Colorado GOP went from #NeverTrump to #NeverAnything

By the time you read this, the first regular session of Colorado’s 72nd General Assembly will (most likely) have adjourned, as we say in the business, sine die. That’s Latin for “without assigning another meeting,” or in further Capitol parlance “time we got the heck out of that awful building for a little while.”

Out of all of the sessions I have observed or participated in since 2007, this will be remembered as one of the most productive, exciting, dramatic, and consequential. Huge, bold policies were advanced, and good ideas that met their fate in Republican kill committees over the past four years finally made their way to the governor’s desk.

There were the unsung victories for bipartisan criminal justice reform, health care bills that really truly will make a difference for regular people, some more help for families facing the opioid crisis, many bills to bolster

economic security for the middle class, campaign finance reform, election modernization, and scores of other wins which would have made headlines if not for the other banner fights that happened this year. And underneath the skirmishes over policy were controversies over process, as lawmakers pulled all-nighters to pass bills up until the session deadline.

As the clock ticks toward midnight, where all the bills that haven’t been acted upon turn into a pumpkin (read: die), each side is beginning to point fingers at one another. Senate Republicans are attempting to blame the majority party for “poor calendar management.” In response, majority Democrats need only to point to dozens of bogus amendments, lengthy, off-topic floor speeches, and actual bumper stickers that the minority produced on taxpayer time and possibly taxpayer dime.

One of those bumper stickers features a photo of Republican Sen. Owen Hill alongside the phrase “that’s a nice bill you have there, it’d be a shame if somebody had it read at length,” referring to Sen. Hill’s favorite obstruction tactic, calling a motion to have the bill read wordfor-word to grind the gears of the legislature to a halt.

Another featured Sen. Bob Gardner, notorious for his loquacious, garrulous verbosity, and his resulting ability to speak at length on any topic for seemingly any amount of time. You kind of have to see it to believe it. Capitol folks refer to it as “Bobbing,” and when Sen. Gardner feels the need to slow things down, he performs an infinite soliloquy until his demands are met.

In fact, Sage Naumann, spokesperson for the Colorado Senate Republican Minority Office said the quiet part out loud to The Colorado Independent, letting us all know who he and his caucus really work for, “our base appreciates the fact that we’re doing everything we can to try to kill these bills,” he says. “Why in the world would we try to put an olive branch out there to say, ‘Let’s talk. Let’s get through this week smoothly?’” Why, indeed.

Despite historic obstruction, look at what got done. Free, fullday kindergarten for every Colorado kid is now the law of the land, that’s a major victory for Gov. Jared Polis, and a massively bipartisan one at that.

The legislature passed nationally-leading climate policy that will chart a course for Colorado to reduce our carbon emissions dramatically to meet the goals of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

They passed a bill to let local communities decide their own fate when it comes to neighborhood drilling and fracking, so Weld County can continue on producing hydrocarbons while places like Broomfield and Adams County who have clashed with unscrupulous energy developers can set safe distances from their neighborhoods for heavy industrial activity.

They passed bills to carefully and honestly assess how Colorado can provide a paid family and medical leave policy for every worker in the state, and another to see how we can provide retirement security for all.

Over the lies and threats of the gun lobby, they passed a bill to give law enforcement the tools to remove weapons from the hands of someone experiencing a mental health crisis, hopefully preventing the next mass shooting.

These are popular, commonsense policies that will make life for the average Coloradan better, and it was made possible by progressives in the House, the Senate, and the governor’s office rolling up their sleeves and delivering on the campaign promises they ran and won on in 2018, despite the tantrums of an insurgent, intransigent, and obstructive minority party.