Rankin proposes money-saving plan

RBC I Bob Rankin, candidate for Colorado House District 57, announced a campaign policy initiative to save Colorado voters money while holding the federal government more accountable for their actions.
In the announcement, Rankin takes aim at million upon millions of dollars lost to Western slope communities when federal decisions impact businesses that rely on Western Colorado’s BLM and forest lands.
“Delaying or denying ski resort expansions, limiting new mountain biking trail development, withdrawing grazing, energy and outfitting permits and making more lands off-limits has a real dollar cost to Western Colorado. My intent is to make sure west slope voters have tools to measure what federal agencies take out of their pockets.”
Rankin exclaimed, “The federal government adds a lot of uncertainty to any business operating on or dependent on public lands. We’ll start measuring what that costs our state and economy.”
Currently, the state of Colorado has no mechanism to assess economic impacts of federal regulations on Colorado’s economy. Continued Rankin, “Every day I hear stories about federal bureaucrats stifling jobs through restrictions.” If an outfitter wants a new permit, the feds can wait them out or run them out of business by creating new studies, assessing new fees and creating new land use restrictions that limit the guide’s customer base.
Specific federal land policies are often debated in lengthy meetings. But we need to know the specific dollar impact of policies and decisions.
Rankin’s policy proposal would require, within existing state resources, that Colorado review federal decisions and come up with a fiscal or revenue analysis statement that local governments can use to inform their communities.
His campaign plans to reveal details about the legislation as business and local communities provide more input through October. The Rankin campaign reemphasized that “analysis should occur within the state’s current budget. We can’t hold the federal bureaucracy more accountable by growing the state’s. Let’s take a close look at Colorado’s already massive state agencies and get this done with existing resources.”
The Rankin campaign believes that over time millions of dollars will be saved by pulling back the curtains and holding Washington responsible for fiscal impacts to Colorado and its businesses.
Rankin has already met with west slope businesses, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, as well as Garfield, Rio Blanco and Moffat Counties to gather input.
“I’m putting the BLM, Forest Service, EPA and others on notice that they should be prepared to talk, in meaningful fiscal terms, about how Colorado is affected by their decisions.”
Bob Rankin is running for the Colorado House of Representative District 57 seat which includes Garfield, Rio Blanco, and Moffat counties.