Isgar, D-Hesperus, said he is being considered for a position as Colorado director of the USDA’s Office of Rural Development. The state headquarters is in Lakewood, with local offices in Alamosa, Cortez, Craig, Delta, Las Animas, and Wray.
“I was asked to put my name in and I did,” Isgar said. “I’m down to my last year. I could go one more session but I’ve done it here. I’ve made an impact and now there is another opportunity to do something that I think will be really exciting.”
Isgar gave no answer when asked when he expected to hear something more about the new job. This year’s session of the General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn on May 6.
The USDA’s website states its rural development division helps rural individuals, communities and businesses obtain financial and technical assistance to address diverse and unique needs.
“We have an $86 billion portfolio of loans and we will administer nearly $16 billion in program loans, loan guarantees and grants through out programs,” the website states.
“There’s going to be a lot of money flowing there for rural development,” Isgar said.
Isgar, 57, was appointed to the District 6 Senate seat in 2001 when Jim Dyer resigned to go on the Public Utilities Commission. He was elected to his second full term in 2006.Considered a moderate Democrat and an expert on water and other natural resource issues, Isgar has chaired the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources the last three years. He was assistant majority leader in 2005-06 and chairman of the Senate Majority Caucus in 2007-08.
Isgar, a farmer and rancher, denied his decision to consider resigning before completing his final term in office was triggered by the majority leadership’s decision this year to reconfigure committee structures, which moved oil and gas and other energy issues to the Local Government and Energy Committee.
There had been speculation at the Capitol that Isgar lost oversight of oil and gas issues because he publically opposed Gov. Bill Ritter’s ballot initiative last year to eliminate the property tax credit that energy companies get to take on their severance taxes. The issue was defeated in the November general election.
Isgar consistently has dismissed such claims
“I got all my stuff done this year,” he said. “Look at the bills I did and the success I had. It didn’t make much difference.”
Of the 12 bills Isgar introduced in the Senate this year, most of them related to water or agriculture, all but one cleared the Senate. The only one that failed to get out of committee was one related to the new oil and gas rules that eventually were approved and signed by the governor.
Isgar, whose diverse eight-county district includes San Miguel, San Juan and Ouray counties, frequently sided with Republicans on politically conservative issues.
On Tuesday, for example, he was one of only three Democrats to oppose a bill that allowed for collective bargaining by police and fire protection employees and was one of four Democrats to support eliminating the instant background check for gun owners who already carry concealed weapons permits.
Both bills narrowly were approved in preliminary votes Tuesday. A final vote on both bills was scheduled for Thursday.
“I support that (gun) bill because generally the concealed carry check is more thorough than the insta-check,” Isgar said. “I’ve always been opposed to a mandatory database.”
Most Democrats opposed House Bill 1180 because it reopened the gunshow loophole that was closed after voters approved Amendment 22 in the wake of the Columbine High School shootings. The bill’s backers beat back a proposed amendment that would have required the maintenance of a statewide database of concealed carry permit holders.
Isgar said he opposed the collective bargaining bill (Senate Bill 180) because that is what his constituents wanted.
“My communities at home were all concerned about it,” he said. “The home rule municipalities think it’s an issue of local control. I wasn’t hearing from firefighters in my district that they needed this.”
Isgar did vote with the rest of the Democrats on the budget-balancing package of bills that relies on a state takeover over of Pinnacol Assurance, which holds about 70 percent of the workmen’s compensation policies in the state.
By doing so, the state would get access to $500 million of Pinnacol’s $700 million surplus and not have to cut another $300 million in state aid to higher education, which could lead to double-digit tuition increases and/or the closure of some community colleges.
“We’re pretty desperate for some funds,” Isgar said. “It does appear to me that (Pinnacol’s) surplus is far in excess of what’s needed.”
Isgar agreed with arguments that Pinnacol is not like other private businesses.
“Pinnacol’s sure stirred up a lot of folks by telling them they’re private, but if you’re a board appointed by the governor, if you have governmental immunity and you don’t pay taxes, you are hardly a private company,” he said.
Isgar said he is still hoping an agreement can be reached that would avoid a lawsuit, which Pinnacol has threatened to file if the legislature goes forward with a raid on its funds. He said Gov. Ritter and his staff are in daily negotiations with Pinnacol officials.
“We went ahead and pushed the thing through with the budget but I think we’re going to have to go back and find $300 million,” Isgar said. “Even if all the arguments are right, it’s clear they (Pinnacol) are not going to write a check for $500 million. We’re thinking that there still might be a deal made.”
The budget bill calls for $300 million of the Pinnacol surplus to go to state support of colleges and universities, with the other $200 million going to a budget reserve account.
Republicans opposed to the Pinnacol takeover argue Pinnacol is a private company whose funds are derived from insurance policies purchased by private companies.
“This is not a pot of money that belongs to the state,” said Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield. “Since 2002, it’s been an independently run, privately-operated insurance company for the benefit of workers. Pinnacol can and will sue the state if we insist on following through with this unconstitutional power grab.”
The Republicans argued the legislature’s majority Democrats were offering a “false choice” between a raid on Pinnacol and funding higher education. They said smaller government should also have been on the table.
“While employers are laying off workers by the thousands, the Joint Budget Committee has submitted a budget that doesn’t ask a single state worker in our entire state government to make a single sacrifice,” said Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction. “Not a single furlough day, not a single pay cut; not even a reduction in the number of paid state employees.”
The budget package currently is being considered by the House.
Late Wednesday morning at press deadline, legislative leaders announced that they will balance the budget without funds from Pinnacle while continuing to peruse a long-term plan. Details of $300 million in an additional budget balancing measure will be released this morning but legislative leaders echoed Gov. Ritter’s message that there will be no additional cuts to higher education.
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