Colorado Legislative Strategies Updates 1.13.23

COLORADO LEGISLATIVE STRATEGIES NEWSLETTER
 
January 13, 2023

​Introduction
 
Welcome to the First Regular Session of the 74th General Assembly. The session kicked off on Monday, January 9 and started the 120-day legislative clock. That means that the legislature must adjourn the session on or before May 8, 2023. Five days down and just 115 to go!
 
This General Assembly will have the most Democrats in over 80 years. The Democrats have a supermajority (46-19) in the House and are just one vote away from a supermajority (23-12) in the Senate. In addition to the most Democrats in a long time, this group of legislators also includes many firsts. Additionally, it’s also worth noting that this group is one of the biggest classes of freshmen lawmakers, meaning it’s also one of the least experienced legislatures.
 
Colorado was also slated to be the second state in the nation with a majority of legislators who are women (Nevada was first). However, that is up in the air now because Representative Tracy Bernett resigned just hours before the start of the session (more on that later) and dropped the total number of women from 51 to 50. So the legislature will be at least half women and potentially a majority of women again after that vacancy appointment. 
 
The CLS weekly newsletters will be here for you during the session to keep you informed about all the ins and outs under the Gold Dome. From the resignations and vacancy appointments, to the controversies, and all the bills in between. Just ask if you ever need more information about anything. Now let’s dive into all the news from the first week of session. 

​This Week
 
The 2023 Legislative Session got off to an exciting start this week and we’d expect nothing less. Despite a challenge from a far-right freshman Republican, Julie McCluskie was elected Speaker of the House. It wasn’t the circus of a Speaker election in Washington DC but it was still irregular. Following in tradition, Minority Leader Lynch and most of the Republicans were among those who voted in support of Speaker McCluskie. 
 
On Monday, Speaker McCluskie spoke highly of the recent work that has been accomplished under the Gold Dome, while acknowledging there’s still more to be done this session. Housing, affordability, climate, and public safety seem to be the buzzwords we are hearing the most at the Capitol so far. In the Senate, President Fenberg reiterated the work that is yet to be done this session, tying most of his priorities back to public safety in one way or another. Although 2022 wasn’t the Republicans’ year, Minority Leaders Lynch and Lundeen also delivered optimistic messages. They alluded to what can be accomplished when working across the aisle and still maintaining a conservative voice in a respectful way. Their priorities are similar to recent years in which crime, affordability, and energy seem to be at the top of mind. 
Tuesday turned attention to Governor Polis. From beginning the day with a cannon that rang out 38 times in a row (because Colorado is the 38th state), to ending the day with live performances from They Might Be Giants, Belinda Carlisle, and Carly Rae Jepsen; you know what day it was - Governor Polis’s Inauguration Day. Governor Polis was sworn in on the West Steps of the Capitol and his speech highlighted his administration’s successes, such as free kindergarten and climate goals, while throwing in the occasional Libertarian line or two for balance. 
Wednesday included the first ever address from tribal leaders to the General Assembly. Melvin Baker, the chairman of the Southern Ute tribe, and Manuel Heart, the chairman of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe addressed the legislature with regard to current sports betting laws affecting their two casinos. In 2019, Proposition DD was referred to the ballot by the legislature for voters to approve sports betting. The two casinos were able to offer in person betting but were unable to offer online betting that most other casinos in the state can offer because of conflicting state and federal law related to taxes and revenue from gambling. The two chairmen were not consulted before Proposition DD went to the ballot, and their two casinos lost out on millions since 2019. But, the addresses were reflective of an issue bigger than gambling: tribal issues can go overlooked when we work on policy. Several legislators have expressed interest in finding a solution to the gambling situation, and look forward to working closely with tribal leaders moving forward.
The biennial State of the Judiciary speech was delivered to the General Assembly on Friday by Chief Justice Brian Boatright. Two years ago the Chief Justice had to address allegations that his predecessor and others in the Judicial Department were responsible for covering up harassment and other workplace misconduct. Today, the Chief Justice focused on the judiciary’s progress on diversity and workplace culture, while warning lawmakers about the need to address low compensation and problematic levels of turnover and also threw his endorsement behind two new proposals that would reform the process for disciplining judges, including an amendment to the state constitution.
 
