COLORADO LEGISLATIVE STRATEGIES NEWSLETTER

Introduction
 
What a Saturday – the Kentucky Derby, Avalanche game 7, Nuggets game 7, Cinco de Mayo festival, and the most exciting of all… the Colorado House of Representative in session! 
 
Just kidding, the Capitol is probably the last place anyone should want to be today. And House members will certainly be playing close attention to the games, I mean legislating. It even had to be pointed out by the Majority Leader that it would be a violation of House rules for either game to be displayed on the floor projector that shows amendments. So laptops and phones it is. 
 
The Senate, on the other hand, decided to work late on Friday night so they didn’t have to come in on Saturday. The powers that be who decide those kinds of things may or may not have had tickets to the Nuggets game. 
 
With session ending next Wednesday, you might be wondering why has the legislature left so much work until the final few days of session. Well, it’s sad to say but most of the time legislators act less like the august statespeople the public might think they are and more like the procrastinating students at Gold Dome High School that they actually are. 
 
And to put a finer point on the procrastination, the Senate introduced a new bill on Friday (yesterday) and more bills could still get introduced up to the last possible day on Monday. And to put an even finer point on the high-school-level drama, a House member has publicly threatened to filibuster that bill if it got introduced and makes it to the House – and that House member (Rep. Titone) will be facing off against the Senate sponsor of the bill (Sen. Bridges) in a primary for State Treasurer next year. 
 
Now here’s some of the other drama and news from under the Gold Dome this (long) week.
 
The Veto Overrides That Weren’t
 
Last Friday, we covered the overwhelming veto override vote from the Senate on Senate Bill 86 and left you with a cliffhanger on what would happen in the House the following Monday. Additionally, we let you know about the potential veto override votes on Senate Bill 77. 
 
Well, this week it became clear that neither of those veto overrides would be successful, or even get another vote. On Monday, instead of proceeding to a vote on the override of Senate Bill 86, the House instead laid over the vote to after session – effectively killing the veto override effort.
 
Then on Friday, the Senate did the same with the effort to override the veto on Senate Bill 77. Now, both vetoes will officially hold and neither bill will become law.
 
Read more – Colorado lawmakers drop effort to override Gov. Polis’ veto of social media bill amid intense lobbying
 
Read more – Colorado lawmakers' second attempt to override Gov. Jared Polis' veto fails
 
Controversial Transgender Bill Watered Down
 
This week, the Senate Judiciary committee took up House Bill 1312, the controversial bill dealing with legal protections for transgender individuals. The hearing started on Wednesday but did not wrap up until early Thursday…
 
Legislative staff said that a whopping 726 people signed up to testify on the bill! The chair limited testimony to four hours per side so everyone was not able to testify. Multiple committee rooms were needed for overflow to accommodate the number of people and a House member who was seated in the committee room was even chastised to leave. 
 
Moreover, another House member even had a minor altercation with a witness where State Troopers had to intervene to keep the peace. 
 
Much of the opposition testimony focused on a controversial section of the bill dealing with child custody decisions. As introduced, the bill would have required a court to consider a parent’s refusal to recognize their child’s transgender identity when making custody determinations. 
 
The sponsors of the bill ultimately agreed to remove that section and the bill passed on a party-line vote with some Democrats saying they would have been opposed without that change. 
 
Additionally, more changes could be coming to the bill when it comes up for what will surely be a long debate on the Senate floor. Some worry that other provisions of the bill are not robust enough to withstand legal challenges.
 
Read more – Trans rights bill loses most controversial provision, but more changes still likely to come
 
School Finance Act Amended Despite Sponsor Objections
 
This year’s School Finance Act, House Bill 1320, took an unexpected turn this week in the Senate Appropriations committee. In Appropriations, Senator Bridges added an amendment to the bill to put $7.6 million into the Building Excellent Schools Together (BEST) fund, which is a fund that may be dipped into occasionally for budget-balancing purposes.
 
After the amendment was added, Senator Kolker proposed another amendment to create the “Kids Matter Fund,” which would be implemented in the 2026-2027 fiscal year to avoid impacts to next year’s budget. Kolker’s amendment would take all state revenue coming from an existing tax of 0.75 percent  on federal taxable income, to be placed in the kids Matter Fund, which would go toward base per-pupil funding. 
 
Kolker’s amendment received bipartisan support, with Senator Kirkmeyer, a member of the JBC, also expressing support for the amendment as it would ensure the state could fund education next year. This amendment had previously been in front of the JBC, but didn’t have JBC support at the time. In response to Kolker’s proposal, Bridges suggested that the three quarters of 1 percent number was too high, and asked that it be 0.6 percent instead. 
 
However, Kirkmeyer argued this would not be enough, and that the 0.75 percent would put a “marker” down to fully fund education.  Although sponsors of the School Finance Act continued to push back, the amendment passed on a 5-2 vote. 
 
Read more – Colorado measure on school finance sees major changes
 
Artificial (Un)Intelligence With Just Days Left
 
One of the biggest bills of last session was Senate Bill 205, a first-in-the-nation law regulating artificial intelligence. Even as the Governor signed the bill he said it needed more work. That led to a Task Force throughout the summer and fall and a small working group that met multiple times a week throughout the session. 
 
All that work and you’d think there would be a fix that people could get behind with more than just a few days left in session. Well, the chat bot says you’re wrong on that. 
 
This session’s fix, Senate Bill 318, was not introduced until Monday and caused enough backlash that it didn’t even make it to its first committee hearing this week. It’s still not calendared and faces a very difficult road to make it through the whole legislative process in just a few days. 
 
Read more – Colorado Senate introduces bill aimed at fixing 2024 artificial intelligence to prevent discrimination
 
Special Session??
 
Finally, just as the session comes to a close the chatter about a possible special session is ramping up. State leaders are anticipating bigly cuts to Medicaid from whatever high-school-level drama happens at the federal level and that is very likely to mean we’ll be in a special session to make even more budget cuts later in the summer or fall. 
 
Read more – Colorado lawmakers brace for special session over potential Medicaid cuts
 
Next Week
 
Session ends on Wednesday by midnight! 
 
Monday is officially the last day to introduce a bill or have a bill clear second reading in the first chamber. Any bill not moving into the second chamber by the end of Monday is effectively dead. Tuesday will be the last day to have a bill clear second reading in the second chamber. Then Wednesday will be full of third readings in the second chamber and lots of concurrences. Plus way too many tributes. 
 
Go Avs and Nuggets! And have a good weekend, at least what’s left of it.
 
P.S. The House will be in on Sunday. May the 4th be with them.