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CCLT's
Newsletter
CCLT
Members are free to reproduce the following newsletter articles,
as long as the following conditions are met:
(1) the articles are reprinted in their entirety, unless
the authors have agreed to changes or edits;
(2) reprints must include the author's name;
(3) reprints must display the statement:
“Article reprinted courtesy of the Colorado Coalition
of Land Trusts.”
COLORADO
HB 1244 SIGNED BY GOVERNOR OWENS
Good
news—House Bill 1244 was signed on June 7 by Governor
Owens! Attached is a brief
summary of the bill’s provisions. We will distribute
more information regarding this bill in the coming days.
CCLT
would like to extend its appreciation to Representative
Diane Hoppe and Senator Jennifer Veiga for sponsoring
this bill and their hard work to get it through the legislative
process.
In
light of all the activity at the federal level, we hope this
bill will help ensure high quality transactions here in Colorado.
Senate
Finance Committee Hearings Update
6/9/06
1:21 p.m.
In a conference call that just ended, Rand Wentworth reported
that the tone of the hearing was surprisingly positive and
that the focus has shifted away from drastic proposals such
as those in the Joint Committee on Taxation’s report
to more reasonable reforms. As we have seen here in Colorado,
IRS Commissioner Miller reported that they are examining
several hundred easement donations, with a specific interest
in operators or promoters of questionable transactions.
Rand
outlines below
several of the recommendations for reform of easement donations.
The Senate Finance Committee’s staff hopes to turn
such recommendations into draft legislation in the next
few weeks, which will likely be attached to a new charities
bill. LTA will be working hard over the coming days to work
with the Committee’s staff to help guide that process.
The good news is that it sounds like the potential for the
positive expansion of tax benefits is still on the table
if the Committee can be assured that potential abuses can
be controlled.
Kudos
to LTA and all the conservation practitioners that weighed
in on this effort to turn the tide of political and public
opinion. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but
hopefully the proposed reforms will simply reaffirm legitimate
conservation interests here in Colorado.
6/9/05
10:56 a.m.
As
discussed in the LTA emails and mailings, it is likely that
local news papers will pick up the story on the Senate Finance
Committee hearings and issues surrounding conservation easements.
As an FYI, I copied below two such stories from papers in
Aspen and Grand
Junction to give you the flavor of how it is currently
being covered. Should you be contacted by a reporter, the
talking points and media training/tips provided by LTA are
very helpful (The talking points, media tips, and media
training can all be found at http://www.ltanet.org).
If you haven’t already, it would be worth reviewing
those in advance of any interviews. It’s definitely
fair to tell the reporter that you will have to call him/her
back and then review the talking points and prepare what
you want to say.
The
most important things in such an interview are:
-
Be
prepared and know what you hope to convey (don’t
just answer the questions, tell your story)
-
Be
positive and repeat your most important two or three
points at every opportunity (e.g.; how important your
organization and these tax incentives are for conservation
in your area, the great public benefits of private land
conservation, etc. This is your opportunity to tell
the great news about your organization and its mission
-
Don’t
feel like you need to answer all the questions (e.g.;
if the reporter tries to focus on the abuses or negative
news, you don’t need to respond to that directly.
Use that as an opportunity to bridge to what you want
to tell the readers in your area, not the reporter.
You can say something like “I don’t know
much about potential abuses, but I can tell you how
important the federal and state benefits are to preserving
the quality of life in our area. . ." then go
on to say your points again). Not answering directly
is one of the most difficult things to do, but an
interview should not be a conversation. Instead it
should be a platform for you to reach readers with
your message. If you don’t think your organization
will benefit from the interview, you don’t have
to do it.
-
Refer
them to Jim Wyerman at LTA (202-638-4725) or to CCLT
(303-271-1577) if you prefer to not conduct an interview
or for follow-up/additional information.
Stay
tuned for more information coming out soon about the hearings
and potential reforms.
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