Colorado legislators celebrate "breakthrough session" with bipartisan agreements, policies years in the making
As the saying goes, "It's all in how you finish," and Colorado state lawmakers finished this year's legislative session on a high note. They found common ground on issues that often divide them and compromises to problems that have long eluded them.
Gov. Jared Polis says this year's session was the most significant since he's become governor.
"We took on the big issues ... and got the job done," Polis said.
The big issues included affordable housing. Lawmakers passed bills prohibiting occupancy limits, giving people the right to build accessory dwelling units, requiring landlords have cause-- like unpaid rent -- before evicting someone, and incentivizing local governments to build more housing near transit corridors. There are also new tax credits for low and middle income housing.
"This was a breakthrough session for Colorado," said Speaker of the House Julie McCluskie, a Democrat who represents Summit County.
McCluskie said she was especially proud of accomplishments in regard to education.
For the first time in 14 years, the legislature fully funded education, overhauled the School Finance Act, passed a bi-partisan bill providing two years free college to families making less than $90,000 a year, and created a new medical school at the University of Northern Colorado.
In maybe the biggest breakthrough, they joined forces on a property tax relief bill that cuts residential and commercial rates and caps increases in revenue.
"We've been able to have some really good bipartisan conversations around the hard topics that we're all talking about. Affordability, housing, tax cuts, all of that," said House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese, a Republican who represents El Paso County.
Lawmakers also cut the income tax rate in years when there's at least $300 million in refunds under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights -- or TABOR -- and created new income tax credits for low and middle-income families, senior citizens, child care workers and nurses.
"We are grateful to have been able to deliver relief to the people of Colorado. We're grateful that our common sense colleagues on the other side of the aisle joined in on many of those efforts," said Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, a Republican from Monument.
Some of those efforts were prompted by the threat of ballot measures. Lawmakers worked across the aisle on oil and gas bills that set new emission standards and imposed new fees on producers, and on legislation that raises the caps for pain and suffering and wrongful death lawsuits. In exchange, groups pushing ballot measures on the issues pulled them.
"The way you accomplish things matters. Getting to know your colleagues, examining why they view issues the way they do, trying to find an understanding is at the heart of the process. And that's where the magic happens," said Senate President Steve Fenberg, a Democrat from Boulder.
It wasn't always magical. Lawmakers clashed over a bill to fund transit projects by increasing a fee on rental cars, as well as gun bills. An assault weapons ban failed while bills requiring training for concealed carry permits and restricting where concealed carry is allowed passed.
Another bill that imposes an excise tax on gun purchases to fund victim services funding is headed to the ballot.
House Majority Leader Monica Duran led passage of the bill.
"This session was huge. On issue after issue lawmakers came through and passed policies that were years in the making,"
Duran said.
Lawmakers finally joined other states in licensing funeral home directors, they banned cellphones while driving (unless drivers use hands-free devices) and gave Coloradans the right to repair electronics by requiring manufactures to make parts and instruction manuals publicly available.
In all, lawmakers passed 525 bills.
Among the measures that failed are bills that address age verification by social media companies, safe injection sites, construction defects lawsuits, tax rates for short term rentals, and the statute of limitations for decades-old sex assault cases. Many of these bills will likely return next year.
