The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce announced its position on seven bills working their way through the Colorado General Assembly.
HB15-1366 Expand Job Growth Tax Credit for Higher Education Project/Rep. Dan Pabon (D-Denver) and Sen. David Balmer (R-Centennial)
Summary: The bill allows a taxpayer to receive an income tax credit through the existing job growth incentive tax credit starting on or after Jan. 1, 2015, if the project will be a qualified partnership between the taxpayer and a state institution of higher education; is located on or within one mile of the campus of or on other property owned by the state institution of higher education; and brings a net job growth of at least five new jobs to the state with an average yearly wage of at least 100 percent of the statewide average yearly wage.
Additionally, the bill specifies that if the project is a qualified partnership and the taxpayer is a business that has operated for five or fewer years in the state and did not relocate from another state, then the credit is refundable.
The Denver Metro Chamber supports HB15-1366. This bill extends the very successful job-creation tax credit to jobs that are located nearby a Colorado higher education institution and relaxes some of the conditions previously imposed on companies seeking the credit, which should increase new company formations associated with Colorado’s research-focused higher education institutions.
HB15-1388 SCORE Act for PERA Pension Obligation Bonds /Rep. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst (D-Gunbarrel), Rep. Lois Court (D-Denver), Sen. Pat Steadman (D-Denver)
Summary: Under the bill, current employer and employee contributions into PERA (the Public Employees’ Retirement Association) would be used to pay for bonds issued at a lower fixed interest rate than that currently being charged for the unfunded liability. All income and the contributions above the amount needed to repay the bonds would flow to PERA trust funds to be applied to continue shrinking the unfunded portion of pension liabilities at no new cost to taxpayers, the state, employers, employees or retirees.
The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce supports HB15-1388 because it will improve PERA’s funded status, reduce the payback period on unfunded liabilities and create potential long-term future savings for employers (taxpayers) and employees. Without the approval of these bonds it is estimated taxpayers would have to pay an additional 2 to 3 percent more in contributions in order to reduce the payback period. This bill saves taxpayers as much as $4 to 5 billion.
HB15-1389 Create New Hospital Provider Fee Enterprise/ Rep. Hullinghorst (D – Gunbarrel), Rep. Court (D – Denver), Sen. Steadman (D – Denver)
Summary: The bill creates the health care affordability enterprise as an agency and government-owned business within the department of health care policy and financing. The enterprise would charge and collect a new Hospital Provider Fee that replaces the existing hospital provider fee and would implement and administer the state Hospital Provider Fee program. The bill would ultimately remove the Hospital Provider Fee from the revenues for evaluating TABOR and Ref. C cap levels, which would free up SB 228 funding for transportation infrastructure and education.
The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce supports HB15–1389 because we to think that shifting the Hospital Provider Fee into an enterprise fund is the right move for Colorado. It not only brings the TABOR formula into closer alignment with what voters approved, but it frees up funds to invest in the areas we need them most—education and our roads and bridges. There’s no doubt that our economy is growing, but today’s TABOR cap includes more than $500 million in revenue that is not from economic growth, but from the Hospital Provider Fee. If we don’t do something to better reflect economic growth vs. new revenue as this bill does, we risk losing hundreds of millions of dollars our state needs.
SB15-279 Surety Requirement for Appealing Tax Bills Claimed Due/ Rep. Tracy Kraft-Tharp (D-Arvada), Rep. Jon Keyser (R-Morrison), Sen. Tim Neville (R-Littleton), Sen. Cheri Jahn (D-Wheat Ridge)
Summary: This bill changes the deposit or bond requirements for a taxpayer appealing a final determination of a state or local tax ruling.
Current law requires a taxpayer wishing to appeal a final determination of the executive director of the Department of Revenue or of a local government, within a specified time after filing a notice of appeal, to:
- Set aside twice the amount of the taxes, interest and other charges stated in the final determination by filing a surety bond with the district court;
- Set aside twice the amount of the taxes, interest and other charges stated in the final determination by establishing a savings account, deposit account or certificate of deposit for such amount at a state or national bank or a state or federal savings and loan association doing business in this state; or
- Deposit the disputed amount with the executive director of the Department of Revenue.
Current law also requires home-rule jurisdictions and statutory local governments to follow the same requirements for appeals related to the sales and use taxes they impose.
The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce supports SB15-279 because it reduces the financial commitment necessary when appealing a tax decision and defers any deposit of cash or bond until after the ruling of a district court. This will remove this financial barrier to challenging a tax ruling to the courts, which should reduce the tax appeal risk for businesses wanting to challenge a tax ruling.
