Government & Politics  January 5, 2007

NCLA previews top priorities for new session

LOVELAND – Job creation, transportation improvements, business tax relief and a statewide water plan that benefits all Coloradans are top priorities for Northern Colorado in the 2007 state legislative session, according to the Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance.

Every year since 1992, the NCLA – the united public policy advocacy effort of the Fort Collins, Greeley and Loveland chambers of commerce, the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp. and Upstate Colorado Economic Development – has set an agenda it would like to see area lawmakers pursue.

With the Colorado General Assembly set to reconvene Jan. 10, the NCLA has compiled a list of priorities it hopes legislators will consider as they submit bills in 2007. Those priorities were unveiled to local state representatives during a “Legislative Preview” breakfast held Jan. 4 at the McKee Conference and Wellness Center in Loveland.

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Dave Lock, outgoing NCLA chair, said the main purpose of the breakfast and for setting an agenda of priorities is to help ensure business growth and prosperity.

“We’re just trying to maintain a positive business climate in Northern Colorado and throughout the state,” he said. “Obviously, it’s going to be a different year with a Democratic-controlled legislature and (Democrat) Bill Ritter as governor.”

Transportation tops list

Lock said one of the biggest challenges for the legislature again in 2007 will be figuring out how to improve the state’s increasingly inadequate transportation system as population growth threatens to clog Interstate 25 and other major roadways.

“Transportation is obviously going to continue to be a huge issue in Colorado,” Lock said. “But it’s not just roads – it’s transit and all the other ways to move more people around the state.”

Lock said the NCLA strongly supports the creation of a Regional Transit Authority and has pledged to take a lead role in assisting in the formation of a Northern Colorado RTA, serving as a conduit between the business community and local governments.

According to the NCLA, there are more than $4.6 billion in priority transportation projects in Larimer and Weld counties but only about $1.3 billion in identified state, local and federal funding through the year 2030. That leaves a shortfall of about $3.3 billion that somehow must be found.

One particular issue that should be addressed, Lock said, is the fact that Northern Colorado is a “donor region” to the state Highway Users Trust Fund because it receives only about half of the percentage of funds it should be getting based on its growing population.

“We have to look at that because we give more to the state than we receive,” he said.

Immigration major issue

Another major issue that needs more attention from the legislature, Lock noted, is the hiring of illegal workers. The legislature took some action in 2006 passing, among other things, a measure to help ensure that Colorado employers hire only legal residents. That law, HB 1017, went into effect Jan. 1 and imposes fines of $5,000 to $25,000 against employers who knowingly hire people who are not legally authorized to work here.

Lock said the NCLA wants to make certain the legislature doesn’t pass laws that are too onerous for employers, calling further reform “a balancing act” between blocking the employment of illegal workers and punishing those who hire them without checking for proper documentation.

“I think employers are very careful in terms of who they hire and we want to stay away from things that are overly punitive,” he said. “I don’t think many employers are intentionally hiring people illegally.”

NCLA’s priorities

Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance’s Priority Legislative Agenda for 2007 includes:

• Support for efforts to improve Colorado’s tax and regulatory climate to promote job creation, business retention and expansion

• Support for the continuation of the current enterprise zone program as an essential economic development tool

• Support for the maximum allocation of financial resources directed to the North Front Range for transportation projects out of Referendum C and SB 1 proceeds

• Support for programs that ensure the continued viability and strength of the state’s institutions of higher education and accountability for the K-12 system to appropriately prepare students for college or other post-secondary education

• Support for continued efforts to improve fiscal and tax restructuring, including addressing the Gallagher Amendment and the business personal property tax, both of which are seen as detrimental to business vitality

• Opposition to any effort to increase fees to business

• Opposition to any mandates to employers to provide specific health-care services or health insurance to employees

• Support for a statewide water policy plan that ensures continuing water supplies for all Coloradans but not at the expense of one region for another

• Support for immigration reform that is enforceable and does not create unnecessary liability for employers

LOVELAND – Job creation, transportation improvements, business tax relief and a statewide water plan that benefits all Coloradans are top priorities for Northern Colorado in the 2007 state legislative session, according to the Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance.

Every year since 1992, the NCLA – the united public policy advocacy effort of the Fort Collins, Greeley and Loveland chambers of commerce, the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp. and Upstate Colorado Economic Development – has set an agenda it would like to see area lawmakers pursue.

With the Colorado General Assembly set to reconvene Jan. 10, the NCLA has compiled a list of priorities…

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