COLORADO LEGISLATIVE STRATEGIES NEWSLETTER

Introduction

There are a lot of milestones to celebrate right now. Today is of course Valentine’s Day, for all those who celebrate. And if you aren’t into Valentine’s Day, today also happens to be something called Quirkyalone Day. Yep, there really is a day for everything. 

Love was even in the air so much that the Senate decided to carry their marathon debate from Thursday into the early morning hours of Valentine’s Day. But after many hours of debate on controversial labor and gun bills, the Senators probably didn’t go straight into exchanging chalky candy and other goodies with each other. 

The holiday of more consequence though has to be Presidents’ Day, which is next Monday and will cause the Capitol to be closed. 

Additionally, we will hit a major milestone for the session over the long weekend. Sunday will be the 40th legislative day this session and means we will be over one-third of the way through the whole 2025 session when next week gets started.

Here’s the big news to know from the Capitol this week before you start your long weekend.

News

Gun Debate Goes Past Midnight

On Thursday and into the early morning hours on Friday, the Senate debated Senate Bill 3 which prohibits the manufacture and sale of guns that use detachable magazines. During the debate, there was a major change added to appease concerns from Governor Polis. The change makes a carveout in the bill for people who have completed a state regulated training course. Although sponsors acknowledge that this change does weaken the bill they also acknowledged it was necessary for approval by Governor Polis, who has indicated that he would sign the bill with the carveout amendment added. 

Read more – Colorado Senate gives preliminary OK to ban on sale, manufacture of certain semiautomatic guns after adding major carveout

Labor Peace Act Moves Forward Without Changes

Also on Thursday, the Senate had a lengthy debate on Senate Bill 5, which would make it significantly easier for unions to initiate a collective bargaining process with employers. This bill has been highly controversial and strongly opposed by the business community since introduction. Unlike the gun bill, however, there have been no changes to the bill despite strong reservations from the Governor about signing the bill as introduced.

Read more – Colorado Senate votes to repeal Labor Peace Act as opponents call it a ‘declaration of war’

Nuclear Energy Powers Through First Committee

Also on Thursday (it was a busy day), the House Energy and Environment Committee heard several hours of testimony on House Bill 1040, which would include nuclear energy in the statutory definition of “clean energy”. This would make nuclear energy projects eligible for clean-energy project financing and allow utilities to count these projects toward their minimum mandatory clean-energy requirements.

This bill has been introduced several sessions in a row and was always defeated. This session, however, the bill has some Democrats behind it and this was the first time the bill passed out of committee. Testimony on the bill included support from groups across several sectors, including union groups. However, testimony also included lots of opposition from environmental groups over concerns that they believe nuclear energy is unsafe and unclean. The bill hearing wrapped up around 9 P.M., and got out of committee on a 8-5 vote.

Read more – For the first time, Colorado legislators push forward a bill to boost nuclear energy

Ethics Committee Signals Rough Road Ahead For Embattled Senator

On Tuesday, the Senate Ethics Committee reconvened to further discuss the complaint filed against Senator Jaquez Lewis and the answer she submitted in response to her complaint. Among the material discussed was a detailed timeline of incidents and interactions with Jaquez Lewis from the perspective of the two former aides who had filed the complaint.

The committee also reviewed the document Jaquez-Lewis submitted in response to the timeline and complaint. Her response included explanations for each event on the timeline, and even included a few jabs at her former staff who had come forward with similar allegations. Throughout the discussion, the five committee members suggested that the response from Jaquez Lewis was less than satisfactory. The ethics committee is scheduled to meet next week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Get your popcorn ready…

Read more – Ethics committee members see “very concerning message” in Colorado senator’s response to inquiry

Budget

House Supplementals Week, Continued Focus on DNA Test Funding

Last week there was a dustup in the Senate over the issue of DNA test funding. The JBC simply doesn’t trust the Colorado Bureau of Investigations given their recent problems and lack of a plan to address the backlog of tests. This week the issue moved over to the House. 

To start, JBC members undid the Senate change in the House Appropriations Committee. The full House, however, once again overruled the JBC and after an emotional speech from Representative Jenny Willford urging the House to reverse action taken by the House Appropriations committee on Senate Bill 105 to remove spending authority for a backlog of DNA testing by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

Willford came forward earlier this year with a sexual assault allegation against a driver she had last year through a ride share company, who had been operating on an account that wasn’t his. Among the DNA tests awaiting analysis is the rape kit taken from Willford on the night of her assault. Willford shared her story on the House floor and offered an amendment to allow for the remaining funding allocated to address the backlog to be rolled over into the 2025-2026 fiscal year. The amendment was approved by the House and the bill will now go back to the Senate for concurrence.

Read more – Colorado lawmakers reverse course on investigations funding after emotional plea from Rep. Jenny Willford

Budget Deficit Might Break Union Contract 

Once again we are in uncharted territory with this year’s budget deficit. The contract between the state and the state employee unions (Colorado WINS) calls for 2.5 percent across-the-board raises plus additional longevity-based pay bumps. If the JBC doesn’t approve the raises then it will result in breaking the contract with the union for the first time since the legislature granted collective bargaining rights to state employees. 

Read more – Colorado budget crisis imperils state worker raises, threatening to break union contract

JBC Staff Says Budget Appears To Be On Unsustainable Path

On Wednesday, JBC staff presented a memo on near and medium term fiscal projections and it certainly did not present a rosy outlook for you on this Valentine’s Day.

The takeaway is that “Without significant ongoing actions to reduce obligations and/or make additional revenues available, the State would exhaust the 15.0 percent General Fund reserve before FY 2029-30, even without a recession. The recession scenarios only accelerate the depletion of the reserve. Sustaining a viable reserve will require structural change to revenues and/or obligations.”

Basically, without major changes state spending is going to empty out the state savings account in just a few years. And increasing revenue isn’t really an option with TABOR, so that just leaves cuts. Lots and lots of hard cuts, both this year and beyond. 

Read more – JBC Staff Memo On Budget Shortfall Analysis

Conclusion

Happy Valentine's Day and enjoy the long weekend.