Colorado lawmakers prepare for a tumultuous term
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The state House chamber. Photo: RJ Sangosti/Denver Post via Getty Images
Colorado lawmakers return to the state Capitol on Wednesday facing an $850 million budget shortfall, the Trump administration's volleys, an affordability crisis, a lame-duck governor and a poisonous workplace.
Why it matters: How lawmakers navigate the landscape will determine which new policies become law and set the stage for November's elections.
- "We are not naive to the moment that our state finds itself in," Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez (D-Denver) said at a briefing Tuesday.
State of play: The $44 billion state budget will dominate the conversation throughout the 120-day legislative session.
- Gov. Jared Polis and Democratic legislative leaders are poised to make sweeping cuts and raise taxes to generate new income.
- One particular target is Medicaid, the single largest expense in the budget. Democrats expanded coverage and reimbursement rates for providers, but now must dial back their generosity.
What they're saying: "In reality, everyone is going to have to be impacted by some cuts," House Majority Leader Monica Duran (D-Denver) told us in an exclusive interview.
- "Everyone's going to have to make a sacrifice here … it's the only way I see us getting through this."
The big picture: Despite the budget's narrow confines, the Democratic majority still set an ambitious agenda and remains determined to blunt the Trump administration's federal funding clawbacks and move forward with its long-standing affordability agenda.
- This year, legislative leaders are pledging to boost clean energy programs, prioritize workforce training and incentivize affordable housing construction.
The other side: In terms of policy, Republican lawmakers want to eliminate burdensome and costly regulations and impose a two-year moratorium on new rules so businesses can "catch their breath."
- The ongoing effort to transition away from fossil fuel energy sources is another issue where Republicans contend policies are moving too fast.
The intrigue: Lawmakers return with a cloud over the Capitol.
- The special session in August ended with tense confrontations, and in the interim, House Republican leader Rose Pugliese resigned because of the Capitol's "toxic" politics.
- Another prominent lawmaker, state Sen. Faith Winter (D-Broomfield), died in a November car crash while driving drunk.
New House Minority Leader Jarvis Caldwell (R-Monument) said he wants to "bring down the temperature" at the Capitol but still make room for "fierce policy disagreements."
- "Right now, politics has gotten not just ugly, but dangerous," he told us in an interview.