Road, nearing an end, saw turns, fuel, skids
The 2017 legislative session, marked by fits and starts, gridlock and bipartisanship, comes to an end this week with consequential measures still outstanding. The divided General Assembly, with the Democratic-led House and Republican-controlled Senate, set an ambitious agenda in January: Find billions of dollars for new highways, eliminate spending cuts for hospitals, balance a tenuous state budget and jump-start the slow economic recovery in rural Colorado. And the 100 lawmakers returned to the Capitol with a new political wind. President Donald Trump’s administration added to the partisanship and cast a long shadow in policy debates. Here’s a look at the top 10 issues from the 2017 legislative session and what to watch before adjournment Wednesday:
Once and for all, lawmakers move to revamp hospital payment system
Entering the session, the prospects looked grim for a compromise to revampan obscure programthat funnels money to hospitals.
The hospital provider fee program deadlocked the prior two legislative sessions as Republicans established an ideological line against the move because it would allow more government spending. But this year, the mood shifted as the systemput hospitals at risk of $528 million in cuts.
To reach a deal, Democrats sweetened the pot and added a list of conservative causes, including a $20 million business tax break, a $4.3 billion increase inMedicaid co-pays and a $200 million reduction in the state’s spending cap.
What towatch: The bipartisan measure, Senate Bill 267, needs a final vote in the Senate and two votes in the House before it goes to the governor. Time is running short— but top lawmakers are determined to rush it to the finish line.
A half-fix for Colorado’s crowded and crumbling roads
Two years of inaction forced the state’s transportation needs to the forefront, and now lawmakers appear ready to approve $1.9 billion in new transportation spending.
But it didn’t go down quite the way most expected. Midway through the session, Senate President Kevin Grantham and House Speaker Crisanta Duran announced what appeared to be a grand bipartisan bargain — an unprecedented referred ballot measure that would have asked voters to raise sales taxes for a $3.5 billion bond issue. But with just weeks to go, the deal unraveled in the face of conservative resistance.
For many, the plan B is Senate Bill 267, which would mortgage a number of state buildings to finance transportation projects. But it would generate only a fraction of the $9 billion the state is expected to need over the next decade.
What to watch: Legislative leaders say they have the votes to pass the omnibus spending bill. What happens next is anyone’s guess. Interest groups may still roll the dice at the ballot box in pursuit of more money.
Trump administration amplifies the partisanship
President Donald Trump—and the emboldened Republican majority in Congress — was expected to loom large over the Colorado statehouse, asmuch in tone as in policy.
And as expected, federal clashes over immigration, the environment and health care spilled into the state Capitol early and often.
In January, House Democrats irked Republicans with a resolution denouncing Trump’s travel ban. They also offered proposals to require income tax return disclosures from presidential candidates and block the state from assisting in the creation of a potential Muslim registry.
Republicans made political points of their own. Freshman Rep. Dave Williams of Colorado Springs offered a measure to allow crime victims to sue public officials in sanctuary cities, and a budget amendment to defund such cities. Senate Republicans also made the repeal of the state’s health exchange a top priority.
What to watch: Expect this theme to continue long after the session ends. And if Congress makes any major changes to the Affordable Care Act, it may require a special session to deal with the fallout.
Rural Colorado emerges as a theme this session
While the post-recession boom continues along the Front Range, lawmakers went into the session expressing grave concerns about rural Colorado being left behind.
That wasn’t just a talking point. The concerns of rural Colorado permeated most major policy debates at the statehouse this session, and the legislature’s partisan split vaulted rural Republican lawmakers including Senate President pro tem Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, to a position of influence.
The hospital provider fee measure includes money to help rural hospitals, roads and schools. Through budget amendments, rural lawmakers also secured $5.4 million for ambulance services and $9.5 million to extend broadband service to more rural households. What towatch: Rural Colorado lawmakers won important victories but didn’t achieve as much as they hoped. Themoney for high-speed internet is a fraction ofwhat advocates say is needed.
