COLORADO LEGISLATIVE STRATEGIES NEWSLETTER

Introduction
 
The baseball season and the legislative session are both long slogs. And if you’re a fan of the Colorado Rockies or healthy budgets then they aren’t necessarily enjoyable these days. 
 
While the baseball season officially kicked off last week (or even earlier if you count some super early games in Tokyo), the Colorado Rockies home opener is today and truly kicks off their long, miserable, road to a baseball’s sine die.
 
(In case you aren’t aware, the Colorado Rockies are one of the worst teams in baseball and are coming off six straight losing seasons, the last two of which each had over 100 losses. And this season they are already near the very bottom of the league.)
 
The baseball season is technically longer than the legislative session – 162 games over roughly 185 days vs only 120 days, but baseball games aren’t subject to filibusters and teams don’t have to play on unscheduled days with little notice.
 
Which brings us to today and this weekend. Today is the 87th day of session and Monday will officially mark three-quarters of the way to sine die on May 7. But before we get there it appears the House will break the glass on coming in for legislative work over the weekend. 
 
The House is facing some long filibusters on several controversial bills and clearly would like to move through as much of that as they can before the budget, and more filibusters, take over the House next week. So to that end, the House is expected to work on Sunday. 
 
But you can’t wait until Sunday for the Capitol news this week and we can look into our crystal ball for how the “debate” goes tonight and on Sunday – the minority says a lot of stuff, ultimately none of it changes many votes, and in the end the majority passes what they want. 
 
Now here’s the big news from the Capitol to know from this week.
 
Senate Budget Week
 
This week, the Long Bill was introduced in the Senate with over 700 pages of text and over 60 orbital bills to move alongside it. As a reminder, orbital bills are bills that move through the legislative process with the Long Bill, to make statutory changes that would be needed to match the Long Bill.  
 
On Wednesday morning, Republicans and Democrats held their respective caucus meetings to determine priorities for amending the state budget. These priorities directed the debate over budget amendments on Wednesday afternoon and all day Thursday. By the end of debate, the Senate offered 61 amendments, and although very few passed, the adjustments made totaled about $7.4 million additional general fund dollars. 
 
Some of the more controversial amendments offered and lost included: eliminating a “second salary” for Lieutenant Governor Primavera, putting more money toward the Office of Saving People Money on Health Care; additional inspectors for oil and gas operations through the Energy and Carbon Management Commission; and an attempt to eliminate funding for the Prescription Drug Affordability Board housed in the Division of Insurance. 
 
The Long Bill is now headed to the House where all Senate amendments will be stripped off, and we’ll likely see more debate, filibustering, and amendments, especially given the TABOR situation that has started to unfold this week… but more on that in a second. After the Long Bill finishes in the House, it will head back to the Joint Budget Committee where the House and Senate versions of the budget will be compared, and the JBC will take the final steps to close out the budget for next fiscal year. 
 
Read more – Colorado lawmakers debate $43.9 billion state budget, make few adjustments
 
TABOR Wars Return
 
The budget situation becomes even more complicated when the state’s TABOR cap is factored into the equation. In 1992, Colorado voters passed TABOR into law, which is short for the “Taxpayers Bill of Rights,” which essentially limits what the state can spend based on inflation and population, and voters have to approve any new state taxes that are going to be imposed on taxpayers. 
 
As the budget deficit has intensified this year, many Democrats have blamed the TABOR cap for worsening the state’s budget issues. As needed spending is outpacing consumer inflation, the state becomes even more limited as to what can be spent. On the other hand, Republicans argue that the state’s budget problems are a result of overspending and poor management of taxpayer dollars. 
 
