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Dan Pilcher
CACI Senior Vice President
& Chief Operating Officer
Phone: 303.866.9600
E-Mail:
dpilcher@cochamber.com
Friday, March 5, 2010
CACI-Opposed E-Verify Mandate Bill Dies in Committee
During each regular legislative session for the last three
years, Senator Dave Schultheis (R-Colorado Springs) has proposed
a bill that would mandate that employers use the controversial
Federal E-Verify system to check on the legal status of
prospective workers. Each session, the bill has died in the
first committee where it was heard.
On Wednesday, SB-33, this session’s incarnation of the proposal,
died on a partisan three-to-two vote in the State, Veterans and
Military Affairs Committee.
Three Democratic Senators—Betty Boyd (Lakewood), Rollie Heath
(Boulder) and Bob Bacon (Fort Collins)--voted against the bill.
The two votes for the bill came from Senator Schultheis and
Senator Bill Cadman (R-Colorado Springs).
Sybil Kisken, chair of CACI’s Labor and Employment Committee,
testified against the bill. She is Of Counsel with Davis Graham
and Stubbs LLP.
SB-33 would have repealed existing State law governing how
employers screen prospective new workers for their legal work
status, including how they examine and retain records. It would
have created the “Fair and Legal Employment for Coloradans
Act.” This proposal would mandate that Colorado private-sector
employers participate in the voluntary federal electronic
verification program called E-Verify to determine the legal
eligibility for employment of prospective workers:
http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1185221678150.shtm
CACI’s primary objection is that the underfunded E-Verify
program is neither accurate nor provides for timely verification
of work-eligibility status. Requiring Colorado’s 500,000
private-sector businesses to participate or face significant
fines and penalties places an undue burden on them, does not
accomplish the goal of eliminating illegal workers and,
therefore, does not make sense.
SB-33, like the bills that Senator Schultheis has sponsored in
the past, was modeled on a controversial, stringent Arizona law
that is being fought by employers in Federal Court. Here are
some of the major provisions of SB-33:
·
The State Attorney General and county and city attorneys would
be required to investigate complaints that an employer is not
complying with SB-33.
·
If the complaint has merit, the State AG or the county or city
attorney would be required to notify law enforcement and U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
·
Employers that did not participate in E-Verify would be subject
to fines up to $20,000.
·
An employer that hired an illegal alien would have been subject
to such penalties as revocation, suspension or probationary
periods for business licenses issued by any State or local
government entity.
·
A court assessing the suspension of a business license could
not have taken into account the potential financial hardship
on the employer.
·
Anyone could have filed a signed, sworn complaint with the State
AG alleging that an employer was not participating in the
Federal E-Verify program.
·
The bill contained specific deadlines for using the E-Verify
system for new hires, depending on the size of the company.
As mentioned, CACI opposed similar legislation in the 2007, 2008
and 2009 sessions as well as during the special session on
illegal immigration in the summer of 2006. CACI is
participating in an amicus curiae brief with eleven other state
chambers of commerce and manufacturing associations in the case
before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
challenging the Arizona law.
CACI Sends Colorado’s U.S. Senators a Letter about EPA’s
“Endangerment Finding”
On Tuesday, CACI President Chuck Berry mailed letters to U.S.
Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet expressing concerns from
CACI members about the so-called “endangerment finding” by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Here’s the text of
the letter:
On behalf of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry,
I am writing to express the concerns many of our members have
expressed with the EPA’s “endangerment finding” and the
subsequent consequences of that finding.
EPA’s proposal leaves no room for common sense agreements that
address carbon emissions while protecting this nation’s
struggling economy. In addition, the EPA’s proposal is poorly
timed while Congress is currently engaged in an extensive debate
over how and to what extent the United States should limit its
use of fossil fuels as a means of reducing carbon emissions to
the atmosphere.
The proposed regulatory requirements of the Clean Air Act would
overwhelm the Colorado state agencies, which are not equipped to
handle the many permitting requests anticipated. Only Congress
can act to avoid the significant costs and burdens imposed by
the proposed regulations on stationary sources, which even EPA
admits will lead to “absurd results.”
The pending EPA effort would burden progress on two of the
nation’s top priorities – environmental improvement and economic
recovery – by imposing onerous permitting requirements that will
significantly delay or even eliminate investments in new energy
efficient technologies. Nationwide, millions of jobs were lost
in 2009 and these proposed regulations have the potential to
cause even more job losses.
