The Colorado legislature has less than a month to complete its work — both giving the 100 lawmakers and dozens of lobbyists a light at the end of the tunnel and turning up the pressure ahead of the session’s May 13 finale.
One of the two must-pass bills, the annual budget, is already all but complete. The Joint Budget Committee will meet later this week to review amendments to the spending package and decide which, if any, it will keep. The House and the Senate each adopted several amendments to the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, including measures relating to veteran services and the state’s sexual assault testing kit backlog.
However, the legislature must also pass a balanced budget, and paying for those changes would affect spending in other areas. A final vote to send the budget to Gov. Jared Polis is expected later in the week, setting off the final mad dash of activity under the Gold Dome.
The other must-pass bill, the annual School Finance Act, will also begin its journey this week. That measure, , will be heard in the Senate Education Committee on Monday, its first step toward becoming law.
Scheduled hearings are always subject to change at the Capitol, but here’s what else is on the legislature’s docket.
Tuesday
The full Senate is expected to debate a referred ballot measure that would ask voters this November to exempt education from the state’s spending cap under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. In effect, it would free up billions of dollars to spend on general state priorities over the next decade, while funneling more cash to education. is part of a series of proposals from Democrats and liberal groups that would remake state budgeting.
The bill still would need to move through the House before voters may decide on it.
Also on Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee will hear , a measure that would regulate gaming and sports betting. It is separate from , which also looks to regulate the booming industry. That bill is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday morning.
Wednesday
The House Judiciary Committee is set to hear , a measure that would provide the ability to sue to people who have their civil rights violated during immigration enforcement actions. It is one of several bills introduced this year that deals with how immigration enforcement agents operate in the state.
The Senate Local Government and Housing Committee will hear . That bill would make it easier to declare towns abandoned and stems from tumult in the tiny southeast Colorado town of Hartman, which had its entire town government resign.
Thursday
The Senate Local Government and Housing Committee will hear a series of bills aimed at increasing density in cities. would allow people who build an accessory dwelling unit, or so-called “granny flat,” to split that into its own property to sell it separately. would prohibit local governments from setting minimum lot sizes at more than 2,000 square feet.
Also on Thursday, the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee will hear , a proposal to have users to affirm their age on a computing device, which can then be used to prove their age when accessing age-restricted materials online. It is the only surviving measure this year that seeks to enforce online age requirements.
On the same afternoon, the House Energy and Environment Committee will hear , one of two bills whose sponsors seek to regulate data centers. That bill, however, has been subject to some turmoil as backers negotiate changes.
