H_FIN_2018A 03/19/2018 01:37:28 PM Committee Summary

Speaker Duran and Representative Becker J., co-prime sponsors, presented Senate Bill 18-007, which continues the Colorado low-income housing tax credit that is scheduled to expire after 2019 for an additional five years.

Ms. Jerilynn Martinez, representing the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, testified in support of the bill.  Ms. Martinez responded to committee questions.

Mr. Ismael Guerrero, representing the Denver Housing Authority, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Guerrero responded to committee questions. Representative Becker also commented on committee questions.

Ms. Martinez returned to the table to address additional committee questions.

Ms. Jacquiline Smith, representing herself, testified in support of the bill.

Ms. Doris Duckett, representing herself, testified in support of the bill.

Ms. Barbara Johnson, representing herself, testified in support of the bill.

Ms. Sara Reynolds, representing Housing Colorado, testified in support of the bill.

Ms. Meghan Dollar, representing the Colorado Municipal League, testified in support of the bill.

Ms. Gini Pingenot, representing Colorado Counties, Inc., testified in support of the bill.

Mr. Chris Sosa, representing the ARC of Colorado, testified in support of the bill.

Ms. Rachel Stern, representing Advantage Capital, testified in support of the bill and responded to committee questions.

Mr. Brendon Reese, representing the Department of Revenue, addressed committee questions. Ms. Martinez returned to the table to address additional committee questions.

The bill sponsors made closing remarks on the bill.

Representatives Young and Wist, co-prime sponsors, presented House Bill 18-1070, which diverts additional marijuana excise tax revenue from the Public School Fund to the Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) program and raises the cap on the annual BEST lease payments. The bill sponsors distributed a fact sheet about the BEST program [Attachment B] and responded to questions from the committee.

Ms. Kathy Gebhardt, representing the BEST program and the Colorado Association of School Boards, testified in support of the program.

Former Senator Keith King, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

Mr. George Welsh, representing the Canon City School District and the Rural Schools Alliance, testified in support of the bill.

Mr. Maxwell Henson, representing the Canon City School District and himself as a parent of children that attend Washington Elementary, testified in support of the bill.

Ms. Monica Johnson, representing the Strasburg 31J School District, testified in support of the bill.

The bill sponsors made closing remarks on the bill and responded to committee questions.

Members of the committee commented on the merits of the bill.

Representatives Arndt and Wist, co-prime sponsors, presented Senate Bill 18-066, which continues the State Lottery Division in the Department of Revenue until July 1, 2049. The bill sponsors responded to committee questions.

Committee discussion continued on the length of the extension of the State Lottery Division.

Ms. Kate Kramer, representing Go Wild NEMC, testified in support of the bill.

Ms. Gini Pingenot, representing Colorado Counties, Inc. and the Colorado Municipal League, testified in support of the bill.

Mr. Scott Braden, representing Conservation Colorado, testified in support of the bill.

Mr. Stewart Lewis, representing the Outdoor Industry Association, testified in support of the bill.

Mr. Danny Williams, representing the Colorado Cattlemen's Association, testified in support of the bill and responded to committee questions.

Mr. Brendon Reese, representing the Department of Revenue, and Ms. Amanda Hill, representing Great Outdoors Colorado, came to table to address questions from the committee.

The bill sponsors made closing remarks on the bill.

Representative J. Becker, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 18-1153, which addresses situations in which an insurer and an insured disagree over the value of a loss under an insurance contract and specifies how this is to be handled by appraisers and umpires.  The bill sponsor responded to committee questions.

Reverend Brad Strait, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

Ms. Kelly Campbell, representing the Property and Casualty Insurers Association of America, testified in opposition to the bill and responded to committee questions.

Mr. John Sands, representing himself, testified in opposition to the bill and responded to committee questions.

Mr. Berrick Abramson and Ms. Carrie Steele, representing themselves, testified in support of the bill and responded to committee questions.

Mr. Christopher Mammel, representing himself, testified in support of the bill and responded to committee questions. Representative Becker also responded to committee questions.

Representative Becker made closing remarks on the bill.

Representatives Singer and Melton, co-prime sponsors, presented House Bill 18-1258, which, conditional upon local approval, allows the operation of marijuana accessory consumption establishments where medical marijuana patients and retail marijuana customers may consume, without smoking, one serving of marijuana.  The bill sponsors responded to committee questions.  Amendments L.001 through L007 [Attachments C through I, respectively] were distributed to the committee.

Major Steve Garcia, representing the Colorado State Patrol, testified in opposition to the bill.

Mr. Ron Sloan, representing the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, testified in opposition to the bill.

Major Garcia responded to committee questions.

Mr. R.J. Ours, representing the American Cancer Society, testified in opposition to the bill and responded to committee questions.

Mr. Ed Wood, representing DUID Victim Voices, testified in opposition to the bill.

Ms. Henny Lasley, representing Smart Colorado, testified in opposition to the bill and responded to committee questions. Ms. Lasley distributed a packet of information about the bill [Attachment J].

Mr. Christopher Woods, representing Terrapin Care Station, testified in support of the bill.

Mr. Shawn Coleman, representing Terrapin Care Station, testified in support of the bill.

Ms. Saskia Young, representing Live Well Enlightened Health, testified in support of the bill.

Mr. Coleman responded to committee questions.

Mr. Peter Calfee, representing GoFire, Inc. testified in support of the bill.

Mr. Trevor Vita, representing Grasshopper Vape, testified in support of the bill.

Mr. Jason Warf, representing the Southern Colorado Cannabis Council, testified about the bill.

Ms. Amber Racick, representing Studio A64, testified about the bill.

Mr. Warf and Ms. Racick responded to committee questions.

Ms. Dominique Mendiola, representing the Marijuana Enforcement Division in the Department of Revenue, testified from a neutral position on the bill.

Mr. Kyle Lambert, representing the Marijuana Enforcement Division in the Department of Revenue, testified from a neutral position on the bill.

Ms. Mendiola responded to committee questions.

Mr. Kevin Bommer, representing the Colorado Municipal League, testified from a neutral position on the bill.

Representative Benavidez presented amendment L.005 [Attachment G].

The bill sponsors made closing remarks on the bill.

Representatives Hooton and Pabon, co-prime sponsors, presented Senate Bill 18-179, which permanently extends the excise tax credit for sales of non-cigarette tobacco products to out-of-state consumers. The bill sponsors distributed a sample quarterly tax return for tobacco products [Attachment K].

Mr. Greg Sobetski, representing Legislative Council Staff, explained the bill's prepared fiscal note and responded to questions from the committee and the bill sponsors. The bill sponsors also responded to committee questions.

Ms. Rebecca Dubroff, representing the American Heart Association and the Children's Hospital of Colorado, testified in opposition to the bill.

Mr. RJ Ours, representing the American Cancer Society, testified in opposition to the bill.

The bill sponsors addressed questions from the committee.

Mr. Brendon Reese, representing the Department of Revenue, addressed committee questions.

Ms. Mary Szarmach, representing Smoker Friendly, testified in support of the bill and responded to committee questions.

The bill sponsors made closing remarks on the bill.

Members of the committee commented on the merits of the bill.