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Week 3, 2006
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Dear Friends and Supporters,
I wish that my updates could let you know about every important subject that is discussed at the Capitol. In the last 2 weeks, more than 200 bills were introduced in the House, and 100 in the Senate. And about 500 more bills will be appearing soon! So this update will highlight some of the issues that I am working on, and a few of the main events that are occurring at the Capitol. If you would like specific information on a topic that I don't mention, please let me know. Note the attachment of "Bills in The News" for the week ending 1/27/06.
Energy:
As a member of the House Transportation and Energy Committee, I heard testimony from the public and businesses for several hours concerning HB 1185, sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Curry (D-Gunnison). This bill would give private property owners additional compensation for damage to property and land values that occur when oil and natural gas operators drill on their property.
This bill has come before the legislature for the past few years in one form or another and has not passed because the two sides have not been able to agree to an equitable decision.
Over the past 100 years, the owners of about 34 % of privately owned land in the state has severed their "mineral rights" from their "surface rights." In other words, the surface owner paid less for his or her land because they let the seller keep the "mineral rights." But sometimes, if the "mineral rights" prove to be lucrative, the surface owner will demand more of the proceeds. This sets up a messy situation similar to the birth parents giving up their new born child for adoption, but wanting visitation privileges or the right to raise the child years later. We must try to determine what is just in the former situation regarding mineral and surface rights.
We were told that about 90% of the oil and gas companies treat their surface owners correctly, but about 10% do not. These "bad" gas and oil companies do not give just compensation for land that is disturbed or used for roads and drilling in a farm, ranch, ranchettes, or even next to a housing subdivision.
The potential for conflicts is multiplying. Due to the much higher price of oil, there has been a flurry of drilling activity on the Western slope and in Weld County, in the Wattenburg Field. There were 4,363 drilling permits in 2005 and 1,529 in 2000! Currently, there are about 100 different oil and natural gas companies drilling in Colorado.
My recommendations are that our "Oil and Gas Commission" hire more people to supervise the "bad operators," and assess fines or the revocation of their license. We use similar methods to regulate about 62 other different business entities in the state such as banking, insurance companies, collection agencies, doctors, dentists, architects, river rafters, hair dressers, bail bondsmen, etc.
A real sticky situation is when the housing developers want to build houses on land, but do not own the mineral rights to it. Once there is a subdivision, how does the gas and oil company use their legal entitlement to drill for their products? It is impossible. My recommendation is that the housing developers only build on land where they completely own all of the mineral rights.
I will keep you posted on the outcome of this bill.
Transportation:
The JBC (Joint Budget Committee) and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) gave a two-hour presentation to the joint Senate and House Transportation Committee. Due to the economy being stronger, CDOT should receive about $200 to $400 million in additional funds for new highway and bridge construction each year for the next 5 years. The General Assembly (65 House members and 35 Senators) will play a large role in the amount that each district receives for transportation. I will do what I reasonably can to insure that we have the money for our transportation needs.
CDOT officials and other legislators talked about closing Exit 254 at Johnson's Corner while the I-25 study is being done. I am working to keep it open. There are many reasons why it would be a mistake to close this exit. There are 14 businesses right along this intersection and in the future, there will undoubtedly be many more. About 150 200 trucks use Johnson's Corner Truck Stop every night, and in 10 years or so, that amount will likely double. It is the only full service truck stop from Denver to Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Identity Protection:
Last year in the U.S., there were over 10 million identity thefts! Colorado is one of the worst states for this crime because our laws are very weak. Bills on this subject have been introduced for the last several years, but they were killed in the finance or appropriations committees because we do not have enough money to house the criminals in our state prisons when they are convicted.
To help protect people's identities from being stolen, I am introducing HB 1175 before the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee on Monday, January 30th. My bill will make it illegal to disseminate or display anyone's social security number (SSN). This bill will specifically prohibit publicly posting or displaying a person's SSN, printing an individual's SSN on a card required for the individual to access products or services, requiring an individual to transmit their SSN over the Internet, requiring an individual to use their SSN to access an Internet web site, or printing an individual's SSN on materials mailed to the individual.
Education:
On Friday, January 13, John Stossell aired an excellent program about our nation's K-12 education system on "20/20." It was titled "Stupid in America How We Cheat Our Kids." Attached is a short written version and below is a link where you can watch "Stupid In America" for FREE with NO commercials. Please take the time to watch this presentation. It is about 40 minutes long.
mms://sql2.slicker.com:1890/sanfordforgovernor/2020.wmv
Spread this link far and wide; it is important for all of us to understand the state of education in America today.
Illegal Immigration:
I hope that President Bush during his "State Of The Nation" address this Tuesday evening, declares that our nation is in a NATIONAL EMERGENCY due to the invasion taking place on a daily basis of over 8,000 people every night, with abut 1/3 of the people breaking into out country are from nations all over the world. After all, we are in a war against terror. This is a national security issue. He and our Congressmen need to "do whatever it takes" to secure our borders. In fact, there is a book with this title by Congressman J.D. Hayworth, AZ. It just came out and it is excellent.
Conclusion:
I do my best to make the right decision on these issues with the information that is available to me. Your input is very valuable. Please email me, call me at 303-866-2947, send a letter to me at the Colorado State Capitol at 200 East Colfax, Denver, CO 80203, or come see me at the Capitol on issues that are important to you.
