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January 03, 2012 01:24 PM UTC

Representative Ray Scott and the Coming Legislative Session

  • 4 Comments
  • by: Konola

In Friday’s Grand Junction Free Press, Ray Scott wrote an opinion piece on his plans as our representative in Denver.  As I mentioned yesterday, the battle lines have been drawn.  It appears Scott is dreading the battle, although his term is “interesting year.” His piece leads with mention of the reapportionment, but to his credit, he doesn’t use the official GOP term for it-vindictive.  He even acknowledges that as a freshman legislator he isn’t quite sure what to expect when the combatants reconvene.

Regarding the budget, Representative Scott opines that there will need to be cuts, which “do not sit well” with the opposing army. I’m hoping that is another manifestation of his Newbie status because the Democrats have balanced the budget in all the years that they’ve been in control of the House since TABOR was enacted, possible before-I just wasn’t paying attention then.

What doesn’t sit well with Democrats is the constant insistence, on the part of the GOP, to undermine the social net in favor of profits. We don’t have a problem with fiscal responsibility; we do have a problem with greed. And no, Representative Scott, the success of business does not depend on giving the store away to the oil and gas industry.

The oil and gas industry is regulated, yes, but they are also the most successful and profitable industry on the face of this planet.  At the national level they are subsidized with tax loopholes that could be better placed elsewhere.  Personally, I’d like to see an all out effort to develop alternative energies-maybe thorium reactors the size of a suitcase, as one example. At the state level the severance taxes are some of the lowest of all oil producing states. In other states, those higher severance taxes fund education.

By the way, Representative Scott, regulation does not kill jobs as you love to say. I recently attended a water seminar for prospective county commissioners. (No, I’m not running for that office.) At that seminar, Larry Clever of Ute Water got up on his soapbox about how regulations were in his way because of all of the EPA mandated requirements to test for clean water. When asked what the impact was, he pointed out that he used to have one lab technician and now he has three.  By my count that regulation created two good jobs in Mesa County, and we are all glad to know that it is safe to drink the water.

Scott really threw me off with this comment:  

“What we need to remain focused on is how to provide … education with the resources at hand, and remember that raising taxes is not the only solution – that, in fact, it is usually the worst possible solution – to the problem.”

Would somebody please tell Representative Scott that the legislature cannot raise taxes? It takes a vote of the people, so he won’t be faced with that dilemma while in the House.

Scott ended his piece by saying,

“I will also continue to fight for our oil and gas industry, which remains the backbone of our economy on the Western Slope. I will continue to push for responsible development on the Roan Plateau, and I will continue to work with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to ensure the rules they pass make sense, and are not unrealistic or unnecessarily restrictive.”

By that I hope he doesn’t mean that he is going to try again to pass a bill giving the Commission back to the industry. If he does, I will be doing everything I possibly can to make sure that he loses that fight.

Comments

4 thoughts on “Representative Ray Scott and the Coming Legislative Session

  1. the Democrats have balanced the budget in all the years that they’ve been in control of the House since TABOR was enacted, possible before-I just wasn’t paying attention then.

    The budget must balance.  It’s in the Constitution and it’s been in there since 1876.  See Article X, Section 16.

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