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Senate Finance tweaks tax credit changes, keeps fuel volumetric allowance and adds biotech extension
Summary
Senate Finance amended SB26 to preserve a long‑standing 2% volumetric fuel allowance and to include a modest biotechnology refund extension while removing an electric lawn equipment credit to keep the bill near revenue neutrality.
Senate Finance moved Senate Bill 26 forward after agreement on an amendment that narrowed the bill’s original tax‑code changes.
What changed: Sponsors had proposed reducing the volumetric allowance for taxable gallons removed from fuel terminals from 2% to 1% and adding new or extended credits for residential energy storage and electric lawn equipment. After industry objections from convenience stores and fuel marketers, the committee adopted amendment L6 to retain the 2% volumetric allowance for terminal shrink/expansion; the amendment removed the electric lawn‑equipment credit extension and instead added a one‑year extension of a biotechnology sales/use tax refund provision. Sponsors said the compromise kept the fiscal impact roughly revenue neutral in the current budget context.
Why it matters: Fuel marketers said the volumetric adjustment is a long‑standing operational allowance that accounts for thermal expansion and contraction during storage and movement; removing it would shift roughly $6.5 million into the state’s calculation and could have TABOR implications. Clean‑energy advocates urged continued tax support for battery storage paired with rooftop solar and for electrification of lawn and garden equipment as air‑quality measures.
Testimony highlights - Greer Bailey, Colorado‑Wyoming Fuel Marketers: urged keeping the 2% allowance, noting temperature changes can cause up to a ~2% volumetric expansion or shrink and the allowance has existed for nearly a century. - Hannah Miller, Colorado Communities for Climate Action (CC4CA): supported sections expanding tax credits for residential battery storage and electric equipment, highlighting benefits for emissions and resilience. - Amber Egbert, Department of Revenue: available to answer operational questions; the department said it had not fully analyzed the L6 biotech amendment at the hearing and would follow up.
Action The committee adopted L6 by voice/consent and moved the bill to Appropriations with a favorable recommendation.
