Happy Holidays to CMA Members! I hope that you have been able to enjoy this beautiful fall weather and take advantage of all the fun activities Colorado has to offer. Perhaps we may see snow by Christmas in the Denver metro area!
As we peer into the next year, we hope you’ve put the CMA Legislative Reception on your calendar as we are very excited to be able to present this special member event. All CMA members are invited, as well as all 100 Colorado legislators. Also invited are representatives of agencies who regulate Colorado’s mining industry.
It’s events like these that add value to your CMA membership, and we value your participation as it’s an opportunity for you to share with our legislative and regulatory guests your role in Colorado’s mining industry. Term limits, elections, and retirements (both legislators and regulators) make these opportunities to interact even more important as we strive to make sure these individuals can affect the success of mining either individually or collectively.
In many cases, members can more effectively communicate and provide real-life examples of how proposed legislation might impact their operations. Oftentimes, legislators have “good ideas” they wish to develop into legislation to accomplish policy objectives unrelated to mining. It’s our job to make sure policy makers have the necessary information about topics they are voting on, particularly when they directly affect our members and their businesses.
All CMA members are affected by the work of Colorado legislators and regulators. It’s easy to point to new laws that impact mining operations directly, such as increases in taxes, but we can point to passage of Colorado’s new transportation infrastructure package that will provide desperately needed funds for roads and bridges to ensure the timely delivery of goods and services to our Colorado mines throughout Colorado. At the same time, proponents of the bill agreed to several new fees bill sponsors felt were necessary to promote priorities pushed by Colorado’s environmental community.
Finally, we often talk about CMA working closely with organizations such as Club 20 and the Colorado Water Congress that represent elements of Colorado’s business community as well as local communities. We like to invite organizations like these to attend the Legislative Reception to further cement those relationships.
I hope I’ve convinced you to join us for the Legislative Reception and would like to extend a big thank you to all the sponsors who have made it possible!