A breakthrough on construction defects litigation
Lawmakers in both parties entered the session brimming with optimism that Colorado would tackle litigation rules for defective home construction, something that business leaders say is needed to spur the state’s dormant condo market.
Tempers occasionally flared, but a bipartisan group of lawmakers took a step forward on an issue that’s been a top priority of business groups for years.
House Bill 1279 requires a majority of condo complex homeowners to consent to legal action against a developer for shoddy construction. But the piecemeal approach taken by lawmakers left issues ranging from insurance costs to arbitration unaddressed. What to watch: Advocates say more reforms are needed, but it remains to be seen whether there’s the political will to mount another major push next year — and whether the reforms will work.
It’s all about the budget
It took longer than at any time in the last decade, but Colorado lawmakers approved a $26.8 billion state spending plan just days before leaving town.
Effective July 1, the budget bill increases spending 4 percent and allocates the $11 billion in discretionary money toward pay raises for state employees and moremoney for classrooms.
To reach that point, it took fiscal gymnastics. Colorado budget writers started with a deficit from the current year and faced the prospect of Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refunds when revenues exceeded the state cap. And it took pulling money from other priorities and the elimination of TABOR refunds to make ends meet.
What to watch: Gov. John Hickenlooper has more power than usual on the budget, given the time he received it, but it’s unclear if he will exercise his line-item veto. And budget writers are casting awary eye toward Washington, where federal budget negotiations may only complicate the situation.
Marijuana sparks intense debates
Colorado’s recreational marijuana industry is maturing as it approaches five years of legalization, as evidenced by legislation this session and a willingness of Republicans to advance the cause. The measures that won approval so far this year will allow medical marijuana to treat PTSD and impose tighter limits on home grows.
But at the same time, it’s facing a crisis in confidence as the Trump administration shatters the status quo. The potential for a federal crackdown recast the debate, and lawmakers moved to protect the industry and consumers. The attitude change also contributed to the demise of legislation to allow private pot clubs and delivery by medical marijuana dispensaries.
What to watch: A handful of major bills remain outstanding, including the measure allowing the transfer of recreational pot to medical marijuana to prevent federal seizure if federal authorities opt for tougher enforcement.
Education on the cusp of major change
Before the session, top lawmakers started laying the groundwork for amajor overhaul of how Colorado schools are funded. But with other issues consuming the political air, the effort didn’t make much progress.
In other areas: Budget writers avoided a projected $50 million cut to schools. A GOP-led fight to boost funding to charter schools threatened to engulf both chambers in some late drama before being scuttled. And multiple bipartisan efforts to study school funding failed, though there is one effort left that could pass.
What to watch: Unless a deal is reached on a funding study, the chances that the legislature takes up systemic reforms next session — a gubernatorial election year — look increasingly bleak. Meanwhile, public school advocates are laying the groundwork for a 2018 ballot measure to direct more money to schools
The oil and gas debate flickers, then explodes
Energy issues simmered in the background this year with little movement in one of Colorado’s most entrenched debates. Then a home in Firestone exploded and killed two occupants, and a gas line is to blame.
The incident spurred a last-minute push this session to map oil and gas pipelines in the state and renewed talks about how close homes and schools should be located to active and dormant operations.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the Colorado Energy Office faces an uncertain future. It expires this year unless it is renewed, but the Republican-led Senate wants to revamp the office and a partisan battle is brewing.
What to watch: The last-minute efforts to address the Firestone incident and the bill to reauthorize the energy office may not make it to the finish line.
A renewedf ocus on the opioid epidemic
Colorado’s prescription opioid deaths fell to their lowest levels in 2016, but the rate of heroin overdoses continues to rise. The trend made state lawmakers take note.
This session, lawmakers approved a new $1 million research center for substance abuse, created a medication-assisted treatment pilot programin hard-hit Pueblo and commissioned an interim committee to keep looking for other solutions. The state budget bill also added another $8 million for existing treatment services.
What towatch: The discussion will continue through the summer as lawmakers look at ways to address opioid-related deaths, but the question will return to the costs for the programs.