September 17, 2024 • 9 mins
ONE SIMPLE WORD IS A JOB KILLER A simple bill about plumbing got high jacked by special interests to change on word and it killed businesses. Peter Boddie is sounding the alarm while he runs for Colorado House District 28 to unseat the person who put lots of people and small businesses out of work in what he calls the The Big Backflow Blunder, which you can read about here. He joins me at 12:30 to discuss.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A man who is running for the Colorado House District
in the twenty eighth House district.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Peter Body.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Of course, Peter, I chose to pronounce your name incorrectly
before you came on the air with me, but never fear,
I have corrected myself and welcome to the program.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Thank you, Thank you for having me on.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
So, first of all, I.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Want to ask you why did you decide to run
for the twenty eighth House District seat.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Well, I love Colorado and I love my country, and
we have some problems that need to be addressed, and
our Colorado legislature is out of control and I want
to repair some of the damage and change things down there.
(00:47):
So it's costing people money, and there's all kinds of
problems that are being caused by an out of control legislature.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
So what specifically got your attention? And I'm directing you
to the big backflow blunder which you are out there publicizing.
Tell my listeners what happened when one word changed, literally,
one word change destroyed businesses and jobs.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Explain how this has happened.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Sure, well, I call it the big backflow blunder, and
it was caused by my opponent the incumbent in House
District twenty eight, and it was a change to the
state Plumbing Board Law, which had to be renewed because
of sunset. And it was a change that the Plumbing
(01:41):
Board law addresses licensing of plumbers and the regulations for plumbing,
which is a necessary law and needed to be renewed. However,
at the last minute they changed a couple words involving
what's called the back flow prevention device testing, and they
(02:03):
changed it so the previous law said backflow testing shall
be exempt from being performed by licensed plumbers, and they
change that too, are not exempt from plumbing license plumbers. Well,
backflow devices are on all commercial buildings and large irrigation
(02:28):
systems and even most of your backyard irrigation systems have
a backflow device. And what that does is it prevents
if you have a break in your system, in your
building or in your irrigation system, there's a big loss
of pressure, something happens. It prevents potentially contaminated water in
(02:52):
your system, in your system from going back into the
public water supply.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Okay, it's a stopgap.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
It's been around for decades.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Okay, it's a stop gap to prevent cross contamination if
something goes wrong in one.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Place exactly okay.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
And so there's been a whole industry built up of
backflow tester certify backflow tester. They have to be take
training and perform these tests once a year on all
the commercial operations. Those have to be submitted to the
water utilities and submitted to the state Health Department. And
(03:32):
if you don't get the testing done, that creates a
potential health violation. And so by changing it from not
requiring licensed plumbers at the behest of a plumber's union
and a plumbers organization, which my opponent readily to come
(03:54):
to their request, put it in without anybody knowing, and
all of a sudden, hundreds of backflow testers who had
been doing this work for decades were potentially crushed out
of business, couldn't perform the tests. And that went into
effect July first, but nobody noticed, didn't till the laws
(04:19):
started to take effect, and then it just created problems besides.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Go ahead, So these companies specifically do this one thing.
They're not like doing this, and then I will take
care of this plumbing issue. They have one job and
they focus on this one thing because.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
I want to make sure.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
I mean, if they have all this other training, what
would be the necessity of having.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
It be a plumber.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
There is no necessity. It's been working fine for decades.
And these businesses, some of them do there's fire pressure
testing and big buildings and things, so some of them
do some other work. But the backfloat there are some
that that's all they do, is the backflow of testing.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
To Peter, if you're elected to the House of Representatives,
what do you want to do here?
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Well, the first thing is to resend this this provision
in the bill, correct it, and it has to be
corrected by April first. Everybody panicked because it caused so
much trouble that they postponed implementation till April first, which
would give me a chance to propose a bill, and
(05:30):
others propose a bill to fix the problem. Denver Water
is so concerned about Denver Water Department, which serves a
million and a half customers, I think, and they have
forty four thousand of these devices that need to be
tested every year. Because of the law going and effect
July first, they were already behind on their testing. And
(05:53):
if they get a notice from the State Health Department
that they're in violation. They have to and out of
public notice. It costs a quarter of a million dollars
per notice.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Oh good grief.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
For them to mail for postage and mailing and printing.
I just then you multiplied that by every water utility, right,
and you have a big blunder.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
I got this text message, Peter body who I'm talking
to right now, Mandy. I just heard from a friend
You're going to be doing a backflow segment on your
show in about ten minutes because of the new law.
