WOW. How is everyone hanging in there? In just a matter of months, weeks, and days – our world as we know it has turned on its head. As an organization, we are encouraged by all the ways that our local, state, and federal governments are putting people first and prioritizing health in our communities, understanding that no decisions have been easily made. As a response to the COVID-19 outbreak, and in an unprecedented move, the 2020 Colorado legislative session has ground to a halt, temporarily suspending until March 30. Between now and then they will determine if they need more time before reconvening. Some of our West Slope lawmakers are heading back to the mountain towns to support their communities where the outbreak is highly prevalent in Colorado. 

But what does this mean for the 2020 session overall and the hundreds of bills that have been introduced this year? Right now, the court is still out. Literally. Regular legislative sessions in Colorado are held annually and begin no later than the second Wednesday in January. The session lasts no more than 120 days, leading our lawmakers to ponder if these 120 must be consecutive. The question the legislature has asked the Colorado Supreme Court is basically “Can we hit that pause button on the session, or is the clock still running down?” If the answer is the latter, this year’s legislative session is passing by with an empty building.

From the perspective of our Legislative Liaison, Sol Malick, his best guess is that the Colorado Supreme Court will probably say it’s ok to hit that pause button and resume at a later date. But regardless, with every passing day, it looks less and less likely that a large gathering of the size of the legislative body will be appropriate for months to come. If this is the case, any bill that hadn’t made its way through both chambers and wasn’t already headed to the Governor’s desk will die. 

So what would happen next? Governor Jared Polis could call a special session later in the year, most likely with the focus to address school finance, the state budget and the rules bill for the following year — all required to be passed each session. Any bills beyond that would need to be specifically named in the Governor’s call for the special session.

There is some good news. Several bills our legislative committee was tracking already made their way through the Capitol and are on their way to becoming law. These include:

SB20-167 which will allow electric vehicle manufacturers to sell electric motor vehicles directly to consumers, and HB20-1157 which will allow the Colorado water conservation board to use water that a water right owner voluntarily loans to the board for instream flow purposes.

For the West Slope Youth Vote Students, two of their priority bills passed which are SB20-014 which allows students to take excused mental health days from school and HB20-1021 which added two seats to the Colorado Youth Advisory Council Board to include youth from the Southern and Mountain Ute tribes in Colorado.

How does this affect our upcoming primaries? Before the Legislature shut its doors on Saturday, they made sure to pass HB20-1359 which allows political parties to amend their bylaws as needed during 2020 to allow remote participation in assemblies and conventions and to fill vacancies. This allows party primary systems to move forward without gathering together. Former Governor John Hickenlooper’s campaign submitted petitions with over 17,000 signatures which have been verified as sufficient to guarantee him a spot on the June primary ballot for US Senate, circumventing the need to qualify by vote at the Democratic State Assembly. Other candidates who were petitioning onto the ballot asked for more time to collect signatures as a result of the outbreak. Most other candidates running for election on the Western Slope are using the party primary process to make it on the ballot in June.

The Legislative Committee will continue to keep a close eye on the 2020 political landscape and keep our Alliance members updated with any big changes. In the meantime, rest assured that we as a staff at Western Colorado Alliance are here, and will continue to move our work forward in the ways that we can, as well as get creative as we shift some of our work online. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions, and I’ll answer them as best as I can.

Wishing you all good health, and stay connected!