CALL TO ACTION Senate Bill 181: Protect Northern Colorado Economy Statewide Ban Removes Local Control
Northern Colorado’s economy is threatened by legislative policy decisions at the statehouse in Denver. Join us, and our partners in the northern Colorado business community, in urging legislative leaders to consider important modifications to the measure to protect the Northern Colorado economy.
We need your help in encouraging key Senators to support modifications to the, at present, egregious proposal, Senate Bill 181. Will you reach out to the following legislators as soon as possible today to encourage their support of amendments by Senators Rob Woodward, John Cooke and Vicki Marble to guarantee true local control and assure a statewide ban or moratorium isn’t possible?
Senator Angela Williams – angela.williams.senate@state.co.us
Senator Rachel Zenzinger – senatorrachelz@gmail.com
Senator Dominick Moreno – dominick.moreno.senate@state.co.us
Senator Nancy Todd – nancy.todd.senate@state.co.us
Senator Rhonda Fields – rhonda.fields.senate@state.co.us
Senator Kerry Donovan – kerry.donovan.senate@state.co.us
Senate President Leroy Garcia – leroy.garcia.senate@state.co.us
Senator Lois Court – lois.court.senate@state.co.us
The Facts:
Northern Colorado, and Weld County in particular, is home to 91% of the oil and gas production in the state of Colorado. Legislation is pending that threatens the continued health of the oil and gas industry and, consequently, one of the critical economic drivers in the northern Colorado region.
Senate Bill 181, the sweeping omnibus bill, has already flown through three Senate Committees and will be heard on the Senate floor on Tuesday with a final Senate vote on Wednesday.
SB 181 presents a false choice. Protect health and safety at the expense of an entire industry The impact of SB 181 to Weld County is significant. Should SB 181 pass in its current form, it will result in millions in lost revenue. Examples follow:
- The impact to school districts across the state with a decrease in property taxes and resulting required state backfill results. In Weld County school districts alone, up to a $200M loss
- The impact to local governments that rely on property tax revenues from energy industry. In Weld County a loss of $290M
- The loss of grant funds in the Energy and Mineral Impact Program to local governments across the state that fund water and road infrastructure, among other things
- A 9% reduction in residential property tax revenue in every jurisdiction in Colorado as a consequence of the impact of shuttered oil and gas industry in Weld County alone
- The measure has countless ambiguous provisions creating even further uncertainty for oil and gas industry and, consequently, to the indirectly related businesses and the housing market in the Northern Colorado region.
The Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance (NCLA), the Chamber’s joint public policy advocacy arm, is advocating for modifications to the proposal to provide clarity and to mitigate its impacts upon the region, including Larimer and Weld County.
This industry is too important to Northern Colorado’s communities, families and businesses.
Please contact all or some of the legislators above. Share your story and thoughts. Share that you live in Northern Colorado and are concerned about the affect of SB 181 upon you and your family. Any type of outreach is valuable! Please forward any response to NCLA’s Issues Manager, Sandra Hagen Solin at shsolin@mac.com
