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October 12, 2004
University of Wyoming Outreach Building
Casper, Wyoming
Senator Bill Hawks, Co-Chairman
Representative Clarene Law, Co-Chairman
Senator John Barasso
Senator Hank Coe
Senator Ken Decaria
Senator Jayne Mockler
Representative Pat Childers
Representative Stan Cooper
Representative Floyd Esquibel
Representative Pete Illoway
Representative Frank Latta
Representative David Miller
Representative Saundra Meyer
Representative Tom Walsh
Maxine Weaver, Staff Attorney
Please refer to Appendix 1 to review the Committee
Sign-in Sheet
for a list of other individuals who attended the meeting.
Cochairman Law called the meeting to order at 8:10 am. The following sections summarize the Committee proceedings by topic. Please refer to Appendix 2 to review the Committee Meeting Agenda.
John Corra, Director of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Dave Finley, DEQ Administrator of the Solid and Hazardous Waste Division and members of the Citizens Advisory Group addressed the committee regarding the progress of draft bill 05LSO-137.W2 [Appendix 3] since the last meeting and answered questions from the Committee.
George Parks, WAM discussed the progress of this issue over the last six years and spoke in favor of the bill. He is convinced if something is not done collectively, the cost will soon be beyond the means of small communities.
Joe Evans, Wyoming County Commissioners Association, spoke in favor of the bill and emphasized the problem with landfills needs to be taken care of. In attendance with Mr. Evans was Al Stoick, Converse County Commissioner.
Cindie Langston, City of Casper, and Glen Sugano, Sweetwater County Solid Waste Manager and President of Wyoming Solid Waste and Recycling Association, spoke in favor of the bill.
Representative Illoway moved the bill seconded by Representative Latta. The Committee discussed the bill.
Mr. Finley suggested amendments to 05LSO-137.W2. [Appendix 4]. Representative Illoway moved to accept the DEQ amendments and Representative Latta seconded the motion. The motion on the amendment passed.
Written testimony from Peggy Lanier, against the bill, was passed out to the Committee. [Appendix 5].
The motion on the bill passed (9-2-3) with the bill being designated a House Bill. [Appendix 6]. Cochairman Hawks asked DEQ to submit a white paper to the first standing committee in advance of the meeting to explain the bill paragraph by paragraph.
John Corra, discussed draft bill 05LSO-140.W1. [Appendix 7]. Cochairman Hawks moved the bill, seconded by Representative Childers. The Committee discussed the bill.
Cochairman Hawks moved to amend the bill page 3-line 8 to delete "if any" and insert "or". Representative Illoway seconded the motion. Motion on the amendment passed. Motion on the bill passed (11-0-3) with the bill being designated a Senate File. [Appendix 8].
Rick Miller, University of Wyoming (UW) vice president and Bill Gern, UW vice president addressed the Committee regarding draft bill 05LSO-139.W1. [Appendix 9]. Mr. Miller stated they may not need the bill, but they have concerns with the timeliness of specific federal responses and they don't want to have their program limited by an expiration date if they haven't received the federal information. Representative Illoway asked if a extension period longer than 30 days was necessary. Mr. Gern stated his preference would be to extend the date to September 1, 2005.
Cochairman Hawks moved the bill and Representative Illoway seconded the motion. Following discussion Representative Illoway moved to amend the bill on page 2-line 11 to strike "July 1, 2005" and insert "September 1, 2005". Representative Cooper seconded the motion. The motion on the amendment passed. The motion on the bill passed (11-0-3) with the bill being designated a Senate File. [Appendix 10]. Mr. Miller is to notify the Committee as soon as he receives the federal response so the bill can be withdrawn.
Jeff Vogel, Banking Commissioner, Mike Williams, Deputy Commissioner and Joe Mulberry, Department of Audit addressed the Committee regarding draft bill 05LSO-074.W2. [Appendix 11]. Mr. Vogel informed the Committee he has one amendment to the bill to include two positions and to clarify the appropriation.
Laurie Urbigkit, Wyoming Association of Realtors spoke generally in favor of the bill but has some concerns, particularly with the phrase "or gain" on pages 3 and 4, which she asked the Committee to delete.
Dave Johnson, Wyoming Bankers Association spoke in favor of the bill noting it will help Wyoming consumers.
Dave Emerick, HSBC in Denver had concerns the bill would affect their branches in Wyoming.
Lora Edwards, Wallick and Volk, spoke generally in support of the bill but suggested some clean up language: on page 20, the 36 months should be 25 months to be consistent with HUD requirements; on page 22, the language on aggregated amounts under section (f) should be deleted; and on page 28 the section on trust accounts should be deleted.
