COLORADO LEGISLATIVE STRATEGIES NEWSLETTER

Introduction
The end of the ninth week of the legislative session brings us to the fifty-ninth legislative day today. Which means tomorrow (Saturday) will officially mark the halfway point in the session!
Normally when you crest over the halfway point in something you can say you’re on the downhill slide. But unfortunately the legislative session is less of a normal slide and more of an insane roller coaster.
So get ready for a lot of back-to-back loops and sharp corners, but at least the scary, nausea-inducing ride will be more than halfway over. 
This week is also full of numerous other significant dates. Monday was March 3rd – the third day of the third month – which is also known as 303 Day in Colorado. For all the non-Colorado readers, 303 is the original area code for the state and the main area code for the Denver Metro, and the number is just significant in the Colorado/Denver ethos. 
For all the Colorado readers, you surely know 303 and 720 (covering the Denver Metro), 970 (covering West and North Colorado), and 719 (covering South and East Colorado); but did you know that because of population growth the 303/720 area actually already has 983 too, and starting in 2026 the 970 area will also get 748. 
But no matter how many area codes Colorado adds, 303 will always reign supreme – so much so that it even gets its own resolution at the Capitol, which this year designated 303 Day as Buy Colorado Day and the start of Buy Colorado Week.
In addition to 303 Day/Buy Colorado Day on Monday, this week also included Fat Tuesday, and Ash Wednesday. Universally, Ash Wednesday starts a 40-day countdown to Easter; in the Capitol, however, it also starts a 38-day countdown to the Capitol [likely] being closed on Good Friday.
And on top of all of that, there’s also the halfway mark coming up on Saturday and daylight saving time starts on Sunday. What a week of significant dates (and less sleep)!
Now here’s the big news to know from the Capitol this week.
Tipped Worker Bill Hits Tipping Point
Today also marks the first day of Denver Restaurant Week, but not everyone was in the Restaurant Week spirit earlier this week. On Monday House Bill 1208, a controversial bill that deals with tip offsets and local minimum wages, was heard in the House Finance committee until 1:30 AM on Tuesday morning. The bill was laid over for a vote due to uncertainty from sponsors whether it had the votes to make it out of the House Finance committee. It’s expected that a vote on the bill could be delayed for at least a week. 
The main controversy surrounding the bill is between restaurant owners, who argue the bill is necessary for offsetting rising business costs, and employees, who argue the bill reduces their wages and requires them to be more reliant on tips. 
Some opponents of the measure have even gone so far as to distribute flyers negatively depicting one of the bill sponsors, and publicly posting a list online of restaurants in support of the bill, encouraging negative reviews for the restaurants. House leadership issued a joint statement condemning this behavior from opponents because it had discouraged supporters from testifying in favor of the bill this week. 
Read more – Battle over tipping bill heats up as Colorado Democratic leaders condemn distribution of negative flyers
10 Committees Axed Over Budget Concerns 
On Tuesday, the Executive Committee of the Legislative Council approved a proposal that cancels ten interim and year-round committees for the upcoming interim, following adjournment of this year’s legislative session. The proposal was approved due to budget issues, as the state continues to face a $1.2 billion deficit.
Although most interim committees have been cancelled for this year, some key interim committees will continue to meet. The committees that will continue to meet include the Transportation Legislation Review Committee, an interim committee focused on artificial intelligence, the Wildfire Matters Review Committee, and the Water Resources and Agriculture Review Committee. 
Read more – Colorado legislature's executive committee cancels 10 committees, citing budget concerns
Budget Update
The budget continues to be in horrible shape as the Joint Budget Committee works through figure setting for every part of the budget. The JBC will continue making cuts and punting several big decisions until after the March forecast, which is just a week and a half away on Monday, March 17. 
This week in the budget update we’ll take a look at school finance and a new proposal to attempt to lessen the cuts to schools in the Governor’s budget proposal. 
As a quick reminder, after Medicaid spending, the portion of the budget that funds school finance towers over all other parts of the budget. Medicaid takes up about 32 percent of all General Fund appropriations, K12 education comes in second at 29 percent, and then it drops off to 11 percent for higher education, and every other department is in the single digits. 
The Speaker of the House this week proposed a new school funding approach that doesn’t include the student count averaging change like the Governor wants. The Speaker’s proposal would give 10 percent of the $500 million additional dollars that is supposed to go to school finance over the next several years in the newly passed funding formula and would keep in place the four-year averaging of students in current law.
This is in response to the Governor’s funding proposal that would give 18 percent of the $500 million to schools this year but would change to a single-year student count, which has drawn the ire of many school districts who have been experiencing enrollment declines. 
The Governor’s budget director indicated a willingness to listen to districts and avoid removing averaging in one fell swoop. This sets the stage for negotiations on what will ultimately happen with funding school finance this year – how much of the money for the new formula will the state contribute this year and how will student averaging be phased down.
Read more – Colorado speaker proposes new school funding approach that would curb, but not eliminate, cuts for many districts
Next Week
The second half of the legislative session starts off with several big bills on the calendar for next week. Some of the highlights include Senate Bill 157, which removes the significant impact measure for what constitutes a deceptive trade practice; House Bill 1282, which deals with payment card swipe fees; House Bill 1286, which requires employers to implement protections against extreme temperatures for employees; and Senate Bill 5, the controversial labor bill that has made it to its second chamber. In addition, Senate Bill 71 and Senate Bill 124, bills that have put hospitals and the pharmaceutical and bioscience industry against each other, are supposed to be heard in the Senate Health Committee.
Conclusion
Go buy something local before Buy Colorado Week ends on Monday. And don’t forget to change your few remaining non-automatic clocks on Sunday. It's one hour of less sleep but that’s the price we must pay for time traveling into the sunny future, at least until Congress acts and allows states to go to year round daylight saving time (which has passed in Colorado and many other states). Someone should tweet/X at Elon about it…
Have a good weekend.