Colorado Legislative Strategies Updates 2.25.22

​COLORADO LEGISLATIVE STRATEGIES NEWSLETTER
 
February 25, 2022
 
This week was a short and bitterly cold week at the Capitol. However, the fewer the days in the week the more that gets packed in on each day. Here’s the short rundown of all the legislative and political news from this week. 

​Last weekend, five people died from overdoses tied to fentanyl and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle started the week by calling for changes to state law on fentanyl. In 2019, the General Assembly passed a bill to reduce the charges for possession of all drugs from a felony to a misdemeanor. The refrain at the beginning of this week was that such a change for fentanyl might have been a mistake. 
 
Colorado has seen deaths related to fentanyl increase at an astronomical rate since 2019 and the state has moved up to number two in the nation for the fastest rise. Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer called out policymakers, including the Governor, to acknowledge that fentanyl is fueling deaths. House Speaker Alec Garnett has said that he is working on a comprehensive solution but has not given more details. 
 
In an election year, if the Democrats don’t do something to show they are taking the rise in fentanyl seriously then the issue will be used as a cudgel against them. Law enforcement, Attorney General Phil Weiser, and even Governor Polis have been calling for strengthening penalties for fentanyl. Look for a bill on this topic to be introduced before the end of the session. 
 
Wednesday was anti-abortion day (and night) at the Capitol. Three anti-abortion bills sponsored by conservative House Republicans all met the same fate in a hearing that started on Wednesday afternoon but ended up stretching into Thursday morning. Colorado is not a state in the south and these bills never had the slightest chance of passage, but that didn’t stop the sponsors from bringing them forward, along with witnesses who have argued women who have an abortion should be executed. In the end, all of the bills died on a party-line vote. 
 
The Wednesday/Thursday hearing will not be the last time the General Assembly debates abortion. Democrats are planning on introducing a bill this session that create a state law guaranteeing the right to abortion. Currently, abortion is legal in Colorado pursuant to federal law only. It is highly anticipated that the US Supreme Court could drastically alter the abortion landscape in the county and Colorado Democrats are planning on moving the state in the opposite direction from many other states who have trigger laws prohibiting abortion ready to go into effect if (and when) the Court overrules Roe. 
 
Get ready to hear a lot more about abortion before the legislative session wraps up in May. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the 15-week ban out of Mississippi towards the end of their term around late June. Additionally, a six-week ban out of Texas is slated to be heard by the Court next term. This divisive topic will not be going away anytime soon. 
 
As if long debates on abortion this week were not enough, Friday also saw a long debate about guns, specifically guns at voting locations. Yes, some people actually choose to openly display guns at voting locations. House Bill 1086 seeks to prohibit opening carrying firearms at voting locations, both at in-person voting sites and drop boxes. The bill cleared floor debate and is now slated for a final vote in the House before moving over to the Senate. 
 
Drugs, abortion, and guns. What a week for controversial issues under the Golden Dome. 
 
Moving onto other, less controversial, news from the week, Governor Polis on Friday announced a new roadmap to guide Colorado into the next chapter of COVID. The plan seeks to keep the state prepared for dealing with new COVID surges while life gets back to normal. New modeling by state experts projects that 90 percent of the state is immune to the dominant omicron variant. The four points in the roadmap include: establishing hospital readiness standards, surge planning and normalizing COVID patient care in traditional medical settings; ensuring public health readiness and surge capacity; investing in health care workforce stabilization and expansion; and engaging the federal government in national endemic response, pandemic readiness and other needed reforms.
 
Let’s hope omicron was the worst of it, because if a new nasty variant pops up we could be all eating some really bad COVID pi. (Pi is the next Greek letter following omicron.)
 
Finally, here is some political news to end your week. This past weekend, Nick Hinrichsen won the vacancy appointment to succeed Leroy Garcia in the Pueblo area Senate District 3. Hinrichsen, who is also the husband of former state representative Bri Buentello, will be sworn in on Monday and will learn his new committee assignments that afternoon. Part of the complicating factor for new committee assignments is who will succeed Rachel Zenzinger as the Chair of the Senate Education committee. After that domino, several other committee assignments will fall into place and will be released on Monday. 
 
House Republican leadership will look different, and potentially vastly different next year. On Thursday, Representative Tim Geitner, the current number two in the House Republican caucus, announced he will not seek another term in the General Assembly. Additionally, Minority Leader Hugh McKean, the leader of the caucus, has drawn a primary challenger from the right. It is not common for leaders to be challenged by their own party, however, McKean is used to taking on that challenge after conservative members of the caucus attempted to overthrow him on the final night of the session last year. 
 
Never a dull moment in Colorado politics! 
 
Have a good weekend.