JOBS BILLS IN PROGRESS

Skills for Jobs Act by Rep. Daniel Kagan

HB12-1061 bridges an information gap by directing the Department of Higher Education and the Department of Labor to develop workforce projections, using data already being collected. Colleges and vocational schools can use the reports to adjust their course offerings, students can use them to make better career choices and course-selection decisions and businesses can use them to make smarter personnel decisions. This common-sense bill, which received the backing of statewide business groups, workforce development organizations, and colleges and universities, passed the House floor with four Republicans bucking partisan politics to vote in favor of a good bill. The bill passed the Senate 25 to 9 and was signed into law in March by Gov. Hickenlooper

Film Production Activities in Colorado by Rep. Mark Ferrandino

HB12-1286 is a bill directed at creating jobs in Colorado’s film industry. This bill would incentivize the film industry to make more movies in Colorado by increasing Colorado’s film incentive from 10 to 20 percent. The bill would also create a loan guarantee program where Colorado will take an up-front 5 percent facility fee, paid by the production company, in exchange for the guarantee, and then a bank, not the state, will provide the loan. The bill, which is co-sponsored by Rep. Tom Massey (R-Poncha Springs), passed committee 9 to 3.

Small Business Development Centers by Rep. Max Tyler

HB12-1129 will provide up to an additional $300,000 for the next two years to draw down additional federal funding for SBDCs. SBDCs help local, home-grown Colorado businesses succeed. These are core jobs for Colorado where small business is a primary driver for job growth and total employment. SBDCs have a proven success rate for very little cost per job.  The program helped create 1700 jobs in 2011 alone, and generated $130 million in small business capitalization. The bill passed the Economic & Business Development Committee 10 to 3 and is now before the Appropriations Committee.

Tech Transfer by Reps. Dave Young & Mark Ferrandino

HB12-1044 creates the Start-Up Colorado Technology Transfer Grant Program, which will improve and expand the development of technological discoveries and help accelerate the development of new products and services and the creation of new jobs in Colorado.  Many of Colorado’s research institutions have Offices of Technology Transfer that help bring technologies developed in their labs to the marketplace. With the funding this bill provides, Colorado’s innovators will be able to take their inventions to the private sector with greater ease, creating more Colorado companies and Colorado jobs. The bill passed the Economic and Business Development Committee on a 7 to 5 vote and is waiting to be heard in the Appropriations Committee.

Workforce Training for Unemployed by Rep. Crisanta Duran

HB12-1272 will invest money in workforce and

entrepreneurial training for the unemployed by investing $8 million into enhanced unemployment benefits for unemployed people who want workforce or entrepreneurial training for a high-demand occupation. This bill would help those currently out of work get training they need to get back into the workforce while also receiving unemployment benefits. The bill, which is co-sponsored by Rep. Robert Ramirez (R-Westminster), passed the Economic and Business Development Committee on a 7 to 4 vote, yet was unceremoniously tossed into limbo by the House Appropriations Committee. After coming up for a vote again in Appropriations, it passed and moved on to the House Floor where it passed on a 42 to 16 vote. It is now in the Senate.

Enterprise Zone Task Force by Rep. Mark Ferrandino

HB12-1241 would create a task force to recommend reforms to the state’s enterprise zone system. One possible solution: automatic five-year reviews of enterprise zones. Money saved by cutting enterprise zone claims would be reinvested in other, more productive economic development programs. The bill passed the Finance committee on a 12 to 1 vote and passed the House Floor unanimously.

JOBS BILLS KILLED

Hire Colorado by Rep. Pete Lee

HB12-1113 would have provided a slight preference to Colorado companies that employ Colorado workers and veterans when bidding for state contracts. Twenty-nine other states have implemented state contract preference bills such as this to ensure that state tax dollars are going to provide jobs within the state. The bill was killed in the State Affairs Committee on a party-line vote.

Veteran Jobs Act by Rep. Joe Miklosi

HB12-1259 would have given people an option to waive confidentiality of some personal information the Department of Labor collects and allows the department to share that information with job training and placement organizations. There are over 200 organizations in Colorado alone dedicated to finding veterans jobs, but these organizations have run into obstacles when trying to find these veterans. This bill would have helped connect these organizations with veterans in search of work. The bill was killed in the State Affairs Committee on a party-line vote.

