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<v Speaker 1>I have to say Mason County Commissioner Bobby Daniel joining

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<v Speaker 1>me now. She had a little idea that I feel

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<v Speaker 1>like has opened up a can of worms and I'm

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<v Speaker 1>so pleased for joining me now. Bobby, it's good to

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<v Speaker 1>talk to you again.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you Mandy for having me, Thanks for having me

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<v Speaker 2>on the show. It's exciting to talk about it.

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<v Speaker 1>So tell me what started you down the rabbit hole

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<v Speaker 1>of looking into unfunded mandates from the state.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so, I'm just I was a new commissioner and

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<v Speaker 2>we had our department head meeting that we do every week,

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<v Speaker 2>and more and more our department heads for sharing this

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<v Speaker 2>frustration over the unfunded mandates. And it didn't matter if

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<v Speaker 2>it was the landfilled the sheriff, the clerk. Everyone had

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<v Speaker 2>a story about how underfunded mandates were affecting their budget

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<v Speaker 2>and this was frustrating for them because it's something they

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<v Speaker 2>can't really control. They couldn't see for coming, and it

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<v Speaker 2>really took deep impacts to their budget. Just for example,

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<v Speaker 2>there was the landfilled liner bill that came out. It

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<v Speaker 2>affected our budget at the county. It was going to

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<v Speaker 2>be a two million dollar landfill liner that we didn't want.

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<v Speaker 2>We didn't need that we had no say, and so

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<v Speaker 2>it was very frustrating that kind of a cost that

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<v Speaker 2>comes out of nowhere really does impact budgets. And so

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<v Speaker 2>we're just basically compiling all that information when we were

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<v Speaker 2>as we were getting it. Each legislative session comes out

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<v Speaker 2>with new unfunded mandates, and so we started a tracker.

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<v Speaker 2>This tracker tool was able to calculate from each department

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<v Speaker 2>the impacts of unfunded mandates and it really grew substantially.

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<v Speaker 2>The first year was interesting department heads. You know, if

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<v Speaker 2>you're in a silo, you're just kind of in your

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<v Speaker 2>own world and you're focusing on your budget, but then

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<v Speaker 2>when you put it together as a county, they started

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<v Speaker 2>getting really excited. They're like, wow, this is this is

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of money. And so we're in our second

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<v Speaker 2>year of tracking that we're up to almost ten million

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<v Speaker 2>dollars in unfunded mandates that we've been able to track.

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<v Speaker 2>That's just annually, and that's just in MafA counting.

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<v Speaker 1>So the most interesting part of this whole thing is

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<v Speaker 1>that when did you become aware of CRS twenty nine

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<v Speaker 1>dash one dash three oh four point five.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, So we took our unfunded mandates to a tracker.

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<v Speaker 2>We went to all the counties, we shared that with them,

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<v Speaker 2>we started tracking them. We're like, wow, this is a

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<v Speaker 2>really big problem that's affecting us. How can we push back. Well,

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<v Speaker 2>it's great, Actually, the Constitution is fabulous in this arena

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<v Speaker 2>where if it's not fully funded, if it's not funded,

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<v Speaker 2>then it's optional. And so we really wanted to convey

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<v Speaker 2>that to the legislature. There are some unfunded mandates that

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<v Speaker 2>are so costly and it's really hurting what we're able

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<v Speaker 2>to provide. Our core services are suffering, and so we

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<v Speaker 2>commune unicated in a letter we're not going to be

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<v Speaker 2>combined with these unfunded mandates. Here are a few unfunded

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<v Speaker 2>mandates that we won't be combined with. The Constitution's clear

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<v Speaker 2>if you don't fund it is now optional. So we

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<v Speaker 2>were able to send a letter in July, and then

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<v Speaker 2>we have almost forty counties that have also sent their

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<v Speaker 2>individual letters to the governor and also House and Senate leadership.

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<v Speaker 2>So we're making a lot of headway. We have the

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<v Speaker 2>majority of our counties are with us on this. And

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<v Speaker 2>what's exciting is you have Boulder County, of Stommit County,

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<v Speaker 2>you have Mesa county. There are so many folks that

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<v Speaker 2>are coming to this issue in a very nonpartisan fashion

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<v Speaker 2>and really talking about numbers and budgets and how it

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<v Speaker 2>suspects they're constituents at home.

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<v Speaker 1>Now, let me ask you this, if this unfunded mandate

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<v Speaker 1>is now optional, the first thing I thought of, Bobby,

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<v Speaker 1>was this, all these new gun laws about concealed carry,

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<v Speaker 1>they are a huge burden to the individual county sheriff's department.

