Colorado Legislative Strategies Updates 2.24.23

COLORADO LEGISLATIVE STRATEGIES NEWSLETTER
 
February 24, 2023

​Introduction
 
This week may have been bitterly cold outside, but the tension was heating up under the Gold Dome. Lawmakers returned to the Capitol on Tuesday after being off for President’s Day. However, for a short week this week had plenty of controversy. From Democrats announcing a new package of gun bills (lots to unpack there and more on that later) to the fire alarm being pulled during the press conference that also included a tense exchange. 
 
Guns are a sensitive topic for many on both sides of the debate, and that wasn’t even the only controversial legislation from this week. It was a busy week for healthcare with a bill being introduced that is a direct assault on hospitals and patients’ access to care. There were also concept papers released on forthcoming bills seeking to make changes to the Colorado option and prescription drug accountability review board while those bills from two sessions ago are still just being implemented. And to cap it all off, the House spent hours and hours on Friday debating rent control and a slew of other bills targeting landlords in the state. 
 
Seven weeks and 47 legislative days down, and still a lot of controversy left this session. Hopefully warmer weather and cooler heads will prevail in the next 73 days. 
 
Now let’s dive into some news from this week.

​This Week
 
The General Assembly has now introduced 389 total bills, 219 in the House and 170 in the Senate. That number balloons to 425 if you include all of the memorials and resolutions too. 
 
One of the new bills introduced this week was House Bill 1215, which seeks to place limits on hospital facility fees. Unfortunately, the proponents of this bill don’t fully understand what facility fees are or the disastrous consequences this bill would have if passed. Facility fees are distinguished from professional fees, which only pay for the doctor or advanced practice provider. Facility fees, on the other hand, pay for the rest of the patient’s care team and everything else. Watch out for a lot more news on this misguided and controversial bill.
 
Staying on the topic of controversial health care legislation, this week also included the release of concept papers from the administration on bills touching on very recently passed controversial legislation. Much of the 2021 legislative session was occupied by the debate on the Colorado option bill and prescription drug accountability review board bill. During that debate there were some concessions put on the bills and those bills are still just now being implemented. And yet, the administration is already trying to come back and undo some of those concessions by calling it “efficient operation” or “modernization.” Watch out for a lot more on these two yet-introduced bills too.
 
However, it wasn’t all bad health care news this week. On Tuesday two bills passed the House Health and Insurance committee; House Bill 1110 about health coverage for biomarker testing and House Bill 1130 about drug coverage for serious mental illness. Both bills are now pending in the Appropriations committee. 
 
This week also included committee hearings on bills touching on the same topic. On Tuesday it was dueling bills on the retail delivery fee passed last year. House Bill 1166 sought to repeal the fee and was defeated on a party-line vote. Senate Bill 143 seeks to make small changes to the administration of the fee and passed unanimously. There were also two bills on the topic of medical debt that passed out of committee on Wednesday and Thursday, House Bill 1126 and Senate Bill 093. Both bills are now pending a floor debate in their respective chambers. 
 
Finally, Friday included a very lengthy floor debate on House Bill 1115 on rent control and other landlord/tenant bills. House Bill 1099 deals with portable screening reports for residential leases and House Bill 1095 deals with prohibited provisions in rental agreements. And those are just a few of the many bills coming after landlords and property owners. 
 
Gun Bills
 
Democrats from both chambers held a press conference on Thursday afternoon to announce four bills they will run as part of their gun reform package. House Bill 1219 would implement a three-day waiting period before a buyer of a firearm is able to acquire the firearm from a seller. Senate Bill 168 is arguably the most controversial bill of the package and allows legal action to be taken against a gun manufacturer when an event involving gun violence occurs. Senate Bill 169, which has been supported by Governor Polis, would raise the minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 years old to 21 years old. Lastly, Senate Bill 170 expands who may petition for a red flag order to include medical and mental health providers, as well as educators.  
 
Although the bill package was not a surprise to anyone, the press conference itself took a couple unexpected turns. As seen on Kyle Clark’s Twitter, Representative Amabile took the podium to share a personal story related to gun violence with reporters when the fire alarm suddenly went off. What we do know is that there certainly wasn’t a fire under the Gold Dome this week. What we don’t know is who what made the fire alarm go off. Shockingly, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners also made news at the press conference. Taylor Rhodes, representing RMGO, shared his commentson the bill package with Senator Tom Sullivan, who lost his son in the 2012 Aurora theater shooting, and a tense exchange ensued. 
Guns will be a big and controversial topic this session. The four bills in the package of bills released this week add to another Democratic-backed gun measure, House Bill 1165, which has already generated much debate on the House floor and these new bills will produce lengthy debates as well. And another bill on “ghost guns” is likely forthcoming. Notably absent from the package of gun bills this week was an assault weapons ban, which had been floated by some Democrats but likely did not have the support of the Governor. 
Next Week
 
Next week we will say goodbye to February and welcome in March. The Joint Budget Committee will need to start really buckling down to get through all of their figure setting decisions in time for the budget to be introduced at the end of the month. 
 
Big committee hearings next week will include House Bill 1190 which would give local governments a right of first refusal to purchase multi-family housing when it comes on the market, and Senate Bill 105 about equal pay. Additionally, anyone who sports a tinfoil hat should tune in for House Bill 1170 about distributed ledgers voting. 
 
We also anticipate a number of energy related bills on air quality control and water usage in oil and gas to be introduced in the near future. Tense times are coming to the Capitol. 
 
Have a good weekend and enjoy the calm before the storm that the rest of the session promises.