Regardless of how one views the science on this matter, it is
clear from the outcome of the Copenhagen discussions that there
will be no meaningful international agreement that puts all
nations on a level playing field with respect to carbon
emissions. In the absence of such an international agreement, it
would be extremely unwise for the United States to undertake
such regulatory action as contemplated by EPA – from an economic
as well as an environmental standpoint.
Without a concerted global effort, it is widely accepted that no
one state, much less one country, can affect the global
climate. Even so, Colorado is not unique in requiring, through
statute, an ever increasing amount of renewable energy be part
of the fuel mix.
Any attempt by the EPA to further regulate carbon emissions from
stationary sources on a broad scale would be damaging to
Colorado and the entire nation.
CACI strongly encourages you to carefully consider our views on
this important issue. We join the many voices urging you to
support legislative action that would suspend EPA’s authority to
regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act.
For more information on this issue, visit the Web sites of the
U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of
Manufactures (CACI is affiliated with both organizations):
http://www.uschamber.com/issues/index/environment/climatechange.htm
http://www.nam.org/Issues/Energy-and-Climate/Climate-Change.aspx
For articles about this issue in The Denver Post, click on these
links:
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_14410590
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_12169129
Health-Care Bills Moving Slowly
Note:
the following section was written by Dan Anglin, CACI
Governmental Affairs Representative
On Wednesday, the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee
heard testimony on HB-1166 (Plain Language in Insurance
Policies), sponsored by Representative John Kefalas (D-Fort
Collins). CACI’s HealthCare Council opposes this bill as
introduced because the measure would have required health- and
auto-insurance carriers to rewrite policies at a tenth-grade
reading level.
Insurance carriers are concerned about the costs associated with
rewriting all policies and the potential for litigation because
of broad language instead of specific legal and medical
terminology. The bill was laid over until Wednesday, March
10th, to allow Representative Kefalas additional time to
incorporate the many amendments, which are being offered, into
the bill. Most of the amendments address the concerns of the
CACI HealthCare Council.
Other bills, which the CACI HealthCare Council has discussed,
have been scheduled for Second Reading in the House and the
Senate:
·
HB-1168 (Limit the Ability of Insurer to Obtain Repayment),
subrogation);
·
HB 1160 (Wellness Incentives); and
·
SB-76 (Unreasonable Insurance Claims Practices).
The Wednesday, March 17th meeting of the CACI
HealthCare Council will feature Senator Shawn Mitchell
(R-Broomfield) and Representative Cindy Acree (R-Aurora) who
will discuss health-care bills that they have co-sponsored
together as well as their individual efforts on Colorado
health-care issues.
For information on health-care bills, contact Dan Anglin, CACI
Governmental Affairs Representative, at 303.866.9641 or via
e-mail at
danglin@COchamber.com
CACI Bill to Resolve Disputes over Sales-and-Use Taxes Paid to
Local Governments Passes First House Committee
On Tuesday, the House Local Government Committee unanimously
approved SB-142 and sent it to the House Floor for Second
Reading. The House sponsor is Representative Cheri Gerou
(R-Evergreen).
This bill--initiated by the CACI Tax Council--amends current
statute 29-2-106.1 (2)(a), C.R.S., to provide that the protest
period for notice of deficiencies be standardized by
municipalities to 30 days. Current law requires a local
government to issue a deficiency notice to a taxpayer when
sales-and-use taxes are due. Since current law does not provide
a uniform period that a protest must be filed with a local
government, the filing time varies broadly among
municipalities. For example, some cities provide 20 days while
others provide 30 days.
CACI’s Tax Council and the Colorado Municipal League cooperated
on this proposal based on an agreement by the two organizations
that this change will help both taxpayers and municipalities in
the following ways:
·
SB-142 ensures that taxpayers are on notice that a standard
number of days (30) are allowed by each municipality for a
taxpayer to protest a notice of deficiency.
·
Many cities have a 20-day protest period, or less, which is too
short for a taxpayer to receive an assessment, evaluate the
assessment, consult with outside advisors if necessary, prepare
a protest, and get it filed. This bill establishes a
time-certain of 30 days for a protest period.
·
The bill aligns with the State of Colorado, which allows 30 days
to protest assessments.