So far, a few bills reforming TABOR have already begun the legislative process: Senate Bill 173 which reclassifies state revenue so it wouldn’t count toward the TABOR cap; and House Bill 1296, which reclassifies several business related tax credits. However, some of the bigger proposals have not been introduced yet, including an elimination of the state’s flat income tax and replacing it with a tiered system. That proposal in particular would require two-thirds approval of the General Assembly before going to a vote of the people. That being said, it’s important to note that TABOR is very popular with Colorado voters, as we saw with the downfall of Proposition HH on the ballot in 2023.
 
Lastly, House Joint Resolution 1023 was introduced this week to challenge the constitutionality of TABOR. The resolution would need approval from a simple majority in both the House and Senate, and would direct the Committee on Legal Services to file a lawsuit against the state to determine whether TABOR is constitutional. Although Democrats have expressed frustrations with the TABOR cap in the past, this proposal is seemingly more serious given the budget deficit. However, Republicans have vowed to fight hard to protect TABOR, meaning very long floor debates and other possible calendar implications as a result. 
 
Read more – Colorado Democrats call for “a reckoning” on TABOR and taxes, as GOP vows to “fight very hard”
 
Recent Bill Signings and Bills Not Yet Signed 
 
Now that we’re in the home stretch for this year’s legislative session, bills are starting to make their way to the Governor Polis for signature, and there will be some difficult political decisions to make. Keep in mind, Colorado doesn’t have a “pocket-veto” option. Meaning, even if there’s no signature on a bill, that bill would go into effect. The only way a bill gets vetoed is if the governor actually vetoes it. For the first 109 days of session, the governor has ten days to veto a bill before it becomes law. 
 
Of the more controversial bills signed so far, House Bill 1041 which deals with name, image, and likeness policy and allows for student compensation to be kept confidential, was signed earlier this week by Governor Polis with concerns over “a trend away from transparency”. House Bill 1040, which adds nuclear energy to the definition of a clean energy resource, was also recently signed by Polis, much to the dismay of environmental groups who argue nuclear energy is a risk to public health. 
 
Of the more controversial bills not signed so far, Senate Bill 33, which would roll back liquor sales in grocery stores, made its way to the Governor’s desk this week but has not yet been signed. Those in opposition to the bill have continued to pressure a veto from Polis, especially because its provisions reverse voter approved laws.
 
Also sent to the Governor’s desk this week was  Senate Bill 3, which originally banned the sale, manufacture, or distribution of guns that take a detachable magazine, but was amended heavily to instead place additional requirements on obtaining a gun, also has yet to be signed. Opposition to the measure delivered a petition of 40,000 signatures to Governor Polis this week, urging a veto of the bill. 
 
Another Lawmaker Accused By An Aide
 
Lastly, news broke this week that Representative Regina English, who recently made some waves on the House floor with a lengthy and impassioned filibuster against members of her own party over the topic of student seclusion, was quietly investigated last year over accusations of harassment by a former aide. 
 
The probe into English’s behavior determined she didn’t violate legislative policy but still expressed concerns about allegations that fell outside of existing guidelines. In response, the Speaker of the House said that the legislature’s workplace harassment and expectation policies might need closer examination.
 
This workplace harassment committee process is different from the ethics committee process that Senators Winter (who avoided any formal punishment) and Jaquez Lewis (who resigned on the eve of her full hearing in the ethics committee) recently faced. The House currently does not have a more broad ethics committee like the Senate. 
 
Read more – Colorado House member faced investigation over ignored harassment complaint, aide mistreatment
 
Next Week
 
Next Monday marks three-quarters of the session and after Wednesday there will be less than a month to go. (But who’s keeping count?!)
 
The House will take its turn with budget week, and it will likely take much longer than the several hours the Senate spent on the budget. Plus committees will continue working through bills, including the School Finance Act (House Bill 1320), a new bill on vacancy appointments (House Bill 1315), and the resolution to require the General Assembly to challenge the constitutionality of TABOR (House Joint Resolution 1023) – and that’s all just on Monday!
 
So get your rest, enjoy the weekend, and above all else be thankful you aren’t a member of the Colorado House of Representatives or Colorado Rockies.