Colorado Legislative Strategies Updates 1.27.23

COLORADO LEGISLATIVE STRATEGIES NEWSLETTER
 
January 27, 2023

​Introduction
 
The General Assembly started to hit its normal stride this week. Several bills began moving through committee hearings, more bills continued to be introduced, and the Joint Budget Committee plowed forward on the budget. Plus many stakeholder meetings on introduced and still yet-to-be introduced bills. Three weeks down and just over 14 weeks left to go.
 
This Week
 
This week included the first real legislative action in committee hearings. Several bills (26) made it through the gauntlet of their first committee hearing and are now continuing through the legislative process – some will go straight to the floor because they have no fiscal impact, and others will get parked in the Appropriations Committee. On the flip side, the journey of five bills came to an abrupt end this week

​Highlights of the bills that died in committee this week
 
Senate Bill 026, sponsored by Senator Rod Pelton, would have prohibited financial institutions from discriminating against an individual based on environmental criteria. After hearing about the negative implications of a bill like this from the banking community, Senator Pelton asked that the bill be postponed indefinitely. Watch out for a similar occurrence a week from Monday when House Bill 1092 about limiting the use of state money comes up for a hearing. 
 
Additionally, Senate Bill 009 went down this week. Sponsored by Senator Ginal, the bill would have placed a limit on the dosage of opioids that could be prescribed for outpatient use by a prescriber. Senator Ginal postponed her own bill indefinitely after a mix-up with the bill drafter, and we are expecting to see this bill come back later in the session. 
 
Lastly, Senate Bill 021, sponsored by Senators Liston and Mullica, also died in committee this week. This bill would have required the order of candidates listed on a general ballot be in random order, rather than being ordered based on how candidates made their way to the ballot. After realizing that there were not the votes to pass the bill out of committee, the sponsors also asked to have the bill postponed indefinitely.  
 
Highlights of the bills that passed out of committee this week
 
We also saw several bills of note pass out of committee this week. Senate Bill 003, or the Colorado Adult High School Program bill, passed its first committee hearing in Senate Education on Wednesday. The bill would create a program for adults ages twenty one and over to earn their high school diploma, and would provide childcare and transportation assistance to the adult students.
 
On Thursday, Senate Bill 006 passed out of the Senate Business, Labor, and Technology Committee. The bill codifies the existing Rural Opportunity Office, placing it in the Office of Economic Development and International Trade. Originally, the Rural Opportunity Office was funded by federal grants, but the grants run out next year. The bill provides general fund dollars to continue funding the program. The office assists in addressing problems that are unique to rural small businesses, as well as assisting rural small businesses in connecting with resources necessary to thrive. 
 
Also on Thursday, House Bill 1006 passed out of the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee with an important amendment from the business community. Originally, the bill would have placed requirements on employers to provide written notice of certain income tax credits to employees. The bill was amended in committee to relax the timeline required for employers to notify employees of the tax credit, and the manner in which employers notified their employees. 
 
Budget Process – Supplementals and Figure Setting
 
This week, the Joint Budget Committee finished up supplementals and turned their attention to figure setting. Supplementals are adjustments to the current fiscal year budget – the budget that was passed last session and took effect on July 1. The state is required to have a balanced budget and to comply with statutory appropriation limitations and reserve requirements so supplements are needed to either increase or reduce certain appropriations. The JBC made final supplemental decisions on Thursday and closed out the supplemental process. There will now be a supplemental appropriation bill for each department that gets introduced soon and will move through the regular bill process. 
 
After closing out supplements, the JBC moved to figure setting on Friday. From now until March the JBC will make all the funding decisions for the upcoming fiscal year in what are called figure setting hearings. This is really where the rubber meets the road for next year’s budget. The budget process kicks off in November with the Governor’s budget request, then there are JBC staff briefings to go over all of the requests for each department, then there are department hearings where the heads of each department come before the JBC to answer questions about their funding requests, then there is the little break for supplementals, then it’s figure setting time where the JBC will finally begin voting to approve, modify, or reject all of the decision items. 
 
Figure setting will continue until the next economic and revenue forecast in March, which will really tell the JBC exactly how much they have to spend in the budget. The biggest and most controversial items often get punted until after the forecast when the JBC makes their final budget decisions and closes out the budget for introduction as the Long Bill. 
 
Memorial for Hugh McKean
 
Lastly, the House memorialized the late Minority Leader Hugh McKean on Friday morning. Legislators from both sides of the aisle shared stories about McKean’s leadership and influence under the Gold Dome. Among his many wonderful qualities, McKean was known for working across the aisle to find common sense solutions for Coloradans. He left behind a legacy of selfless leadership and profound good heartedness that will be missed by many at the Capitol. 
 
Vacancy Appointments
 
Hugh McKean’s replacement, Ron Weinberg, is one of nearly one-quarter of all legislators who have been appointed to the General Assembly by a vacancy committee rather than being voted in during a normal election. Eight (soon to be nine) of those vacancies have been appointed within the last year. So far, fourteen appointments have been made to the House, ten have been made to the Senate. The vacancy committee process has given us several lawmakers of note, like Senator Rhonda Fields, who is in her thirteenth year in the legislature. Most recently, the vacancy committee process gave us Senator Perry Will, who served one term in the House before being appointed to the Senate. 
 
On Saturday, a vacancy committee will meet to fill the position of Tracy Bernett, representing House District 12 in Eastern Boulder County. As a reminder, Tracy Bernett recently resigned due to allegations of falsifying her residence in order to continue running for office. At least seven individuals have lined up to vie for the vacant seat, including former U.S. and Colorado Representative David Skaggs, who was actually minority leader in the Colorado House from 1983 to 1985, Catherine "Kitty" Sargent of Superior, who serves on the Boulder Valley School District, Kyle Brown, a member of the Louisville City Council and employee at the Division of Insurance, Alfredo Alvarado of Lafayette, Peter Terhune of Lafayette, Emily Coffee of Lafayette, and Jennifer Kaaoush, who is a former member of the Superior Board of Trustees. 
 
Indications are that Kyle Brown is likely to be the next member of the General Assembly and fill the final vacancy appointment that is outstanding. 
 
Next Week
 
We’re looking at another exciting week at the Capitol as we head into week four. One important bill up next week is Senate Bill 066, which is up in Senate Business Affairs, Labor, and Technology on Tuesday. That bill extends the Advanced Industry Tax Credit, which incentivizes companies in advanced industries to develop their business in Colorado. Plus much more!
 
Have a good weekend.