SB15-282 – Jump-start Program Economic Development in Distressed Counties / Sen. Ray Scott (R-Grand Junction), Sen. Mike Johnston (D-Denver), Rep. Crisanta Duran (D-Denver), Rep. Yeulin Willett (R-Grand Junction)
Summary: The bill creates the “Tax-friendly Zone Act” and requires the Colorado Economic Development Commission to manage and oversee the program. The bill allows tax-friendly zones to be created in up to 30 of the state’s highly distressed counties. If a new business establishes a relationship with a state institution of higher education in the tax-friendly zone and then locates in the zone, the new business is entitled to tax-friendly zone program benefits, including income, sales and use and property tax credits as determined by the commission.
The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce supports SB15-282 because it provides targeted support in rural distressed communities for job creation and business attraction. This supports overall economic development for the state.
SB15-272 Authorize New Transportation Revenue Anticipation Notes/Sen. Randy Baumgardner (R-Cowdrey) and Rep. Brian DelGrosso (R-Loveland)
Summary: The bill is a referred measure and only takes effect if the voters of the state approve it at the 2015 statewide election. Subject to that voter approval, the bill authorizes the executive director of the Department of Transportation to issue additional transportation revenue anticipation notes (TRANs) in a maximum principal amount of $3.5 billion and with a maximum repayment cost of $5.5 billion.
Under current law, the state treasurer must transfer a percentage of the total general fund revenues to the capital construction fund and the highway users’ tax fund once a trigger based on economic growth occurs (required transfers). The required transfers will be made for each state fiscal year in a five-year period, but the amount of the transfers for a state fiscal year may be reduced or eliminated if the state has to refund excess state revenues under TABOR (the Taxpayers Bill of Rights). In general, if the refund is greater than 1.5 percent but less than 3 percent of the total general fund revenues, then the required transfers are halved, and if it is greater than 3 percent, then the required transfers are eliminated altogether.
For each state fiscal year that the required transfers are reduced or eliminated, the bill adds on another year of transfers to the capital construction fund and the highway users tax fund. Therefore, there will be five fiscal years with the full statutory transfers to the funds, regardless of the number of fiscal years that it takes to do so.
Lastly, the bill specifies that if the voters of the state authorize the issuance of additional TRANs, money transferred to the state highway fund pursuant to statutory provisions enacted as part of Senate Bill 09-228 may be used for general highway operations and maintenance.
The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce opposes SB15-272. Although we support finding a long-term solution to addressing the needs of our roads and bridges, this bill isn’t meaningful unless we pair it with significant revenue. We feel there is a funding solution that is better than relying on declining gas tax, as this bill does. If the legislature moves the Hospital Provider Fee to an enterprise fund, as we’ve urged, we could unlock addition $205 million in transportation funding from the general fund, allowing more opportunity for investment in infrastructure that is critical to our economic success.
SB15-275 Protections Information Provided General Assembly/ Rep. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst (D-Gunbarrel), Rep. Dave Young (D-Greeley), Sen. Kent Lambert (R-Colorado Springs), Sen. Morgan Carroll (D-Aurora)
Summary: The bill recognizes that members of the general assembly may need to receive confidential information during the course of their official duties in making decisions and voting on legislation with respect to all areas of state government. The bill encourages members of the general assembly to use this confidential information when it is necessary for carrying out official duties. Because of the general assembly’s oversight over the health care system in Colorado, the bill specifically directs the governor and state agencies to consider the general assembly and its members a health oversight agency under federal law when any member of the general assembly receives individually identifiable health information. The bill requires members of the general assembly that receive confidential information, including individually identifiable health information, to keep the information confidential and only use it as necessary for the consideration of official actions of the general assembly.
The bill changes the Colorado whistleblower protection law to protect state employees from retaliatory disciplinary action when they give company confidential information to members of the general assembly. The bill specifies that if a state employee gives confidential information to a member of the general assembly, the member of the general assembly shall keep that information confidential and not make it available for public inspection.
The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce opposes SB15-275 because this bill would allow members of the general assembly access to confidential and individually identifiable health information and erodes the protection of sensitive and confidential information of individuals, which is currently protected in statute and federal law. Access to such information is not necessary for the reasonable oversight of the Colorado Health Exchange.
Click here to view all the Chamber’s positions this session.
Jennifer Jones is the director of public affairs for the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.
[Photo by: Ken Lund]