·
SB-142 creates consistency for taxpayers who are filing a
protest to a deficiency notice when sales and use taxes are due.
For more information about this bill, contact Loren Furman, CACI
Vice President of Governmental Affairs, at 303.866.8642 or via
e-mail at
lfurman@COchamber.com
Bill Granting Tax Credits to Companies to Re-Hire Laid-Off
Workers Awaits Action by Senate Appropriations Committee
SB-133, which would grant income-tax credits to employers to
“incentivize” them to re-hire laid-off workers sooner rather
than later, has not yet been scheduled for a hearing by the
Senate Appropriations Committee.
The Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee approved the
bill on a party-line vote on March 16th. The Senate
co-sponsors of the bill are Senator Rollie Heath (D-Boulder) and
Senator Chris Romer (D-Denver). As introduced, the SB-133
would:
·
Apply only to firms that laid off workers during 2009;
·
Apply only to firms that rehire the works sooner than they would
have without the tax credit;
·
Apply only when the re-hired worker has been employed for at
least one year after the re-hire; and
·
Be available to employers for the tax year beginning January 1,
2011.
The credit would be equal to a percentage of the employer’s
costs for paying the employer’s share of FICA taxes, which is
7.65 percent of an employee’s salary. For workers rehired
between January 1st and April 30th of this
year, the credit per worker is equal to 66 percent of the
employer’s FICA taxes. For workers rehired between May 1st and
August 31st of this year, the credit is 33 percent.
An employer who wants to claim the credit would have to submit
an affidavit with his or her tax return saying that:
·
The person rehired during the eligibility period worked for them
a year before being laid off and was laid off during last year;
·
Each person rehired has worked for the company for one year
since the rehire date; and
·
Were it not for the credit, the firm would not have rehired the
individual by the date of re-hire.
If the credit amount exceeds the tax liability of the employer,
it cannot be refunded to the employer but it can be carried
forward and used as a credit on future tax returns for up to
five years.
The bill is projected to cost the state $5.5 million in fiscal
year 2010-2011 beginning July 1st and the same amount
the following fiscal year, according to the fiscal note, for a
total of $11 million over two years. The fiscal note
acknowledges, however, that “the degree to which rehires of
unemployed workers occur sooner than otherwise expressly due to
the bill is unknown . . . “ In other words, the bill is built
on an assumption for which there is no data.
For more information about this bill, contact Loren Furman, CACI
Vice President of Governmental Affairs, at 303.866.8642 or via
e-mail at
lfurman@COchamber.com
CACI Opposes Bill to Require Businesses to Disclose and
Rationalize Economic Development Incentives
Sponsored by Representative Sal Pace (D-Pueblo), HB-1350 was
assigned to the House Finance Committee, but it still has not
yet been scheduled for a hearing. The bill does not yet have a
fiscal note.
The bill would require a business receiving state economic
development assistance—including tax credits—worth $25,000 or
more to file an “annual progress report” along with a “filing
fee” to the Colorado Economic Development Commission.
The “fee” would equal two percent of the economic incentive
received by the company. The bill contains an extremely
detailed list of the information that the business would have to
submit to the Commission. If the Commission finds that the
recipient of the incentive has not complied with the
requirements of the incentive, then the Commission can
“recapture” the funds.
The House co-sponsors are the following Representatives: Mark
Ferrandino (Denver), Jerry Frangas (Denver), Sara Gagliardi
(Arvada), Jeanne Labuda (Denver), Dickey Lee Hullinghorst
(Boulder), Claire Levy ((Boulder) and Jack Pommer (Boulder).
The Senate sponsor is Senator Morgan Carroll (D-Aurora).
CACI is strongly opposed to this bill because it would be a
severe blow to state and local economic development efforts to
retain and recruit companies and to encourage job creation. In
addition, it would harm businesses struggling to emerge from the
recession. CACI has learned that the Colorado Office of
Economic Development and International Trade also is concerned
about the bill. To read the bill, click on:
http://www.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2010A/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/7570217C4C7CAB5F872576B3007A7387?Open&file=1350_01.pdf
For more information about this bill, contact Loren Furman, CACI
Vice President of Governmental Affairs, at 303.866.8642 or via
e-mail at
lfurman@COchamber.com
Bill Targeting “Excessive Executive Compensation” Awaits Hearing
before House Finance Committee
HB-1263 has still not been put back on the House Calendar for a
hearing before the House Finance Committee. After its
introduction and assignment to the Committee with a scheduled
hearing, the House leadership pulled the bill from the
Committee’s agenda.
