Colorado legislature begins session with priority bills unveiled

From the moment the Colorado General Assembly’s leaders gaveled their chambers into session Wednesday, they acknowledged the undercurrent of acrimony that’s seeped ever more deeply into state politics.

The Capitol’s two top Democrats touted past achievements and pledged to do more this year, but they also made repeated references to social media eroding civility. They called for more collegiality among the 100 legislators who will spend the next four months grappling with the state’s pressing challenges, including housing affordability, the property tax formula and education funding.

“We can sometimes be opponents,” Senate President Steve Fenberg told his chamber, “but we are never enemies.”

The 120-day regular session began less than two months after a special session aimed at blunting the impact of coming property tax increases ended in bitterness both within and between the political parties — along with the legislative package cobbled together by the majority Democrats. In the weeks since, two first-term House members have resigned, with both blaming the political vitriol at the Capitol at least in part for their decisions.

Wednesday began with a small group of pro-Palestinian protesters chanting slogans from the House gallery, briefing interrupting the chamber’s work and prompting Republican legislators to walk off the floor.

Legislative leaders have sought to move past any lingering ill feelings. On Monday, House Speaker Julie McCluskie formally reprimanded Rep. Elisabeth Epps, a Denver Democrat, for past comments and interruptions. McCluskie told The Denver Post that she hoped the rebuke would be the last word on the special session’s infighting.

She instead has sought to refocus attention on the chance her party’s members have right now, with their historic majorities in the Capitol — a supermajority in the House and a near-supermajority in the Senate — to make progress. Democrats also exercise total control over the statewide elected offices.

“This session is a new opportunity for all of us,” McCluskie said Wednesday to applause from her Democratic colleagues. “Our recent experience shows that when we collaborate and listen to each other, we deliver on our progressive values and move Colorado forward.”

As the opening pomp faded, lawmakers began to roll out dozens of bills to show their priorities for the year.

The very first bill in the House, given the bill number HB24-1001, is a bipartisan measure intended to boost employment opportunities in certain rural areas. Other early House bills include a third re-launch of a bill that would allow supervised drug-use sites to open in willing Colorado cities, a bill to crack down on wage theft in the construction industry and a measure that would establish a commission on elected officials’ salaries.

Another bill essentially would redo legislation passed in November’s special session. That measure, signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis, expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit for lower-incomer families. But it since has been challenged on procedural grounds by a Republican legislator.

On the Senate side, Senate Bill 1 would make permanent the state’s “I Matter” program, which provides mental health care to Colorado youth. Another measure would boost funding for state law enforcement to investigate the sale of firearms to people who legally can’t purchase them.

Lawmakers will take another swing at land-use policy after the failure of last year’s effort. The first bill in the revamped package, proposing to ban local governments’ occupancy limits, was introduced Wednesday.

Legislators also are working toward a long-term change in how property taxes are determined after last fall’s failure of Proposition HH on the ballot; a commission is meeting now to consider recommendations.

In their speeches, Fenberg and McCluskie also highlighted plans to finally fill the gap in education funding between how much the state actually sends to districts and what it’s constitutionally required to pay. Both called that a starting point for education funding in Colorado.

Republicans entered this session with several high-ranking members having declared campaigns for other offices — including two of the top three House Republicans, who are vying for the same congressional seat. Facing a second year of historic minority status in the Capitol, Republican leaders named their top priorities, too, including business deregulation, increased penalties for fentanyl possession, and the reining in of rules allowing lawsuits against home and condo builders.