I ended up selling my backflow business that I've had
for eight years, and I'm a master plumber, still very
active in the backflow community. But the way, oh hang on,
some just updated there but them. But the way that
(06:41):
the politics screwed with the entire system was enough for
me to get out of it. I was doing over
sixteen hundred tests a year, and whichever party decided to
change this law really screwed this industry up. I know
for a fact that I asked you once to look
into it, and it was before the nine News interview
with Colleen Morrison, who was a good friend of mine.
So yeah, this is having real life effects here.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Peter.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Let me ask you this aside from this, like this
can't be the only thing that has you running. And
people are asking where is the twenty eighth House district?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
What is that encompass? What's your biggest areas?
Speaker 3 (07:13):
It's the very south edge of Lakewood in Jefferson County.
South edge of Lakewood down to about Coal Mine west
to Sea four seventy and on the east is where
parts of Denver and Arapahole County, Littleton kind of weave
in and out on the east edge. Okay, so I
call it central South Jefferson County.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
So let me ask you this, what does it take
to become a licensed plumber? Because somebody said so these
black backflow companies can just become licensed plumbers to continue
this business. How easy is it it to become a
licensed plumber?
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Well, I think it takes years. You have to become
an apprentice, and I'm not that familiar with becoming a plumber.
I just no electricians plumbers. They have to spend years
training as an apprentice and testing and then you know,
moving up to become a I guess a journeyman plumber
(08:11):
and the master plumber. So it's not something that you
do overnight and at the same time, the backflow testing
requires a forty hour training and the passing a test.
So in the past the plumbers didn't want to bother
sending one of their plumbers to get that test right.
The plumber could do it, and it just was such
(08:33):
small potatoes as some An attorney at the Denver Water
Department told me that the plumbers never wanted to do
it in the past because it wasn't sexy enough. It's
just a small test.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Peter, we're out of time.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Why should people vote for Peter Body in the twenty
eighth House district.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Well, as I've said, the legislature, the Democrats and legislature
are are drunk on power, and you need to elect
sober republic.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
All right, Peter, Yeah, exactly Body.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
For Colorado dot Com.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
I put a link on the blog to your website, Pody, Peter,
so people could see what you're up to.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Best of luck to you. Hopefully we'll talk to you
when you become a member of the House.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Thank you, thank you, Peter.
A man who is running for the Colorado House District
in the twenty eighth House district.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Peter Body.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Of course, Peter, I chose to pronounce your name incorrectly
before you came on the air with me, but never fear,
I have corrected myself and welcome to the program.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Thank you, Thank you for having me on.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
So, first of all, I.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Want to ask you why did you decide to run
for the twenty eighth House District seat.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Well, I love Colorado and I love my country, and
we have some problems that need to be addressed, and
our Colorado legislature is out of control and I want
to repair some of the damage and change things down there.
(00:47):
So it's costing people money, and there's all kinds of
problems that are being caused by an out of control legislature.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
So what specifically got your attention? And I'm directing you
to the big backflow blunder which you are out there publicizing.
Tell my listeners what happened when one word changed, literally,
one word change destroyed businesses and jobs.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Explain how this has happened.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Sure, well, I call it the big backflow blunder, and
it was caused by my opponent the incumbent in House
District twenty eight, and it was a change to the
state Plumbing Board Law, which had to be renewed because
of sunset. And it was a change that the Plumbing
(01:41):
Board law addresses licensing of plumbers and the regulations for plumbing,
which is a necessary law and needed to be renewed. However,
at the last minute they changed a couple words involving
what's called the back flow prevention device testing, and they
(02:03):
changed it so the previous law said backflow testing shall
be exempt from being performed by licensed plumbers, and they
change that too, are not exempt from plumbing license plumbers. Well,
backflow devices are on all commercial buildings and large irrigation
(02:28):
systems and even most of your backyard irrigation systems have
a backflow device. And what that does is it prevents
if you have a break in your system, in your
building or in your irrigation system, there's a big loss
of pressure, something happens. It prevents potentially contaminated water in
(02:52):
your system, in your system from going back into the
public water supply.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Okay, it's a stopgap.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
It's been around for decades.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Okay, it's a stop gap to prevent cross contamination if
something goes wrong in one.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Place exactly okay.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
And so there's been a whole industry built up of
backflow tester certify backflow tester. They have to be take
training and perform these tests once a year on all
the commercial operations. Those have to be submitted to the
water utilities and submitted to the state Health Department. And
(03:32):
if you don't get the testing done, that creates a
potential health violation. And so by changing it from not
requiring licensed plumbers at the behest of a plumber's union
and a plumbers organization, which my opponent readily to come
(03:54):
to their request, put it in without anybody knowing, and
all of a sudden, hundreds of backflow testers who had
been doing this work for decades were potentially crushed out
of business, couldn't perform the tests. And that went into
effect July first, but nobody noticed, didn't till the laws
(04:19):
started to take effect, and then it just created problems besides.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Go ahead, So these companies specifically do this one thing.
