With Democrats controlling the Senate and Republicans holding a one-vote edge in the House, the overall dynamics of the Colorado General Assembly, which convenes Wednesday, haven’t changed from last year.
But the mood has.
Republicans are stinging from a legislative redistricting process in which they said Democrats were “vindictive” in pushing forward last-minute maps that forced several GOP incumbents into the same districts. To his credit, House Speaker Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, has said he will not allow members to “obstruct the people’s business.”
But it’s an election year, meaning that regardless of bruised feelings from redistricting, lawmakers from both sides will no doubt attempt to score political points and saddle targeted colleagues — particularly those who have expressed ambitions to run for Congress — with difficult votes.
None of that means that the two sides can’t, or won’t, get together to pass bipartisan legislation that is beneficial for the state.
Early on, both Republicans and Democrats are discussing measures to improve the economic outlook in Colorado, and those will be among the most important conversations moving forward.
We also would like to see lawmakers address some of the issues that have been festering since they met under the gold dome last year.
What follows is a list of five issues (which is the limit for bills that can be carried by an individual lawmaker) that the legislature should tackle in the next four months. They range from the big picture, such as legalizing civil unions, to those that are smaller in scope, such as clarifying when candidates enter a phase where they must file campaign finance reports every two weeks.
For good measure, we’ve also thrown in a list of four issues that could develop and will be worth watching as the session moves along.
1. Remake the state’s Enterprise Zone Program. A series of Denver Post stories earlier this year pointed out problems with the state’s Enterprise Zone Program.
Created in 1986 to boost economic development in distressed areas, the program has been a long-standing trouble spot for the state and is in need of better oversight.
Some of the series’ more troubling findings were that companies were taking development credits even when they were laying off employees and that $75 million in tax credits in 20102 resulted in the creation of a net 564 jobs, or roughly $133,000 of state investment per job. Is that really what we want from our economic development investment?
Additionally, requirements to limit the zones to distressed areas have been done away with. As a result, a program originally intended to cover about 30 percent of the state now covers more than 70 percent.
It’s a complicated issue, and we agree with those who say forming a commission to recommend changes is the best course to take.
2. Pass a bill that legalizes civil unions. A bill that would have granted same-sex couple this basic right passed the Democrat-controlled last year, but died on a party-line vote in a committee of the GOP-controlled House.
Backers of the measure promise to bring it back again this year, and Speaker McNulty says he will send it to the same committee, whose makeup hasn’t changed. Perhaps the mind of at least one of the six Republicans who voted against the bill last year can be.
With polls showing 7 out of 10 Coloradans supporting the idea of civil unions, it’s an idea whose time has come.
3. Change the redistricting process. As we mentioned above, the culmination of this year’s process to set legislative boundaries resulted in partisan finger-pointing. Perhaps that will always be the outcome of a political process, but that doesn’t mean that some change isn’t necessary.
We like the idea of having the state’s legislative legal services department draw district maps, and then having reapportionment commissioners debate them publicly. This limits the political game-playing with consultants and strategists that both sides partake in.
Other ideas have been suggested, and we’ll be watching closely to see where they go.
4. Move forward with funding and implementation of Senate Bill 191. One of the areas in which lawmakers from both parties have found common ground in recent years is in the issue of education reform, notably the passage in 2010 of SB 191, which addresses educator effectiveness.
While the debate over that measure was often emotional, the work to create rules for an evaluation system of teachers and principals has been a model of cooperation.
Lawmakers will review those rules this year, and we look forward to watching as Colorado remains a leader in this arena nationally.
5. Clarify campaign finance rules. When lawmakers last year moved the state’s primary elections up to June from August, they didn’t adjust the campaign finance filing schedule accordingly.
The unintended consequence was that, technically, candidates have been required to file biweekly reports for six months (biweekly reports normally start in July before an August primary).
Passing a bill that requires biweekly filing beginning a month before a primary should be easy. Of course, that’s what we thought last year, too.
The issues that bear watching:
1. Pinnacol privatization. A proposal from Pinnacol Assurance and backed by Gov. John Hickenlooper would privatize what is currently a state-chartered worker’s compensation insurer. In exchange, the state could get millions for economic development and education. The proposal is currently being reviewed by a task force, with the expectation that it could be presented to lawmakers this year.
2. Local control of oil and gas drilling. As oil and gas development moves closer to populated areas on the Front Range, more and more citizens and governments are instituting moratoriums and considering imposing new regulations. Look for lawmakers from some of those areas to push for tighter controls than those enacted three years ago.
3. State personnel system reforms. With the goal of making it easier to attract and retain talented state employees, Gov. Hickenlooper and lawmakers are expected to attempt to change state personnel issues for the first time in a generation. While some things may be done legislatively, bigger changes may require a constitutional amendment.
4. The governor’s “civic engagement” push. The long-rumored effort to engage Coloradans in conversations about the best ways to address issues in health care, education and transportation funding, among others, will launch soon. Watch for details in Hickenlooper’s State of the State address next Thursday.
