Over the next four months, the legislators who convene today at Colorado’s Capitol will debate and discuss everything from artificial intelligence and immigration to health care and another state budget shortfall.
Opening day traditionally is a lighter day when lawmakers get settled in, for most members this is the middle of their term so they are not being officially sworn into office. Legislative leaders will lay out their priorities in speeches on the chamber floors in the morning and during the day the first slate of bills will formally be introduced.
On Thursday Gov. Jared Polis, who is term-limited, gets a chance to highlight his own priorities for the session in his final State of the State address. It’ll also mark a time for Polis to reflect on his previous seven years in office.
Democrats hold a 43-22, majority in the House, and a 23 -12 split in the Senate. Those margins leave Democrats just shy of a legislative supermajority in both chambers, which will continue to limit policies that require a supermajority vote.
The legislative session is also starting with new Republican leaders in both the House and Senate somewhat unexpectedly. Former Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen resigned in June, in the middle of his term, to take a job leading a national conservative nonprofit. Sen. Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa, was selected as the next minority leader. Simpson has a strong friendship and working relationship with Senate President James Coleman, D-Denver, and is well-liked among Democrats and Republicans, so his new role isn’t expected to spark major change.
However in the House, the Republican leadership shakeup was more dramatic. Former Minority Leader Rose Pugliese, R-Colorado Springs, surprised everyone by resigning abruptly in September after a dramatic falling out on the House floor with Majority Leader Monica Duran. Duran accused Pugliese of mishandling inappropriate behavior by some House Republicans.
The GOP House caucus elected Republican Rep. Jarvis Caldwell, another Colorado Springs Republican, to be the new House minority leader. He’s in his second year at the Capitol as a lawmaker, but a few years ago served as a spokesman for the House Republicans. That caucus has ideological and messaging divides. But Caldwell said he thinks the caucus has a united front on working with the majority party.
“We're all really excited to get started with this new chapter going forward and look forward to working across the aisle with our Democrat colleagues on things that we feel help the people of Colorado. And obviously we're going to do what we do and we're going to fight legislation that we feel is not good for Colorado,” he said.
Democrats are also dealing with a rift between progressives and moderate members over whether a group of moderate lawmakers broke state rules by going to a retreat to Vail last fall that might have been paid for by business interests. That question is being investigated by the state ethics commission right now.
Democrats say it could be difficult to mend fences and bring the party together to work on legislation, since progressive Democrats are angry about the retreat, and moderate Democrats are angry at having their ethics questioned.
“We can have our differences. We want differences. We don't all want to be in an echo chamber, because I think that fuels good policy. But that's where it ends. This isn't personal. We're here to work on the policy. So it's going to be a challenge. I'm not going to lie to you,” said House Majority Leader Duran.
The legislature also has to contend with an election year which factors into the dynamic, from what passes to how lawmakers debate policies. This year state lawmakers are running for Congress, governor, U.S Senate, treasurer, and secretary of state.
In addition to those members running for higher office, a number of representatives and senators are facing term limits, including the House speaker and the Senate majority leader. So this is their final session to cement their legacies.
“There are so many pressing issues,” said Speaker Julie McCluskie of Dillon.
One of her top priorities is to try to address the state’s high cost of homeowners' insurance due to wildfire and hail risk and find ways to mitigate and help lower rates.
“We continue to look at what other states are trying to do. For us, our state revenues are so challenged.”
This is the second year of a huge budget shortfall. There are a number of things causing it, but the biggest one state economists point to is the increased cost of Medicaid. The state expanded services, and at the same time, the people on Medicaid have been needing more medical care and the costs for services are increasing much faster than inflation.
With those three factors coming together, the percentage of the budget going to the program has ballooned.
One fallout from this is that there’s less and less money left over for other things lawmakers want to do. So that will make it tough to pass any legislation that costs money this year.
