Colorado Legislative Strategies Updates 1.20.23

COLORADO LEGISLATIVE STRATEGIES NEWSLETTER 
January 20, 2023

​Introduction
 
The General Assembly is starting off the legislative session like they always do – slowly. We are now ten days into our 120-day session and on Monday we will be over 10 percent through the entire session but don’t have much to show for it. After working all five days in the first week, which is unusual because the session normally starts on a Wednesday, the legislature was only in session three days this week. The Capitol was closed on Monday in observance of MLK Day and was closed again on Wednesday due to a snowstorm. 
 
However, despite the short week, there is still a lot to report from this week. Governor Polis delivered his fifth State of the State address. Joint House and Senate committees continued to progress through all of the SMART Act hearings. And the Joint Budget Committee continued working through supplemental budget requests. 
 
Read on for a breakdown of the State of the State – what was said and wasn’t said, what issues are going to dominate this session, and of course, which sci-fi reference Governor Polis decided to go with this year. Plus some of the reactions from both sides of the aisle. 
 
Additionally, we’ll remind you about procedures for testifying. The House and Senate have now passed permanent rules that codify allowing remote testimony. Next week the session will really get underway as committees will begin holding hearings and voting on bills.
 
Now let’s dive into the news from this week.

​State of the State
 
Off the top, it must be said that thankfully Governor Polis did not sing this year. Last year, Governor Polis played the part of everyone’s friend that really shouldn’t sing karaoke but still does it with such enthusiasm. But this year he returned to a sci-fi reference. 
 
In Polis’s first State of the State it was Spiderman, after that it was Lord of the Rings, then Star Trek, and last year was the departure to singing Taylor Swift and turning a Paul Simon song into a chorus about saving Coloradans money.
 
This year it was Star Wars’ turn in the Governor’s spotlight. Polis invoked Luke Skywalker and Yoda and then went into full Yoda-voice to say “two available jobs for every Coloradan, there are.” Can’t make this stuff up. This is in addition to somehow working Nikola Jokic, Gandalf, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and Yoda into another paragraph of the speech.
 
If you have a suggestion for next year, we’ll be sure to get that to the Governor’s speechwriters. 
 
In all seriousness though, Governor Polis’s fifth (and longest) State of the State address touched on many of the big issues that the General Assembly will take on this year. Housing is clearly the top priority for the Governor, as he devoted a significant portion of his speech (roughly 20 percent) to housing. On the other end of the spectrum, Governor Polis mentioned abortion in his speech as many times as he mentioned agriculture, which was only once.
 
Here’s an overview of all the different issues that Governor Polis focused on:
 
Housing
Housing took up a significant portion of his 70-minute address. In fact, Governor Polis recited a line of “urban planning advice,” but it was really just a quote from the Old Testament. He related housing to several different areas of policy, but especially climate policy. Polis said “When Colorado builds smart, efficient housing, we’re also conserving our water and energy.” He also reminded us of some of his administration’s biggest efforts in the housing policy area, such as putting ARPA dollars toward housing projects across the state. 
 
Land use decisions, those about what can get built and where, have historically been done at the local level. Governor Polis intends to push for the state to have a role in setting guardrails for what local governments can refuse to approve. Governor Polis is signaling he’s coming after the not-in-my-backyard crowd and local governments are vowing to fight this all the way.
 
Health Care
After hitting his usual highlights in the “saving Coloradans money on healthcare” section of the speech, Governor Polis continued on to specifically address hospitals. Unfortunately, the Governor chose to attack hospitals and went so far as to say they are overcharging while sitting on record profits and enormous reserves. 
 
Following the State of the State Speech, on Wednesday the Governor’s Department of Health Care Policy and Financing piled on and released reports that they claimed showed those record profits. However, the facts show that hospitals are facing a serious financial situation and have incurred unprecedented losses relative to pre-pandemic levels. Governor Polis and his administration going after hospitals will be another big fight for this session.
Education
Next to housing and healthcare, Governor Polis acknowledged the high cost of education as a top issue in Colorado. Among his administration’s recent highlights is “free” preschool and kindergarten, both of which are supposed to address the issue of high cost education. But, he also mentioned the bipartisan effort from last year to get more funding into schools.
 
There has been discussion about a rewrite of the school finance formula this year, which would be a huge undertaking, but so far there has been little movement on that front. However, watch out for several other bills and potentially referred measures on education and funding.
 
Any mentions of higher education were conspicuously absent from the speech. 
 
Water & Energy
Water and energy also made the cut on the governor’s list of priorities for his second term. First, Governor Polis emphasized the value of water to Coloradans and our success as a state. He acknowledged the importance of protecting and preserving our waterways when in conflict with other states. In the area of climate goals, Colorado ranks fifth in the nation for electric vehicle sales, and is now putting an annual  $120 million toward a clean energy tax credit package. Last but not least, Governor Polis claimed that we must end our reliance on fossil fuels to save people money.
 
Taxes
Governor Polis expressed the importance of passing a long-term property tax relief package while still protecting funding for public schools. Among his administration’s accomplishments, he mentioned the reduced income tax rate as a result of a statewide vote, as well as the TABOR refunds Coloradans received last year. 
 
Democrats largely lined up behind what the Governor said in his speech, but in the area of taxes there was some disagreement. Some on the left expressed disappointment that the Governor continued to tout across the board income tax cuts that they think benefit the rich more than working class Coloradans. 
 
Guns
There’s no question that firearms will be a contentious topic coming up this session. The question is how Governor Polis plans to convey a moderate message, while still satisfying the far-left side of his party on the issue of guns. Although there’s significant pressure from the left to adopt an assault weapons ban, Governor Polis didn’t seem too interested in that this week. Instead, he focused on preventing mass shootings through the improvement and expansion of red flag laws and cracking down on ghost guns.
 
Public Safety
To address public safety, Governor Polis credited the bipartisan collaboration that has taken place through investing in recruitment of law enforcement, improving our schools, and improving our communities. He also proposed that more funding go to cracking down on auto theft, while asking for more support from district attorneys in high crime areas. 
 
Immigration
Immigration was another highly anticipated topic for the governor to address, particularly because the mayors of New York City and Chicago accused Governor Polis of busing migrants out of Denver and to their cities. Governor Polis acknowledged we are doing our part to support migrants here in Colorado, but emphasized the need for action from the federal government to truly work toward a solution at the border.
 
Club Q
Lastly, the loudest and longest applause during the speech came when Governor Polis recognized the two heroes from the Club Q shooting, Richard Fierro and Thomas James.
 
Remote Testimony
 
This week, the House and the Senate adopted resolutions that codified remote testimony, as well as remote participation from legislators, at the discretion of leadership. Meaning, there are lots more late night committee hearings and remote testimonies in our future.
 
Next Week
 
Next week will be a busy week. Committees will begin holding regular committee hearings to consider bills. Right now there are over 40 bills that are scheduled to get their first committee hearing. Buckle up, session is about to really get going. 
 
Have a good weekend.