Sincerely,
Rep. Jim Welker
House District 51
I wish that my updates could let you know about every important subject that is discussed at the Capitol. In the last 2 weeks, more than 200 bills were introduced in the House, and 100 in the Senate. And about 500 more bills will be appearing soon! So this update will highlight some of the issues that I am working on, and a few of the main events that are occurring at the Capitol. If you would like specific information on a topic that I don't mention, please let me know. Note the attachment of "Bills in The News" for the week ending 1/27/06.
Energy:
As a member of the House Transportation and Energy Committee, I heard testimony from the public and businesses for several hours concerning HB 1185, sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Curry (D-Gunnison). This bill would give private property owners additional compensation for damage to property and land values that occur when oil and natural gas operators drill on their property.
This bill has come before the legislature for the past few years in one form or another and has not passed because the two sides have not been able to agree to an equitable decision.
Over the past 100 years, the owners of about 34 % of privately owned land in the state has severed their "mineral rights" from their "surface rights." In other words, the surface owner paid less for his or her land because they let the seller keep the "mineral rights." But sometimes, if the "mineral rights" prove to be lucrative, the surface owner will demand more of the proceeds. This sets up a messy situation similar to the birth parents giving up their new born child for adoption, but wanting visitation privileges or the right to raise the child years later. We must try to determine what is just in the former situation regarding mineral and surface rights.
We were told that about 90% of the oil and gas companies treat their surface owners correctly, but about 10% do not. These "bad" gas and oil companies do not give just compensation for land that is disturbed or used for roads and drilling in a farm, ranch, ranchettes, or even next to a housing subdivision.
The potential for conflicts is multiplying. Due to the much higher price of oil, there has been a flurry of drilling activity on the Western slope and in Weld County, in the Wattenburg Field. There were 4,363 drilling permits in 2005 and 1,529 in 2000! Currently, there are about 100 different oil and natural gas companies drilling in Colorado.
My recommendations are that our "Oil and Gas Commission" hire more people to supervise the "bad operators," and assess fines or the revocation of their license. We use similar methods to regulate about 62 other different business entities in the state such as banking, insurance companies, collection agencies, doctors, dentists, architects, river rafters, hair dressers, bail bondsmen, etc.
A real sticky situation is when the housing developers want to build houses on land, but do not own the mineral rights to it. Once there is a subdivision, how does the gas and oil company use their legal entitlement to drill for their products? It is impossible. My recommendation is that the housing developers only build on land where they completely own all of the mineral rights.
I will keep you posted on the outcome of this bill.
Transportation:
The JBC (Joint Budget Committee) and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) gave a two-hour presentation to the joint Senate and House Transportation Committee. Due to the economy being stronger, CDOT should receive about $200 to $400 million in additional funds for new highway and bridge construction each year for the next 5 years. The General Assembly (65 House members and 35 Senators) will play a large role in the amount that each district receives for transportation. I will do what I reasonably can to insure that we have the money for our transportation needs.
CDOT officials and other legislators talked about closing Exit 254 at Johnson's Corner while the I-25 study is being done. I am working to keep it open. There are many reasons why it would be a mistake to close this exit. There are 14 businesses right along this intersection and in the future, there will undoubtedly be many more. About 150 200 trucks use Johnson's Corner Truck Stop every night, and in 10 years or so, that amount will likely double. It is the only full service truck stop from Denver to Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Identity Protection:
Last year in the U.S., there were over 10 million identity thefts! Colorado is one of the worst states for this crime because our laws are very weak. Bills on this subject have been introduced for the last several years, but they were killed in the finance or appropriations committees because we do not have enough money to house the criminals in our state prisons when they are convicted.
To help protect people's identities from being stolen, I am introducing HB 1175 before the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee on Monday, January 30th. My bill will make it illegal to disseminate or display anyone's social security number (SSN). This bill will specifically prohibit publicly posting or displaying a person's SSN, printing an individual's SSN on a card required for the individual to access products or services, requiring an individual to transmit their SSN over the Internet, requiring an individual to use their SSN to access an Internet web site, or printing an individual's SSN on materials mailed to the individual.
Education:
On Friday, January 13, John Stossell aired an excellent program about our nation's K-12 education system on "20/20." It was titled "Stupid in America How We Cheat Our Kids." Attached is a short written version and below is a link where you can watch "Stupid In America" for FREE with NO commercials. Please take the time to watch this presentation. It is about 40 minutes long.
mms://sql2.slicker.com:1890/sanfordforgovernor/2020.wmv
Spread this link far and wide; it is important for all of us to understand the state of education in America today.
Illegal Immigration:
I hope that President Bush during his "State Of The Nation" address this Tuesday evening, declares that our nation is in a NATIONAL EMERGENCY due to the invasion taking place on a daily basis of over 8,000 people every night, with abut 1/3 of the people breaking into out country are from nations all over the world. After all, we are in a war against terror. This is a national security issue. He and our Congressmen need to "do whatever it takes" to secure our borders. In fact, there is a book with this title by Congressman J.D. Hayworth, AZ. It just came out and it is excellent.
Conclusion:
I do my best to make the right decision on these issues with the information that is available to me. Your input is very valuable. Please email me, call me at 303-866-2947, send a letter to me at the Colorado State Capitol at 200 East Colfax, Denver, CO 80203, or come see me at the Capitol on issues that are important to you.
Sincerely,
Rep. Jim Welker
House District 51
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