We are frequently asked, “What do you do when the legislature is not in session?” Although CMA focuses on influencing mining and energy policy, that work is not limited to the regular legislative session which ends in May. Ongoing work throughout the legislative interim (June-December) supplements and supports our efforts under the Gold Dome. Our year-round itinerary takes three major avenues: legislative interim meetings and task forces, regulatory activities, and outreach meetings with allied business organizations.
To attend interim committee meetings where legislators formulate draft legislation for 2020, we traveled from Fort Morgan on the Eastern Plains to Grand Junction, on the Western Slope. We reported on those proposals at monthly CMA committee meetings where our members discuss their potential impact. This year’s focus has been on the Energy Legislation Interim Committee, the Investor Owned Utilities Interim Committee, and the Tax Expenditure Evaluation Committee.
We participated in regulatory agency meetings in Denver and around the state as they considered implementation of 2019 legislation on climate change, oil/gas regulation, Regional Haze development of TENORM regulations, and Greenhouse Gas controls. These agency actions, and others at the Mined Land Reclamation Board and Water Quality Control Commission, are the subject of monthly CMA committee meetings. CMA Water Quality, Coal, Hardrock and Uranium, and Government Affairs committees discuss legislative and regulatory proposals in depth seeking consensus on steps necessary to advance CMA goals.
Colorado is in the throes of unprecedented activism to eliminate fossil fuels and limit the ability to produce vital minerals. In this critical time, outreach and collaboration with other business groups is of paramount importance. Measures that burden business and jeopardize the economic underpinnings of our state make it even more important that we continue to ally with economic development groups, chambers of commerce, and civic organizations within communities where we operate. CMA made presentations in Pagosa Springs, Silverton, and Rifle to carry our message statewide. While we were on the road and as we push forward into the fall, CMA continues to advocate for its members. We ask for your help in continuing to provide input on critical policies and alert us to issues arising within your communities that impact our collective mission.
