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Polis proposes conversion of Pinnacol in controversial measure to balance budget
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Polis proposes conversion of Pinnacol in controversial measure to balance budget

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance Gov. Jared Polis’ pitch to convert Pinnacol Assurance into an independent company is being driven not just by money it could generate for the state budget but by the belief that failing to loosen the company’s operational restrictions could jeopardize its sustainability. The Democratic governor sat for an interrogation before the powerful Joint Budget Committee on Wednesday about his plans to address a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall, including $638 million in expense cuts and revenue additions he has proposed. Among the most prominent and controversial of those suggestions is a proposal to allow the state-chartered workers’ compensation insurer of last resort to act as a private company, which could add $100 million to next year’s budget a...
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By regaining seat held by party-flipper Priola, GOP appears to have staved off Dems’ supermajority in Senate
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By regaining seat held by party-flipper Priola, GOP appears to have staved off Dems’ supermajority in Senate

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance Colorado Senate Democrats appear unlikely to capture a supermajority in that chamber, even as House Democrats are on track to maintain that veto-proof status in theirs, leaving the Legislature with a kind of status quo following the 2024 election. Several key races in each chamber remain too close to call, but in most cases those races have shown little change in results as more ballots have been counted. Some of the biggest pockets of untabulated tallies now remain in El Paso County, where both a state Senate and a state House race are on the line, and in Weld County, home to a key House race. But as of mid-afternoon Wednesday, nearly 24 hours after polls closed, Democrats appear to have retained a 23-12 margin in the Senate, leaving ...
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Regulators’ coming decisions could determine future of carbon capture in Colorado
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Regulators’ coming decisions could determine future of carbon capture in Colorado

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance Colorado is about to begin setting rules for companies seeking to pump carbon dioxide underground — a new technology that state leaders call necessary to reduce emissions but that business leaders warn won’t come to Colorado if regulations are too strict. Carbon capture occurs when companies pull carbon dioxide from the emissions emanating from industrial sources and then use wells to inject that gas into deep-rock formations, where it can be stored permanently. Some companies also are working to develop direct air capture where the carbon dioxide can be pulled straight from the atmosphere, but that technology remains nascent. Currently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for permitting carbon-capture projects, but the ...
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Business leaders plead for changes in state’s new AI law, including definitions and appeals
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Business leaders plead for changes in state’s new AI law, including definitions and appeals

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance Developers and deployers of artificial intelligence systems are begging a legislative task force to amend definitions and an “untenable” appeals process in Colorado’s AI law — and getting pushback from some groups who feel the law doesn’t regulate enough. The push-and-pull has played out for two months before the Artificial Intelligence Task Force, a 26-person group of elected officials and citizens put together by Gov. Jared Polis after he signed “with reservations” the most comprehensive AI regulatory law in America. With the regulations not going into place until February 2026, the task force is hearing from myriad groups affected by them and is required to submit a report to the Joint Technology Committee by February 20...
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New rules would limit use of fresh water in oil-and-gas operations
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New rules would limit use of fresh water in oil-and-gas operations

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance To reduce the amount of fresh water used in oil-and-gas drilling, operators must ensure a certain percentage of water they are using in extraction is reused or recycled under a plan set to be released in the next week by a legislatively created advisory group. The strategy from the Colorado Produced Water Consortium — a group of 31 energy, environmental and water experts that has been meeting for more than a year — will mark the first time Colorado has attempted to curb use of fresh water in the industry. Consortium members are required to produce a report with recommendations by Nov. 1, and the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission is scheduled to hold a hearing in December to put new rules into place. Oil-and-gas companies use ...
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Is end of Colorado Dem’s House supermajority needed for balance on business debates?
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Is end of Colorado Dem’s House supermajority needed for balance on business debates?

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance While politicos are focused on eight or nine races to see if Democrats keep their Colorado House supermajority in the Nov. 5 election, maybe the most important thing for business is not the number of seats each party wins so much as the fact there are so many contests. That observation is one offered particularly by Rep. Shannon Bird, a Westminster Democrat who holds significant power as chairwoman of the Joint Budget Committee and who also is a business advocate and one of the most frequent aisle-crossers on economic issues. Bird thinks that Colorado employers already have won — first by the results of June primaries that broke largely to pragmatists in both parties but also by the fact that close races require candidates to knock on doors an...
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Legislators have a business tax-break plan — and opposition to it
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Legislators have a business tax-break plan — and opposition to it

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance After considering several options to reduce the business-personal-property tax burden, Colorado legislators appear interested in backing a plan that would nix a rarely used tax break and create a new benefit focused on smaller companies. Late last month, the Legislative Oversight Committee Concerning Tax Policy advanced five proposals to Legislative Council, which will meet next week to determine which of those and of other interim-committee suggestions will be introduced as bills in the 2025 session. And while committee members declined to advance either of two BPPT-specific proposals it earlier had discussed, they did agree to incorporate one of those proposals into an omnibus bill that would make myriad changes to state tax law. ...
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Legislators favor lighter touch to regulating business audits contracted by cities
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Legislators favor lighter touch to regulating business audits contracted by cities

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance Given the options of taking an aggressive or conservative approach to combatting “trigger audits,” Colorado legislators appear to have chosen the latter. The Sales and Use Tax Simplification Task Force last week unanimously approved a bill for drafting that would require any that any third-party auditors contracted by cities maintain the same confidentiality with collected data that Colorado governments would use. It also will send a letter to the Colorado Department of Revenue calling on it to convene a task force to help increase the number of businesses using the existing SUTS tax-filing system — a change that it believes would boost compliance with state law. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE SUM & SUBSTANCE
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Report on hospital facility fees could stir new health-care regulatory efforts
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Report on hospital facility fees could stir new health-care regulatory efforts

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance A legislatively mandated report on hospital-system facility fees that was released Tuesday appears likely to spark a new round of debate on whether the state should limit the fees that opponents call costly and unclear and that hospitals say are vital to offsite operations. The Hospital Facility Fee Report concluded that the fees, added for services in nonacute-care settings, drive up health-care costs by more than $50 million annually, are opaque and confusing and incentivize independent physicians to affiliate with larger hospital systems. However, the report also notes that a reduction in fee revenue could drastically cut the federal matching money that’s been used to expand Medicaid eligibility, and it noted several times that the task for...
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Colorado regulators appear to reach consensus on cumulative-impacts regulations for oil & gas
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Colorado regulators appear to reach consensus on cumulative-impacts regulations for oil & gas

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance After four weeks of testimony and debate, Colorado regulators seem to have aligned on new cumulative-impacts rules that will require more protections from oil and gas firms wanting to drill in already impacted areas but will not shut off future projects altogether. The Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission broke Thursday afternoon until Oct. 8 but not before coming to a consensus around how oil-and-gas operators must account for their emissions as part of the cumulative impacts of all industry in an area. Environmental advocates have sought such added considerations for five years to better protect poorer communities that already have higher levels of pollution and industrial activity, and the rules the ECMC is developing ...
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