By the numbers: New laws take effect in Colorado
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The dust has settled at the state Capitol on the 2021 legislative session.
State of play: 169 bills approved by the General Assembly became law on Tuesday.
All told, the Democratic-led legislature passed 508 bills. Gov. Jared Polis vetoed four. (Note: Prior reports that 502 bills won approval were incorrect.)
- The number of new laws amounts to the most significant legislative overhaul in Colorado in more than two decades.
What's new: The laws now in effect include:
- A $26 million effort to increase the number of teachers through new recruitment programs and lowering standards for certain positions.
- An additional $40 fee added to annual vehicle registrations for the cost of a state parks pass, unless owners opt out.
Between the lines: The vast majority of laws approved this year — 94% — won bipartisan support in the House or Senate, according to a Colorado Sun analysis.
Yes, but: Partisanship is alive and well in Colorado.
- 28 of those 472 bipartisan bills only won a single Republican vote.
- Only 3 Republicans voted yes at least 80% of the time.
- 5 Democrats voted against their party more than 1% of the time.
Be smart: The influence-peddling at the Capitol once again reached new highs as organizations, companies and nonprofits spent a record $44 million on lobbying state lawmakers for the year ending June 30, a separate Sun breakdown found.
- That’s an 8% increase from the prior year, led by the health care and pharmaceutical industries, which spent nearly $10 million on lobbying.
- The Partnership for America's Health Care Future Action was the top spender at $790,000. The group helped neuter a measure to create a single-payer government health insurance plan.