DENVER – Although majority Democrats don’t need a single Republican to put in place nearly any new law, fee, or resolution they want, bipartisan legislation appears to be all the rage in the Colorado legislature, albeit not always in the direction one would suspect.
Case in point is Sen. Byron Pelton, R-Sterling, who is currently co-sponsoring at least four bills with his Democrat counterparts – including property tax relief – with only one of those bills actually progressive in philosophy. And that bill, Pelton says, he’s on for a very specific reason.
Senate Bills 26-010, 26-015, and 26-082 are all expected to pass the progressive-dominated legislature, despite all having some element of a conservative philosophy.
House Bill 26-1183, on the other hand, is likely to get an overhaul at the hands of Pelton when it makes it to the Senate, as certain elements of the the Pet Animal Care & Facilities Act sunset review bill are simply unacceptable, according to the Eastern Plains Republican.
Ag land exemption
Starting with SB-010, Pelton is wanting to expand the language surrounding an agricultural land exemption already on the books. Currently, agricultural land is taxed at 29 percent of its market value, unless it is used for the production of cattle and other specific livestock.
If the land is used to produce livestock allowed, and that livestock grazes at least 25 percent of that land, the property tax assessment is on a 10-year average of the revenue produced, which results in a lower assessment value.
However, hogs and chickens, which are predominate on the Western Slope, are not included in that list, and the market value is much higher than agricultural land on the Eastern Plains, where ag producers are getting the break.
SB-010 expands current tax benefits to include producers of hogs and chickens, giving Western Slope ag producers the same benefit as their Eastern Plains counterparts. Western Slope Democrat Dillon Roberts is the co-sponsor with Pelton who says this is about making sure all of Colorado’s agriculture producers are treated equal.
“They are paying higher property taxes out there,” Pelton said about the Western Slope ranchers. “It’s forcing guys to sell off chunks of their property to stay in business. By expanding this definition, it will give them the ag exemption to stay in business.”
For Roberts, the tax relief won’t impact education funding and other government services in Roberts’ district, Pelton said. The commercial producers impacted by the bill make up a small portion of the land use in the area.
“It’s a fine line that we threaded, but we worked with assessors to get the correct language,” Pelton said, adding this was a no-brainer for him to sponsor.
“I like tax cuts,” he said. “And I wanted to make sure that for my folks on the Eastern Plains, we wouldn’t be messing with their egg definitions and that school funding wouldn’t be hurt.”
The bill passed unanimously in the Senate and is now headed to the House, where it is also expected to pass without issue.
Bi-partisan leverage
Under SB-082, local land-use permitting authority would remain in place for renewable energy projects. This bill is a bit more controversial because Governor Jared Polis is pushing to change that to state control. However, Pelton has also signed on to co-sponsoring House Bill 26-1033 in the Senate with Democrat Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez. HB-1033 is a bipartisan expansion of the Cottage Food Act brought forward by Rep. Ryan Gonzalez, R-Greeley and House Majority Leader Monica Duran. It’s also a bill that Polis been pushing to get passed. That combination means it’s likely to see both bills passed and signed into law, despite any heartburn over land-use decisions for renewables.
SB-015, would increase the penalties for criminal sex exploitation of a child. Roberts is also on this bill with Pelton. The bill also has bi-partisan support in the House with Democrat Majority Leader Monica Duran and Republican Minority Leader Jarvis Caldwell both signing on.
One bill however, HB26-1183, Sunset Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act, is only bi-partisan because, according to Pelton, he signed on to make sure it doesn’t pass as presented.
Under HB-1183, changes were made to certain holding requirements for pet stores as it pertains to snakes and the size of their holding containers. Pelton said the changes came after stakeholders negotiated faithfully. Pelton plans to introduce an amendment that reflects the original negotiated size, saying he’s already informed everyone he will use whatever means necessary to make sure his amendment passes, and he will make it very uncomfortable on the Senate floor.
“I can read at length,” Pelton said. “I will read the entire bill at length, and it’s a very long bill.”
The bill is 20 pages in its entirety.
“I can’t believe I’m on this bill, but I met with the reptile folks, and they went through the whole rule making process,” Pelton said. “And somehow, it got changed after without notifying anyone. I warned the majority leader, ‘if you put up that bill, I’m going to waste a lot of time because I can read that bill 12 or 15 times if I need to.’ I want that amendment.”
