Colorado Legislative Strategies Updates 4.15.23

COLORADO LEGISLATIVE STRATEGIES NEWSLETTER
 
April 15, 2023

​Introduction
 
Happy Saturday. After a reprieve last weekend, the House returned to working on Saturday today. The Senate, of course, kept up their tradition of not working on the weekend. 
 
Today marks the 97th day of the 120-day legislative session. There are just over three weeks, or three Saturdays the House will probably be working, left before the end of session. With so few days left and the clock ticking down, it’s icy waters between the two parties. 
 
Before we dive into the tension and the delays, today also marks the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. On this date in 1912, the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg. The “unsinkable” ship was traveling at a high rate of speed in an area with a high concentration of icebergs, despite warnings from other ships. But like the majority in the legislature sometimes, the ship pressed on.
 
The Titanic's crew attempted to slow the ship down and steer away from the iceberg, but it was too late. The lack of enough lifeboats and many lifeboats not even being filled to capacity resulted in the deaths of over 1,500 passengers and crew members. 
 
The sinking of the Titanic remains a symbol of the dangers of overconfidence and the importance of taking precautions in the face of potential risks. 
 
In addition to the anniversary today, the Titanic has another connection to the Colorado legislature. “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” gained national fame for her bravery and leadership during the sinking of the Titanic. Molly Brown was married to James Joseph Brown, a businessman that played a key role in the construction of the Colorado Capitol building. 
 
Now here’s a roundup of news from that very same Capitol building this week.

​This Week
 
After a deal between the two parties in the House about how the debate would go regarding the budget last week, this week those deals started to sink like the Titanic. Republicans deliberately stretched debate on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday by speaking at lengths on non-controversial bills they often supported. Fed up with the delay tactics, Speaker McCluskie held a press conference on Wednesday to accuse the Republicans of bad governance over their attempts to delay. 
 
Minority Leader Lynch responded, “The majority’s going to have to make some decisions about what bills they want to get through and what bills they don’t. We’re not going to roll over. It physically cannot be done with the amount of time that’s left right now. You cannot get this number of bills done unless they’re planning on working 20-hour days for the next three weeks, and I don’t think anybody wants to do that. That’s not good governance, either.”
 
Clearly it’s an icy path forward between the two parties.
 
We saw this tension play out a couple different times this week. Last week, some students from East High School had been sitting in the House gallery when a few of them stood up and started shouting about gun violence, which disrupted the House’s floor work. They were asked to calm down and leave by Sergeants, but eventually, State Patrol had to come up and forcibly remove the students who were causing disruptions. One of those students was physically picked up and removed from the gallery. 
 
Several students caught it on video and State Patrol released body camera footage of the incident. Speaker McCluskie and Majority Leader Duran released a statement at the end of last week calling for an investigation into the incident, saying the level of force used by State Patrol was unnecessary and suggested the incident had racial undertones. 
 
On Monday of this week, Minority Leader Lynch and the House Republicans released a statement that condemned Democrat leadership’s lack of support for Capitol security and insinuating racial issues were at play during the incident.
 
On Tuesday, House Bill 1032, which would allow a disabled individual to take legal action for discrimination resulting in emotional distress, was up on third reading in the House. Representative Holtorf spoke in opposition to the bill, comparing the subject of the bill to the “running of the bulls” in Spain. The more polite, paraphrased version of his comments is that if you participate in the running of the bulls and you’re injured, you “own it” and you don’t sue.
 
One million views on Kyle Clark later, the House Republicans posted a picture on Twitter of Representative Holtorf and Representative Ortiz having a conversation immediately after Holtorf’s comments. Representative Ortiz, the bill sponsor, is a veteran who was injured in combat and now in a wheelchair. Although Ortiz expressed his disappointment with Holtorf’s comments and emphasized the importance of addressing these types of comments, Ortiz also explained they share a special, family-like bond as veterans.
 
On Wednesday, Senate Bill 279 was introduced in the Senate, which would ban “ghost guns” in Colorado. A ghost gun is a gun without a serial number, not assembled by a manufacturer. Ghost guns are usually assembled by an individual or can even be 3-D printed. The bill has yet to be put on the calendar for its first committee hearing. After the experience with the last gun bills, those are sure to be long hearings and debates to come.
 
Also on Wednesday, activists convened for a rally outside the Capitol calling for lower energy prices. Representative Kennedy spoke at the rally, saying energy companies had no incentive to pursue cheaper or more environmentally friendly options, therefore, passing the cost of natural gas onto consumers. Rumors are starting to circulate that we will soon see a late bill to address these issues.
 
On Thursday, the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resource committee heard Senate Bill 201, which would change the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s process for forced pooling. A long schedule of Senate floorwork during the day delayed committee by nearly five hours, and the hearing went late into the evening. After it appeared the bill did not have the support of enough Democrats on the committee, the bill was laid over for action at a later date.
 
Senate Bill 276, a bill that modifies Colorado’s election rules, was also heard in committee on Thursday. The bill is sponsored by Senate President Fenberg, and touches on some issues we saw last election cycle. The big highlight here is that the bill wouldn’t allow an elected official to be the subject of a taxpayer funded announcement or notice when that elected official is running for office. This comes after Secretary of State, Jena Griswold, was featured in a taxpayer funded advertisement last September. At the time, Griswold was running for reelection against Republican Pam Anderson. 
 
It’s also important to mention what was not included in this bill. During the Republican Primary for Secretary of State, Pam Anderson faced off against Tina Peters. Even though Pam Anderson beat Tina Peters by almost 89,000 votes, Tina Peters requested a recount anyway, costing the state a quarter of a million dollars. Back in March, Jena Griswold’s office put out a press release that the elections bill we’d see this session would include a provision in which a recount can only be requested when the margin between two candidates is two percent or less. However, when the bill was introduced this provision was left out of the bill and is not likely to be added.
 
Also on Thursday, Senate Bill 105, or the Equal Pay bill, made its way out of the Senate. The bill doubles down on provisions laid out in Senate Bill 19-085, which adds requirements for employers looking to hire. One of the big points of debate on Thursday was the requirement from 2019 that an employer include a salary range with a job listing, which has resulted in out of state companies excluding Colorado from their hiring processes. After pushback from Republicans, the bill passed on a 24-11 vote, with Senator Will being the only Republican voting in favor of the bill. 
 
Thursday also included the long-awaited introduction of House Bill 1294, or Pollution Protection Measures. The bill gives the Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) significantly more authority and oversight of regulations related to air pollution emissions and permitting requirements. The bill was assigned to the House Energy and Environment committee, but hasn’t been scheduled for its first hearing yet. 
 
On Friday, Senate Bill 256 was heard in the Senate Appropriations committee. As a reminder, this bill required a federal 10(j) designation before gray wolves are reintroduced in Colorado, which is set for the end of this year. Although Governor Polis says he is supportive of obtaining a federal designation, he doesn’t like the process laid out in the bill because it could delay the reintroduction. The bill sponsor amended the bill accordingly in the Appropriations committee, in hopes to avoid a veto from Polis.
 
Lastly, the three bills included in the abortion bill package were signed by the governor on Friday.
 
Next Week
 
Next week will be another big week at the Capitol. Just three weeks left. Governor Polis’ controversial land use bill is back in committee for action. And much much more!
 
Have a good weekend and don’t forget your taxes. 
 
(April 15 is normally Tax Day, but since it’s a weekend – for most people not connected to the Colorado House of Representatives – Tax Day falls on Tuesday, April 18 this year; it’s not Monday because that’s when Emancipation Day is observed as a holiday in Washington D.C.)