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<v Speaker 1>There's got to be a huge price tag attached, and

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<v Speaker 1>as far as I know, there's no money coming specifically

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<v Speaker 1>to enforce those new rules. So does that mean that

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<v Speaker 1>if a county like Mesa or like Douglas Sorel Paso said,

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<v Speaker 1>you know what, we're going to opt out of those

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<v Speaker 1>new requirements, is that is that argument valid?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, so far, you know, each county is taking a

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<v Speaker 2>look at what liability would be for their constituents, and

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<v Speaker 2>that's there's nuances to that, and we don't want to

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<v Speaker 2>give a green light to something that could be very

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<v Speaker 2>serious when it comes to some legal ramifications, especially with

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<v Speaker 2>like the military. And so what we've done is we've

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<v Speaker 2>tried to stay out of more of those polarizing conversations

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<v Speaker 2>when it comes to those things, I think there's legal

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<v Speaker 2>action that probably take place when it comes to Senate

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<v Speaker 2>Built three, and I think there's already some lawsuits that

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<v Speaker 2>are taking place right now. But as far as unfunded mandates,

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<v Speaker 2>we're really trying to focus on more non partisan issues

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<v Speaker 2>where we can really talk about what's being funded and

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<v Speaker 2>what's being not funded and when the legislature is not

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<v Speaker 2>really taking into account accurate fiscal notes. Sometimes in these bills,

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<v Speaker 2>it's really interesting it'll say minimal impact to local governments

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<v Speaker 2>and they just need to do a better job. Minimal

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<v Speaker 2>impact can mean a lot of different things, and it's

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<v Speaker 2>just not fair and it's not accurate. And so we

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<v Speaker 2>really are pushing back in a very non partisan way

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<v Speaker 2>that this has to be fixed right as being the

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<v Speaker 2>state legislature to fund it or fix it. And I

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<v Speaker 2>think this is great because we're moving into the next

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<v Speaker 2>legislative session and hopefully we will have even more counties

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<v Speaker 2>joining us in this coalition and to really work towards

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<v Speaker 2>the solution.

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<v Speaker 1>I have a couple of people on the text lines

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<v Speaker 1>asking for an example, and when Texter said, what is

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<v Speaker 1>an unfunded mandate? And that is simply when the state says,

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<v Speaker 1>here's a new law that outlines something that you must do,

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<v Speaker 1>and the counties are in charge of it, but we're

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<v Speaker 1>not giving you any money that you might need to

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<v Speaker 1>take care of the mandate that we're now giving you.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's the sort of overall explanation of an unfunded mandate.

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<v Speaker 1>But do you have specific examples in masse accounting of

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<v Speaker 1>unfunded mandates that you could give us.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. So one of the more pressing issues is we're

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<v Speaker 2>dealing with a Rule thirty one. This is a regulatory

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<v Speaker 2>rule that came out of rule making, and so this

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<v Speaker 2>isn't necessarily a bill that got passed, but it is

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<v Speaker 2>an agency mistate that is working through some of this

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<v Speaker 2>role making that could have some major effects. And again

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<v Speaker 2>it doesn't come with funding. And so this is in

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<v Speaker 2>regards to methane in a landfilled and so these are

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<v Speaker 2>rules that the federal government already has. Rules are established

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<v Speaker 2>messane in landfills. The State of Colorado just kind of

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<v Speaker 2>wanted to take the extra mile, but that extra mile

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<v Speaker 2>is going to cross mesa county landfilled. Nine million dollars

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<v Speaker 2>to implement in the first year and a million dollars

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<v Speaker 2>after that for each year, right, So these are sort

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<v Speaker 2>of if it's just an agency and it's just one

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<v Speaker 2>bill and it's one legislature, they're like, well, this has

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<v Speaker 2>good intentions, but really the unintended consequence of some of

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<v Speaker 2>these are just astronomical and what's going to end up

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<v Speaker 2>happening is smaller landfills are not going to be able

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<v Speaker 2>to come by. I mean, nine million dollars is our

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<v Speaker 2>entire landfill budget. That's what they'll end up having to

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<v Speaker 2>just shut down. And I think that's a real disservice

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<v Speaker 2>for our constituents and you know, and for the environment

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<v Speaker 2>quite frankly. And so it's just things like that. There's

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<v Speaker 2>we've been again, we're tracking all of this on our

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<v Speaker 2>funded or fixed campaign on Mesa County dot us, and

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<v Speaker 2>we really go into high level detail from our department head.

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<v Speaker 2>They just are automatically doing a lot of this in

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<v Speaker 2>their budget every year, so it doesn't cost us more

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<v Speaker 2>money to keep track of but it's all in on

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<v Speaker 2>the website. We have very detailed account of where our

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<v Speaker 2>taxpayer dollars are going, and I think that's a good

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<v Speaker 2>resource for anybody to go look out.

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<v Speaker 1>Basic County Commissioner Bobby Daniel I appreciate your time, and

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<v Speaker 1>of course you're trying to keep it nonpartisan, but I'm

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<v Speaker 1>already like, wow, this is kind of.

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<v Speaker 2>A big deal.

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<v Speaker 1>So I'll just take that. I'll keep that to myself

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<v Speaker 1>and let you keep working on the nine Protistan side

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<v Speaker 1>of it, and hopefully you guys can get some financial relief.

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<v Speaker 1>I appreciate you making time for me today. Absolutely all right,

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks Bobby,