of Q and A, most interestingly by some conservative local governments (such as Longmont, Erie and even Mead) raising concerns about high air pollution from current drilling rates and potential for groundwater pollution—which COGA ducked with amazing dexterity.

4)   Lunch featured remarks by President of the Senate Brandon Shaffer, Senate Minority Leader Bill Cadman, and Assistant House Majority Leader Mark Waller—mostly they cracked a lot of jovial jokes at each other’s expense and said they really couldn’t do much under the current budget situation.

5)   General Session on Federal Issues affecting Colorado municipalities by Carolyn Coleman, Director of the Office of Federal Relations for the National League of Cities.

·      Carolyn is very well spoken expert. Her most salient point I took away was a reminder that Congressional gridlock works both ways in keeping both good AND bad stuff from happening—e.g., a “bad” Transportation bill that was being discussed but likely wouldn’t pass that would undo funding for mass transit.

6)   Finally, a General Session by members of the Governor’s State Cabinet:

·      Big ticket items highlighted included:  Executive order 5 against unfunded mandates; and “TBD Colorado,” a statewide stakeholder dialogue featuring delegates and meetings around the state to come up with state priorities (see www.TBDColorado.org<http://www.TBDColorado.org>)

·      Mike King, head of DNR, talked about oil & gas regulations:

o   22-23 counties are experiencing lots of development, so state has developed a “Local Government Designee” process to identify local liaisons to work with industry/state.

o   Governor is embarking on a two-month dialogue process to address local government concerns; should see announcement of process in next couple weeks

o   State is starting dialogue on oil & gas well setbacks

·      Mike King also talked about nutrients issue:

o   There are 391 wastewater treatment plants in CO. State looked at percentage of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution (aka “nutrient”); based on cost-benefit analysis, they exempted 170 plants and then further narrowed down to 44 treatment plants (primarily larger and urban plants) to focus on while giving others postponements (see Water Quality Division website for details). Wastewater Quality Control Commission will decide how to proceed; if State doesn’t act, then EPA will.

·      CO is 46th (behind Puerto Rico) in receiving transportation funding—something they hope to fix.

The following day on Feb 23rd was CML’s Policy Committee Meeting, which was attended by two Boulder City Council members (me and Matt Appelbaum) along with City Policy Advisor Carl Castillo and Don Ingle, IT Director, who represents a statewide IG group. Highlights of the meeting included:

1)   CML Staff provided another legislative overview, focusing on pending legislation for which CML still hadn’t determined its position yet. Key bills of interest to Boulder included:

·      Urban Renewal Authority Reporting: being led by Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, this bill has engendered a lot of opposition within CML; Carl Castillo spoke to the importance of maintaining dialogue and Dickey Lee’s willingness to make changes in the bill. CML voted to oppose.

·      SB12-118—Repeal 25% Meal Requirement for Hotel/Restaurant licenses: I spoke in support of CML staff’s recommendation to oppose this bill noting that the 25% requirement was important to Boulder and particularly relevant to our efforts to regulated alcohol use near CU.

·      SB 12-133—Diversion of Electronic Devices from Landfills: after some discussion about mission creep, the CML Policy Committee agreed with staff’s recommendation to support bill.

·      HB 1315—Reorganization of the Governor’s Energy Office: It was noted that Governor Hickenlooper was still negotiating this bill, but that right now it would add traditional energy development under purview of GEO and de-emphasize focus on renewable energy—which would be a big step backwards for RE.

·      SB 12-105—Collateral Consequences: among other things, this bill would mandate that municipal courts have to inform a defendant in writing about the potential consequences of conviction at their first court appearance and at sentencing. CML opposed.

·      HB 12-1312--which clarifies that the PUC, in determining whether or not to grant a certificate of public convenience and necessity for proposed electric transmission lines and associated facilities not constructed in the ordinary course of business, shall not consider land use issues such as the location or alignment of the proposed lines and associated facilities because a local government can address the land use considerations through its land use regulations. The committee voted to monitor the legislation.

 Carolyn Coleman, Director of the Office of Federal Relations for the National League of Cities, spoke again and give an interesting overview of the many issues relevant to cities being heard by the Supreme Court this session:

1.     Case on whether arresting protestor on probably cause violated First Amendment rights—has implications for Occupy Movement; NCL signed brief on behalf of government’s case;

2.     Case from Indianapolis regarding waiving late-payers septic system transfer fees over where to draw lines on equal protection under the law;

3.     Constitutionality of Obama Health Care Act—NCL took no position given split in membership;

4.     Texas redistricting case; and

5.     Arizona immigration law—again NCL took no position given split in membership.
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