The bill is sponsored by Representative Jack Pommer (D-Boulder),
who chairs the influential Joint Budget Committee and the House
Appropriations Committee.
The bill still lacks a fiscal note. Representative Pommer,
however, was quoted by The Denver Business Journal as
saying that the bill would raise $19 million annually. It’s
important to point out that this bill was not part of
Governor Bill Ritter’s package of bills that suspended or
terminated various business tax provisions.
The bill limits to $250,000 the amount of a state income-tax
deduction for wages an employee’s compensation package from
being claimed by a corporation or employer as a deduction under
Federal law.
The Federal IRS tax code has certain limits ($1 million) on the
amount of compensation that a corporation can deduct, but it
only applies to publicly-traded corporations for the five most
highly compensated employees and to businesses that have
received Federal bail-out funds. Both of those situations are
very specific in terms of oversight by and accountability to
investors.
For more information about this bill, contact Loren Furman, CACI
Vice President of Governmental Affairs, at 303.866.8642 or via
e-mail at
lfurman@COchamber.com
Upcoming CACI Council Meetings
Council meetings will be held at the CACI Office beginning at 12
Noon. Council members who would like to sponsor lunches for
Council meetings should contact Misty Fox, CACI Office Manager,
at 303.866-9652 or via e-mail at
mfox@COchamber.com
·
Governmental Affairs Council,
Tuesday, March 9;
lunch sponsored by David Rivera, Climax Molybdenum, whose
website is
www.fcx.com
·
Energy and Environment Council,
Thursday, March 11, guest is Senator Greg Brophy (R-Wray);
lunch sponsored by Paul Ludwig, Suncor Energy, whose website is
www.suncor.com
·
HealthCare Council,
Wednesday, March 17, guest is Representative Cindy Acree
(R-Aurora), member of the House Health and Human Services
Committee;
lunch sponsored by Bill Bishop, Lockton Companies LLC, whose
website is
www.lockton.com
·
Labor and Employment Council,
Wednesday, March 24; lunch sponsored by Mark Moses, Outback
Steakhouse, whose website is
www.outback.com
·
Governmental Affairs Council,
Tuesday, March 23; lunch sponsored by
Marie Patterson, AngloGold Ashanti N.A., whose website is
www.anglogoldashanti.com
For the complete meeting schedule of CACI Councils during the
legislative session, visit the CACI Web site:
http://www.cochamber.com/newsandevents_calendar.asp
CACI Grassroots Advocacy Program Is a Key Element of CACI’s
Lobbying Strategy
The CACI Grassroots Advocacy Program is designed to improve and
protect the state’s business climate by mobilizing statewide the
power of business leaders to influence decisions by State and
Federal government officials. CACI works to identify companies
and their executives who are willing to contact their State and
Federal lawmakers through e-mail, letters or phone calls to
provide information on the likely effect of proposed legislation
on their businesses.
The CACI Grassroots tools help business leaders easily identify
and contact their State and Federal legislators. CACI will
provide business leaders with background information and
“talking points” to use in their communications. The Grassroots
part of the CACI Web site will help keep the Colorado business
leaders informed on State and Federal issues that affect their
companies and communities.
http://www.cochamber.com/takeaction_coloradoprosperityproject.asp
Local Chambers of Commerce Play Critical Role in CACI’s Lobbying
Effort
Local chambers of commerce play a vital role in CACI’s mission
of championing a healthy business climate at the Colorado State
Capitol and with the U.S. Congress. More than 40 local chambers
of commerce across Colorado are dues-paying members of CACI. A
list of these chambers, with links to their Web sites, can be
found on the CACI Web site. CACI also encourages its business
members to belong to their local chambers.
http://www.cochamber.com/ournetwork_localchambers.asp
CACI also houses and supports the Colorado Chamber of Commerce
Executives (CCCE), a statewide association of local chamber
executives dedicated to professional development. CCCE also
provides CACI with policy input.
http://www.cochamber.com/ournetwork_chamberexecutives.asp
A CCCE representative serves on the CACI Board of Directors.
This representative is Amy Sherman, President and CEO of
the West Chamber Serving Jefferson County. |