Regional Tourism Project Application Requirement by Rep. Andy Kerr

HB12-1056 would have strengthened the previously passed bipartisan Colorado Regional Tourism Act of 2009 to clarify roles and expectations of those involved in the Regional Tourism Authority process.  The bill would have encouraged more out-of-state tourism and would require the Colorado Tourism Director to provide input on tourism projects in the state. This bill would have provided certainty to economic developers and created jobs across Colorado by giving cities and counties the ability to be creative and launch projects. The bill was strongly supported by the Office of Economic Development and International Trade and passed with a bipartisan vote of 9 to 2 in the Local Government Committee. Despite a Democratic amendment to alleviate the fiscal note, Republicans still voted against the common-sense measure on a party-line vote in the Appropriations Committee.

Economic Gardening Business Assistance Pilot Program by Reps. Pete Lee & Dickey Lee Hullinghorst

HB12-1133 would have provided management and technical assistance to businesses that have advanced beyond the startup phase. Run by the state Office of Economic Development and International Trade, it would have complemented the state’s small business development program, which targets startups.  The economic gardening concept was developed by Chris Gibbons, director of business and industry affairs for the city of Littleton, which has used the program to spur homegrown companies, achieving job growth at more than double the statewide rate. Testifying for the bill, Gibbons noted that many states have adopted economic gardening programs. The bill died in committee on a party-line vote, despite no opposition testimony.

Small Business Financing Interim Committee by Rep. Roger Wilson

HB12-1284 would have created a legislative interim committee to study, during the 2012 interim, issues related to small business financing in Colorado.  The bill would have required the interim committee to meet with small business lenders and principals of small businesses to determine whether there is an unfilled need for capital and loans that discourages business expansion in Colorado.  The bill also tasked the interim committee with assessing whether changes could be made in Colorado laws affecting small business financing to better enable the formation of business capital.

The Regulator Navigator Act by Rep. Max Tyler

HB12-1025 would have helped consumers and businesses navigate red tape and make government more efficient by requiring state agencies to provide a go-to person to help the customer navigate the regulatory systems within the agency. This would provide members of the public and businesses with easy access to information about any state agency regulations. Rep. Tyler, a small business owner himself, came up with the idea after reading the reports from Gov. Hickenlooper’s “bottoms up” tour of Colorado.  According to the report, a consistent problem expressed by many of the 5,000 attendees of the tour was the absence of an easy way to access information from agencies about regulations. The bill died in committee on a party-line vote.

Adult Literacy Act by Rep. Dave Young

HB12-1227 would have implemented a pilot program that would integrate basic education and skills training by directing the Colorado community colleges to design a pilot program where underemployed or undereducated Coloradans may earn a career and technical education certificate in an accelerated program that integrates literacy with technical training. The Colorado Community College System and the Colorado Association of Career and Technical Education supported the bill. There was no opposition, but nevertheless, the bill failed on a party-line vote of 5 to 4. No Republicans gave an explanation of their opposition vote.

Unemployment Discrimination by Rep. Dan Pabon

HB12-1134 would have prevented employers from discriminating against the unemployed in job opening advertising. The bill is based on a 2011 New Jersey law that was overwhelmingly passed by the legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. Chris Christie. The bill is in response to the practice of some businesses that post job openings that prohibit an unemployed applicant from applying. This bill would not hinder an employer’s hiring decision process in any way; it would simply allow for the unemployed person to apply for a particular job opening. The bill died in committee on a party-line vote.

Enterprise Zone Cap by Rep. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst

HB12-1251 would have began to reform the enterprise zone system by placing a $500,000 cap on income tax credits granted to any single claimant on an enterprise zone. Enterprise zones, originally designed to encourage development in depressed areas, now cover 70 percent of the state, and the list of enterprise zone tax credit claimants is dominated by big oil and gas companies that are drilling in the state not because they get a tax break, but because there’s oil and gas here. It was killed in Judiciary committee on a 7-6 party-line vote.

Pay-As-You-Go Act by Rep. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst

HB12-1039 would have barred the House and Senate Appropriations Committees from approving any spending measure unless the bill tells us where the money for that expenditure will come from. It would put an end to pie-in-the-sky bills that get passed because they look sweet, but are unaffordable. And it would put the brakes on tax credits and incentives that cumulatively are reducing state revenues by $2 billion every year. The bill died on a party-line vote of 7 to 6.