Friday also included a first-ever joint session of the House and Senate for a resolution to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The commemoration included a tribute to the two lawmakers who worked for years to make the resolution and accompanying state holiday a reality. Former Representatives Wellington Webb and Wilma Webb fought to make sure Dr. King was recognized, and ultimately succeeded on the fourth attempt in 1984. Now in 2023, the Black Caucus is the largest ever at 11 members.
 
New Legislators
 
The 74th General Assembly includes several new legislators. Out of the 100 total legislators in the House and Senate, at least 33 are completely new. In the House 31 of the 65 legislators are new, and in the Senate it is only 2 out of 35 but there are also 10 former House members who moved over the Senate and aren’t completely new but are new to their chamber.
 
Even after accounting for all the new legislators elected in November, there are also even newer legislators who were recently appointed to fill vacancies. Following the tragic death of Hugh McKean, a vacancy committee appointed Ron Weinberg, the current Chair of the Larimer County Republican Party, to represent House District 51 in place of the late minority leader.
 
As an aside, you might have seen Representative Weinberg in the news recently. Right before the session got underway, Representative Weinberg’s truck was broken into while parked at the Capitol and two guns were stolen from his vehicle. 
 
The next new legislator is Representative Lorena Garcia, who replaced Representative Adrienne Benavidez in House District 35. Benavidez announced her resignation, effective January 5, just weeks after not winning the race for Speaker of the House. Garcia, who is a community organizer who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination for US Senate in 2020, won the vacancy appointment the week before session started and was sworn in with the other legislators on the first day of session. 
 
Senator Bob Rankin also resigned at the end of 2022 and his resignation was effective January 10. That date was likely chosen for a reason, as legislators who fill the remainder of another legislator’s term don’t have those years count against their term limits if they serve out less than half of the full term. By choosing a date one day into the legislative session, the remainder of the term was then one day less than half of the term. Former Representative Perry Will (who lost his reelection bid in November) was selected by the Senate District 5 vacancy committee and was sworn in as Senator Will on Thursday.
 
Finally, the night before the General Assembly convened, Representative Tracey Bernett resigned from her position as the representative for House District 12. As a reminder, Bernett has been accused of making false claims about her residence back in order to run in a more favorable district, and as a result has been charged with three felonies and two misdemeanors. David Skaggs, former Colorado House Representative (1981-88) and US House Representative (1988-99) has thrown his hat into the ring for the vacancy appointment. This is the final vacancy in the General Assembly that needs to be filled (for now at least).
 
Introduced Legislation
 
In the first week of the session, 107 bills were introduced (58 in the House and 49 in the Senate). The first bills to get introduced often show the priorities of the majority. These are the first five bills introduced in each chamber:

• House Bill 1001 – Expanding Assistance For Educator Programs
• House Bill 1002 – Epinephrine Auto-injectors
• House Bill 1003 – School Mental Health Assessment
• House Bill 1004 – Language Access In Insurance Documents
• House Bill 1005 – New Energy Improvement Program Changes
• Senate Bill 001 – Authority Of Public-private Collaboration Unit For Housing
• Senate Bill 002 – Medicaid Reimbursement For Community Health Services
• Senate Bill 003 – Colorado Adult High School Program
• Senate Bill 004 – Employment Of School Mental Health Professionals
• Senate Bill 005 – Forestry And Wildfire Mitigation Workforce

 
Every bill is a priority for someone, but some bills introduced this week make you scratch your head. Here’s a sampling of some of the more unique bills so far

• House Bill 1014 – Yield To Larger Vehicles In Roundabouts
• House Bill 1028 – Name Badge For Former Member Of General Assembly
• House Bill 1048 – Two-lane State Highway Staggered Delineator Posts
• Senate Bill 021 – Name Ordering On Primary Election Ballot
• Senate Bill 025 – In God We Trust Special License Plate

 
Next Week
 
Next week is a short week – the Capitol will be closed on Monday in observance of MLK day. Look out for more SMART Act hearings and JBC briefings. Governor Polis will be delivering his State of the State address on Tuesday, January 17th at 11am. Additionally, Tuesday is a deadline in the House for introduction of bills (one of many) so watch out for several more bill introductions next week.
 
Have a good long weekend!