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On The State Legislature
....With the 2023 state legislative session concluding this evening, the Colorado Chamber of Commerce highlighted its legislative accomplishments achieved on behalf of the statewide business community.
....“Our key priority at the Colorado Chamber has been to ensure the voice of the Colorado business community is heard, and we’re proud of the progress we’ve made toward advancing our future-focused vision to improve our state’s economic competitiveness,” said President and CEO Loren Furman. “Despite an often-challenging political environment at the state capitol this session, the Chamber helped defeat major job-killing bills while promoting new initiatives to boost our economy. With the strength of the most effective government affairs team for businesses statewide, the Colorado Chamber gets results for its members.”
....The Colorado Chamber released its 2023 legislative agenda in the weeks leading up to session, laying out short- and long-term goals to improve the state’s business climate. The agenda focused on Colorado’s regulatory climate, workforce development, and economic growth. The chamber’s lobbying efforts were led by Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Political Operations Meghan Dollar, who aggressively advocated for business in her first session with the Colorado Chamber.
... ......……........................................…Chamber Thoughts On State Legislature
The Sweet Spot
....At the end of a legislative session uniquely focused on utility companies and their operations, legislators and the state’s two investor-owned utilities may have hit the sweet spot on a pair of bills that will impact how they calculate rates and ensure the safety of their gas pipelines.
....Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday signed Senate Bill 291, a measure aimed at slowing future utility rate hikes through limitations on costs that can be included in the rates. And over the coming weeks, he will decide the fate of House Bill 1216, which passed on the final day of the session Monday and adds new requirements on pipeline inspections.
....The special attention on utilities this session stemmed from natural-gas costs that rose 75% over the winter and were passed along to customers who struggled to pay bills in some cases.
....The citizen outrage over those costs led legislative leaders to create a Joint Select Committee on Rising Utility Rates that examined structural ways to reduce volatility in those rates.
Utility Rates
Clean Energy Bills
....Colorado’s twin pushes for greater adoption of renewable energy and faster reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions now feature a bevy of new incentives, though those come partially at the expense of tax credits for the oil and gas industry.
....Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday signed into law House Bill 1272, a wide-ranging offering of tax policies with a shared goal of decarbonization. Standing beside the bill’s sponsors, the Democratic governor inked the measure at Colorado Cycling Company in Aurora just three days after the close of the 2023 legislative session.
....The green-energy bill, sponsored by Democratic Reps. Mike Weissman of Aurora and Junie Joseph of Boulder, got a bit of a haircut as it moved through the legislative process but still is expected to dole out some $77.8 million in new tax credits during the fiscal year that begins in July 2024.
....When Polis and legislators rolled the proposal out in early March out as a package of clean-energy bills, the governor said that the tax breaks both will help the state reach its goal of net-zero emissions in the electric grid and give people an alternative to volatile natural-gas prices.
……………,,,,,,,,,,,,,…….…………….…….Green Energy Laws
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