As the Colorado 2015 Legislative Session moves into full-swing, Morgan County stakeholders will begin discussions with representatives.

Stakeholders started those discussions Monday with the first Legislative Coffee event. Representatives from area businesses, Morgan County Economic Development Corporation, Morgan Community College, Brush Chamber of Commerce, Fort Morgan Area Chamber of Commerce, Morgan County Sheriff’s Office and the city of Fort Morgan attended the event Monday at Café Lotus.

The small group met with State Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg and State Rep. Jon Becker to discuss bills and matters at the state legislative session.

The Legislative Coffee event on Monday followed a less formal format than usual, Becker said.

“Sometimes it’s more formal where people stand up and present, but it’s still early in the session,” Becker said.

The group discussed matters regarding tax on medical marijuana, faster internet services in the eastern plains and Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

Becker said TABOR will most likely be something legislators pay close attention to moving forward. “We are going to be looking at TABOR and TABOR refunds and how those work at the state capital,” Becker said.

Sonnenberg briefly talked about offering tax breaks to corporations that operate overseas.

“One of the things I would like to see is for us to waive state tax for corporations that bring money overseas,” he said. “If we can get a competitive advantage of bringing in money that U.S. corporations have sitting overseas, I’d like to see that money come into the state of Colorado and be used tax-free, if they use it to either to employ people or build infrastructure.”

Becker said the event helps legislatures stay in touch with the community.

“We want to inform the public of what we are doing and have them tell us what the community wants,” Becker said. “Without the community we honestly cannot do our job.”

The Legislative Coffee event takes place at the end of each month until the legislative session is closed, said Kari Linker, Executive Director of MCEDC. The Colorado Legislative Session started Jan. 7 and will run until May.

Zachary Laux: 970-867-5651, zlaux@fmtimes.com

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