Ritter proud of renewable-energy push

DENVER - Add Gov. Bill Ritter to the growing list of people who believe the 2007 legislative session is best summarized in his three-word catch phrase: “new energy economy.”

In his first public comments since the General Assembly wrapped up its work four days ago, the first-year Democratic governor said Monday he is most pleased at the amount of renewable-energy legislation that was passed. He also praised the passage of a bill that adds environmentalists and landowners to the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission and a tax freeze to help the State Education Fund that continues to generate anger from Republicans.

Ritter identified increasing production of renewable energy in Colorado and bringing new businesses to the state as priorities before his inauguration. The General Assembly passed roughly a dozen bills on the subject, and Ritter mentioned his pleasure with measures to double the requirement for utility companies to produce renewable energy and to enable more companies to build transmission lines.

He also has announced a $60 million wind-turbine farm is coming to Weld County and a $60 million solar park is developing in the San Luis Valley.

“That’s a pretty short amount of time to see this happen legislatively and also see economic development,” Ritter said. “We think that as it relates to this session, the new energy economy is alive and well.”

Even Republican leaders tipped their cap to the raft of bills that were passed, as Democratic leaders and environmentalists did at news conferences in the past week. Said House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker: “I do think that the ‘Governor of Alternative Energy’ succeeded.”

That, however, was where the hand-holding stopped.

Ritter lauded Democrats and a small number of Republicans for passing a plan to freeze property tax rates and stop them from continuing to drop in 133 school districts, a measure that will generate about $50 million a year. The money will stay with local school districts.

Ritter said Monday that the plan is his way of stemming the loss of local funding for schools caused by a 1994 law and also ensuring that the state money now used to backfill funds in rich school districts can go instead to other state services. Though the issue was a partisan one within the Capitol, it enjoyed support from Republicans and business leaders outside it, he said.

Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, protested, however, that business groups said they would support it only if the money will not be spent on new programs — a promise he said the governor can’t keep.

And May said that even proponents of the plan admit now that none of the new money, which originally was touted as raising revenue for full-day kindergarten, is slated to go toward education. Instead, the State Education Fund will pay for statewide needs instead of sending that $50 million annually to the districts. The money that had been going to backfill the evaporating fund will be spent on other areas of the government.

“It’s a blank check. There are no specifics about where the money’s going to be spent,” McElhany said.

Ritter did express disappointment that a Senate committee killed a proposal to free 30,000 businesses from having to pay the business personal property tax by raising the exemption from $2,500 to $7,000. He said he hopes the Legislature will reconsider the idea next year either on its own or as part of a larger plan to ease the business tax burden.

CONTACT THE WRITER: (303)837-0613 or ed.sealover@gazette.com

TO SIGN OR NOT TO SIGN?

Gov. Bill Ritter still has dozens of bills on his desk that he has until June 4 to sign. Although most are likely to become law, Ritter said he is still considering several bills that he is receiving pressure to veto. Those include:

- House Bill 1313, which would expand the list of documents that people can use to get a Colorado driver’s license or identification card. Proponents say it is too hard for legal residents to come up with documents such as birth certificates that are needed now to get government benefits, but opponents say this will undo a key component of last year’s legislation ensuring that illegal immigrants do not receive state services.

- House Bill 1139, which cuts from 85 percent to 70 percent the allocation of severance taxes to cities and counties affected by extraction of minerals and doubles from 15 percent to 30 percent the amount going to local governments based on the residency of persons in the extraction industry. This is largely a battle of Western Slope governments, with some supporting and some opposing.

- House Bill 1355, which bars small-business insurance providers from raising or lowering the premiums charged to companies based on the claims history and current health of their workers and their families. Advocates say companies in which just one employee has a very ill child are seeing costs rise through the roof, but many business groups say that since the “rate banding” was allowed in 2003, twice as many companies have received discounts than have seen their premiums rise.