Mr. Vogel stated he is not opposed to changing the 36 months to 25 months and did not oppose striking the aggregated amount. Mr. Vogel explained he is not ready to address the trust account section at this time as he would like more time to study the issue.
Cochairman Hawks moved the bill, seconded by Representative Childers. Representative Illoway moved the Banking Division amendment [Appendix 12] and Representative Childers seconded the motion. The motion passed.
Representative Illoway moved on page 3-lines 4, 5 and 16 to delete "or gain". Representative Latta seconded the motion. The motion passed. LSO staff were directed to do a word search for this phrase.
Representative Illoway moved on page 22-line 6 after "act" to insert a "." and delete the balance of the line and to delete line 7. Representative Latta seconded the motion. The motion passed.
Representative Cooper moved on page 20-line 18 to delete "thirty-six (36)" and insert "twenty-five (25)". Representative Illoway seconded the motion and the motion passed.
Cochairman Hawks suggested delaying the issue of the trust account until there has been more study on the issue.
The motion on the bill passed (12-0-2) with the bill being designated a Senate File. [Appendix 13].
Shelly Reams, Department of Transportation, Aeronautics Administrator, addressed the Committee and discussed some of the developments of the Aeronautics Commission. Senator Coe discussed the success of the Cody airport. Ms. Reams discussed draft bill 05LSO-0135.W1 [Appendix 14] and explained the bill is supported by the Aeronautics Commission. Tucker Fagan and Patrick Pitet, Wyoming Business Council, addressed the Committee in support of the bill. Mr. Pitet suggested a change on page 4-line 10 to include the Wyoming Business Council.
Cochairman Hawks moved the bill and Representative Latta seconded the motion. The Committee discussed the bill. Representative Illoway moved to amend the bill on page 4-line 10 after "transportation" to insert ", Wyoming Business Council". Cochairman Hawks seconded the motion and the motion passed. The motion on the bill passed (9-3-2) with the bill being designated a House Bill. [Appendix 15].
Michael O'Donnell with the School Litigation Unit in the Governor's office, discussed the Governor's concept of community facilities. The Governor would like to invest funds in the quality of life in the communities by investing in infrastructure such as community centers, recreation centers, swimming pools, etc. The communities would have to commit to matching funds and maintenance of the project upon completion. Representative Latta spoke in favor of support for the communities, but had concerns with the lack of structure for proposed funding. Cochairman Hawks had concerns about what would happen with the old school buildings now being replaced. Representative Illoway suggested the program should go to the Business Ready Program and stated the amount of the request - $20 million – shocked him. Senator Decaria noted the disparity in some of the communities and asked how the disparity would be addressed. Mr. O'Donnell suggested setting a sliding scale to help out the less wealthy communities. Following further discussion by the Committee, Cochairman Hawks stated the feeling of the Committee was an expression of interest in the concept and felt something could be done through the State Land and Investments Board or Business Ready Program. He asked Mr. O'Donnell to bring the issue back before the standing committee when more details have been worked out.
Ben Avery and Tucker Fagan, Wyoming Business Council, addressed the Committee to discuss the draft bill 05LSO-0136.W1 [Appendix 16], explaining the partnership relationship with banks. Dave Johnson, Wyoming Bankers Association spoke in support of the bill, stating this is a viable tool to help businesses expand.
Representative Illoway moved the bill, seconded by Representative Latta. The motion passed (12-0-2) with the bill being designated a House Bill. [Appendix 17].
Dave Johnson, Wyoming Bankers Association, presented a proposal on a program called the Loan Guarantee Program. Mr. Avery spoke in favor of the concept and presented a bullet list. [Appendix 18].
Following discussion by the Committee, Cochairman Hawks stated that while he agreed with the concept, he would like the opportunity to further review the issue and asked that the concept be brought back to a standing committee.
Charles Ware, Wyoming Contractors Association, addressed the Committee and draft bill 05LSO‑0075.W2. [Appendix 19]. He discussed working with interested parties and the major changes to the bill since the last meeting. He explained there had been concerns with outside contractors, but those concerns have not developed, making the bill not necessary at this time so he withdrew the bill from Committee consideration.
George Parks, WAM, testified he was disappointed the bill is not going forward.
Bubba Shivler, school facilities commission, spoke in support of the bill being withdrawn.
Rich Cathcart spoke against the bill and passed out a summary of his testimony. [Appendix 20].
There being no further business, Cochairman Law adjourned the meeting at 2:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
________________________
Senator Hawks, Cochairman Representative Law, Cochairman