The Colorado legislature opened Wednesday with unexpected drama in the House as three Democrats questioned Republicans about why certain committee names were changed.
Democrats howled in November when Republicans — back in power in the House after six years in the minority — altered committee names, changing Business Affairs and Labor to Economic and Business Development, for example.
Apparently, the anger lingers.
“Last I checked, we still had a Department of Labor in the state of Colorado,” Rep. John Soper, D-Thornton, said Wednesday.
Majority Leader Amy Stephens answered each Democrat with a nearly identical answer in the same frosty tone.
“As in past history, we changed the committee names for efficiency,” the Monument Republican said. “Our job today is to get jobs and the economy moving ahead, and I would suggest that we quickly get to the work of the House.”
Colorado faces a $1 billion shortfall and double-digit unemployment, a crisis addressed by legislative leaders in their speeches.
But much of the day was marked by opening-day pageantry and the excitement that comes with a new session, particularly after an election.
The 35-member Senate has six new members who have never been through a session, plus four lawmakers who once served in the House. In the House, 21 of the 65 members are new.
Democrats still hold a 20-15 majority in the Senate, where President Brandon Shaffer of Longmont called for bipartisanship on education funding, redistricting and ballot reform.
Senate Minority Leader Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, asked about reinstating tax incentives eliminated last year.
“These have cost jobs and caused companies to leave the state, and we ask for your help in reversing this trend.”
The big story, however, was the House, where Republicans hold a 33-32 majority.
Speaker Frank McNulty of Highlands Ranch received a standing ovation from both sides of the aisle when he accepted the gavel, but Democrats clearly hope his tenure is brief.
“Thanks for keeping the podium warm for the next two years,” Minority Leader Sal Pace, D-Pueblo, told McNulty after congratulating him.
Although the two pledged to work together, their speeches revealed the difficult problems ahead as lawmakers figure out where to make cuts.
“The days of balancing the budget on the backs of working families and small business are over,” McNulty said in his speech.
“Every special interest and corporate tax break we give out has an effect,” Pace said in his speech.
He earlier thanked Republican leaders for allowing Democrats to voice concerns that “labor,” “energy” and “human services” are no longer included in the names of three official House committees.
Rep. Max Tyler, D-Lakewood, said job creation in the renewable-energy field has helped ease Colorado’s financial picture. He asked where bills on energy would land.
And Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley expressed concern about “human services” and wondered about Department of Human Services issues.
When Democrats got into power in the past decade, some legislative committee names also were changed.
Staff writer Tim Hoover contributed to this report.
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327 or lbartels@denverpost.com
State of the State
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New names
• Business Affairs & Labor was renamed Economic & Business Development.
• Health & Human Services was changed to Health & Environment.
• The Transportation & Energy Committee is now just the Transportation Committee.