They're not like doing this, and then I will take
care of this plumbing issue. They have one job and
they focus on this one thing because.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
I want to make sure.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
I mean, if they have all this other training, what
would be the necessity of having.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
It be a plumber.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
There is no necessity. It's been working fine for decades.
And these businesses, some of them do there's fire pressure
testing and big buildings and things, so some of them
do some other work. But the backfloat there are some
that that's all they do, is the backflow of testing.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
To Peter, if you're elected to the House of Representatives,
what do you want to do here?
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Well, the first thing is to resend this this provision
in the bill, correct it, and it has to be
corrected by April first. Everybody panicked because it caused so
much trouble that they postponed implementation till April first, which
would give me a chance to propose a bill, and
(05:30):
others propose a bill to fix the problem. Denver Water
is so concerned about Denver Water Department, which serves a
million and a half customers, I think, and they have
forty four thousand of these devices that need to be
tested every year. Because of the law going and effect
July first, they were already behind on their testing. And
(05:53):
if they get a notice from the State Health Department
that they're in violation. They have to and out of
public notice. It costs a quarter of a million dollars
per notice.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Oh good grief.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
For them to mail for postage and mailing and printing.
I just then you multiplied that by every water utility, right,
and you have a big blunder.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
I got this text message, Peter body who I'm talking
to right now, Mandy. I just heard from a friend
You're going to be doing a backflow segment on your
show in about ten minutes because of the new law.
I ended up selling my backflow business that I've had
for eight years, and I'm a master plumber, still very
active in the backflow community. But the way, oh hang on,
some just updated there but them. But the way that
(06:41):
the politics screwed with the entire system was enough for
me to get out of it. I was doing over
sixteen hundred tests a year, and whichever party decided to
change this law really screwed this industry up. I know
for a fact that I asked you once to look
into it, and it was before the nine News interview
with Colleen Morrison, who was a good friend of mine.
So yeah, this is having real life effects here.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Peter.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Let me ask you this aside from this, like this
can't be the only thing that has you running. And
people are asking where is the twenty eighth House district?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
What is that encompass? What's your biggest areas?
Speaker 3 (07:13):
It's the very south edge of Lakewood in Jefferson County.
South edge of Lakewood down to about Coal Mine west
to Sea four seventy and on the east is where
parts of Denver and Arapahole County, Littleton kind of weave
in and out on the east edge. Okay, so I
call it central South Jefferson County.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
So let me ask you this, what does it take
to become a licensed plumber? Because somebody said so these
black backflow companies can just become licensed plumbers to continue
this business. How easy is it it to become a
licensed plumber?
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Well, I think it takes years. You have to become
an apprentice, and I'm not that familiar with becoming a plumber.
I just no electricians plumbers. They have to spend years
training as an apprentice and testing and then you know,
moving up to become a I guess a journeyman plumber
(08:11):
and the master plumber. So it's not something that you
do overnight and at the same time, the backflow testing
requires a forty hour training and the passing a test.
So in the past the plumbers didn't want to bother
sending one of their plumbers to get that test right.
The plumber could do it, and it just was such
(08:33):
small potatoes as some An attorney at the Denver Water
Department told me that the plumbers never wanted to do
it in the past because it wasn't sexy enough. It's
just a small test.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Peter, we're out of time.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Why should people vote for Peter Body in the twenty
eighth House district.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Well, as I've said, the legislature, the Democrats and legislature
are are drunk on power, and you need to elect
sober republic.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
All right, Peter, Yeah, exactly Body.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
For Colorado dot Com.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
I put a link on the blog to your website, Pody, Peter,
so people could see what you're up to.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Best of luck to you. Hopefully we'll talk to you
when you become a member of the House.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Thank you, thank you, Peter.
The Mandy Connell Podcast News
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.