Make hay while the sun is shining, the old saying goes. The time of opportunity will end. The Democratic Party majority in the Colorado legislature passed as many controversial, leftist proposals as they could in five months. Public opinion, constitutional rights, unintended consequences be damned. The session’s record reads like a moveon.org wish list. They made hay until adjournment sine die. They will regret it.
Perhaps the majority assumed that Colorado voters have moved far to the left based on the last election’s results or that the state’s economic prosperity will mute opposition to the new laws. But chickens will come home to roost. Going too far, too fast has a way of creating blowback as the targets of recalls in 2013 and 2015 will tell you. The adverse impact of these laws will galvanize opposition in the long run.
The first time that Coloradans watch their Electoral College votes go to a presidential candidate they did not choose, they will remember Senate Bill 42. The law pledges Colorado’s nine votes to the winner of the nationwide popular vote even if a majority of Coloradans selected someone else. Itap happened before. It will happen again. Some voters may not fully understand or appreciate the Electoral College created by the U.S. Constitution but they are unlikely to appreciate having their votes negated by state law.
This wasn’t the only bill that exposed lawmakers’ disdain for the Constitution. The governor signed an Extreme Risk Protection Order bill, House Bill 1177, despite concerns by legal scholars that it lacked adequate due process provisions required by the Bill of Rights. While many of us support the removal of firearms from individuals who are an imminent threat to themselves and others, we were puzzled by legislators’ unwillingness to strengthen constitutional protections. The government cannot legally take a person’s property or right to bear arms without due process. The law will end up in court on constitutional grounds.
The legislature also decided to interfere with free speech and the professional freedom of educators and mental health providers. If it becomes law, House Bill 1032 will foist controversial sex education mandates on schools regardless of the concerns of parents, students or educators. Among its divisive provisions, the legislation will force educators to talk with students about abortion, sexual experiences and transgenderism. If House Bill 1129 is signed, the law will dictate what counseling professionals can say or not say in sessions. If a boy believes he is a girl, a therapist will be forced to affirm the child’s confusion rather than help him accept his physiology. Politically correct speech codes rather than professional responsibility to do no harm will prevail.
Other laws passed by this legislature directly countermand Colorado voters’ will. Last election, Coloradans voted down harsh limits on oil and gas development. The legislature nevertheless voted to limit this important economic driver. When friends lose jobs and fewer tax dollars roll into local government and school district coffers, voters will remember they were ignored.
The legislature also approved bills to eliminate refunds under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights despite voters’ opposition in the last election to tax increases. Lawmakers also plan to ask voters to increase taxes on smokers even though Coloradans voted against such a move just three years ago. That same election, 79 percent of Colorado voters rejected a ballot initiative to foist a socialized medicine scheme onto the state. Nevertheless, the legislature has sent the governor a bill for a government-run health care plan. When this plan comes to fruition and squeezes out private health care options, voters who lose their private health care will remember. Hopefully, they will remember before the inevitable waits lists and rationed care kick in.
At some point, people will remember what they have lost and they will vote for change. Then the 2019 legislative majority will reap what they have sown.
Krista Kafer is a weekly Denver Post columnist. Follow her on Twitter: @kristakafer
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