DENVER—Colorado lawmakers picked through the wreckage of a political implosion over civil unions on the final day of the legislative session.
Lawmakers scrambled Wednesday to triage several bills that appeared dead after they broke down Tuesday over a civil unions measure. After a night’s rest, and an announcement from Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper that he’d call lawmakers back to Denver to tackle the civil unions bill, lawmakers seemed visibly relieved and set about using parliamentary maneuvers to save priority measures and make sure others made the final lap to the governor’s desk.
Among the measures that cleared the Legislature were an overhaul of child literacy procedures for public schools and a bill allowing wildfire victims to seek compensation in excess of state liability limits when the wildfire was started by the state. Lawmakers also agreed to a ban on trans fats in school food and a ban on synthetic drugs sold as “bath salts.”
Other measures seemed impossible to revive. One was a bill to set a blood standard for driving under the influence of marijuana, a measure that law enforcement supported but some marijuana activists said would unduly burden medical marijuana patients. A similar marijuana DUI bill died last session.
“It’s done,” said Republican Sen. Steve King, who sponsored this year’s pot DUI bill.
Despite the busy calendar, many legislators conceded that Tuesday’s dramatic failure of the civil unions bill left them with little political energy for what is typically a frenzied final day. Some lawmakers were pre-emptively cleaning out their desks for departure, and a traditional end-of-session comedy sketch show put on by some House members was scrapped because of the dour mood.
Lawmakers’ moods improved as the day’s end neared and retiring lawmakers took turns giving goodbye speeches.
Senate Democratic Leader John Morse assured his colleagues that they’ve done a lot, even though the governor is calling them back to work any day now.
“We may have a special session, but this one’s been special, too,” Morse said.
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