DENVER—Lawmakers adjourned their annual session a day early Tuesday after approving a referred measure asking voters to make it tougher to amend the constitution and performance pay for teachers.
During a visit to the House floor to congratulate lawmakers, Gov. Bill Ritter praised them for making progress on health care, education finance, money for higher education and renewable energy.
He said he was disappointed lawmakers backed off plans to provide more money for roads and bridges and vowed to be back next year.
“For our purposes, the discussion has started. It involved a tolling debate, it involved impact fee debate and ultimately nothing happened. We’re going to have to come back to that in the future and we will come back to it. We’re in it for the long haul,” Ritter said.
Among bills passed in the waning hours was a proposal to ask voters to make it more difficult to propose constitutional amendments. Under the measure (Senate Concurrent Resolution 3), backers of constitutional changes would have to collect 50 percent more signatures than those just seeking a change to state statute.
They also would have to collect signatures from each of the state’s seven congressional districts after rural areas demanded a bigger say in what goes to the ballot.
Lawmakers also agreed to a landmark plan by Ritter to update the state’s curriculum standards from preschool through college and add tests to ensure high school graduates are ready for college and work. The measure (Senate Bill 212) is aimed at updating the state’s curriculum standards to make sure high school graduates are ready for college or the working world.
House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, a Democrat from Denver who is serving his last term because of term limits, said bills passed this year were aimed at helping children. They include a major investment to fix crumbling schools, preschool and kindergarten for another 25,000 children over the next six years, access to health coverage for 50,000 low-income children and a $50 million increase for instate college tuition.
“This was a great year to be a kid in Colorado. We did more good for children in more need than at any other point in modern memory,” he said.
Lawmakers also sent Ritter a tenants’ rights bill (House Bill 1356), a measure that lawmakers have been trying to pass for years. It requires landlords to provide basics like heat and running water and allows tenants to withhold rent and go to court if landlords refuse to fix serious problems.
Republicans said they scored major successes in education standards and testing, new funding for higher education and blocked an attempt by Romanoff to pass a referred measure asking voters to repeal tax and spending limits and hike vehicle registration fees.
“Republicans were busy this year working successfully to pass a positive agenda for Colorado families, while providing a great defense for small business owners and taxpayers alike,” said House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker.
