Committee declines to advance Colorado Eagles license plate; bill postponed indefinitely after fiscal concerns

Representative Karen Weinberg introduced a bill to create a Colorado Eagles special license plate whose proceeds would fund a newly formed Colorado Eagles Charities nonprofit. The sponsor said proceeds would support local community programs, including youth scholarships and hospital and veterans’ partnerships.

Emily Ostapovich, marketing director for the Colorado Eagles, and Zach Miller, manager of game and event operations, described the team’s charitable activities — military appreciation, cancer awareness, the teddy-bear-toss and a “pot of gold” fundraiser — and said a license plate would provide a steady revenue stream to expand that work.

Committee members focused on the fiscal mechanics for specialty plates, asking why some plate fiscal notes show much higher initial costs and whether municipal or statewide priorities would be better funded by other means. Representative DeGraff and others questioned why some bills show initial state costs (tens of thousands in one fiscal note) while similar specialty-plate bills elsewhere show only minor first-year expenses.

The Department of Revenue fiscal analyst explained that differences in estimated revenue often reflect different assumptions about how many drivers would buy a plate; the Eagles plate, as introduced, did not contain a fixed mandatory donation amount, and estimates thus varied.

After debate, the committee took a roll-call on a motion to give the bill a favorable recommendation to Appropriations. That vote failed on a 4–8 roll call. A subsequent motion for a reverse roll call and to postpone the bill indefinitely passed, and the bill was formally postponed indefinitely.

Ending: Supporters said the plate would expand an existing charitable program; opponents and several committee members cited uncertainty in the fiscal note and concerns that small, specialized plates produce uneven returns for state and local priorities.