Colorado legislature rocked by coronavirus - Western Colorado Alliance for Community Action

As with all of our efforts, it’s difficult to write about our work without acknowledging the nanoscopic beast in the room and how it’s infiltrated every facet of our lives.

Colorado’s government has been at the forefront of addressing the statewide response to the Novel Coronavirus pandemic, and the 2020 Legislative Session has been far from immune to the impact.
This year’s session had just reached the halfway mark on March 7 at about the same time that broad concern began to set in and toilet paper was disappearing off the shelves. On March 14, legislators made the unprecedented decision to adjourn the legislative session, and by March 16, the Colorado Capitol was closed with the intention to resume as soon as it was safe.

Legislators took these necessary steps with one big question hanging in the hallways as they shut the doors — would they be allowed to resume the legislative session later this year?

The question wasn’t a matter of waiting out the virus, but rather a legal concern that the 120-day limit for the 2020 session was consecutive from the start date of January 8, which would end the session on May 6 regardless of whether their work was finished. To answer this concern, the legislature went to the Colorado Supreme Court.

On April 1, the Colorado Supreme Court came to a decision that the legislature can indeed hit the pause button and reconvene at a later point during the year. This means the legislature can view the 120-day limit on session as calendar days and not consecutive days, giving them roughly 50 days left in 2020. Lawmakers have decided to reconvene the full legislative body on May 18, and get a jump start on the budget on May 12. Between now and then, they will need to figure contingencies including remote testimony for members and citizens, remote voting, and other mixed conditions. So the road ahead is still a rocky one.

So where did we leave off? By the adjournment date of March 14, six of the 54 bills that the Western Colorado Alliance legislative committee was tracking had passed. This includes HB20-1225, a bipartisan bill sponsored by West Slope lawmakers that serves as a statement of rights to fair battery pricing allowing the PUC to referee any disputes between suppliers and co-ops or municipalities.

SB20-014 also passed, allowing students in public school to take excused absences for mental health days in addition to sick days.

Our top priority bills revolving around single-use plastic bans still hang in limbo, along with hundreds of other bills waiting to be determined.

The #1 priority when the legislature reconvenes will obviously be the state budget. In a normal year, the Joint Budget Committee spends the better part of six months building the annual state budget in the fall and winter. Passing this legislation is a lengthy process, and typically the House and the Senate devote a full week during session each year. The budget has been growing steadily in Colorado over the past decade, topping $30 Billion dollars in the 2019-2020 budget year.

The most recent budget forecast now estimates the $800 million increase previously projected for the 2020-2021 budget year has been reduced to $25 million due to the pandemic response. This was attributed to projected shortfalls due to the stoppage of business and tourism travel to and from the state, 20+ year low oil prices, and various other economically detrimental effects of the coronavirus shutdown.

Essentially, the state could be pushed to its financial brink, and no one can reasonably predict the outcome.

While we wait for our state legislature to return to work, and ultimately for the virus to subside, many of our members have turned their attention closer to home. Our affiliate groups in Western Colorado Alliance are following our local governments’ responses to COVID-19 working to help inform actions that will benefit at-risk populations in our communities.
And West Slope Youth Vote students are connecting students and adults alike to the work of our local municipalities by hosting interviews with local elected officials and asking questions generated by their peers.

Despite the upheaval created by COVID-19, Western Colorado Alliance does have something to celebrate. Just two months ago at the end of February, we took our largest group ever of 31 lobby trip attendees to the Capitol. Among our attendees were ten students representing the West Slope Youth Vote program who shone in their professionalism and knowledge about the bills they were advocating on behalf of, and who were passionate about sharing their personal stories.

Our presence was recognized as we held numerous meetings around the Capitol and powerfully elevated our collective Western Slope voices with our elected leaders.

We appreciate the close communication our legislative liaison Sol Malick has had with us as we navigate these unprecedented times, and hope that our next legislative article will ring informative with a slew of new updates. For more information, you can contact me by email at jeriel@westerncoloradoalliance.org.

About the author

Jeriel Clark

Jeriel joined the Western Colorado Alliance staff in February 2017 (back when we were still Western Colorado Congress), but you may remember her as our Canvass Director for the successful Minimum Wage ballot initiative in 2016! In her young career, Jeriel has worked with engaged citizens across Colorado on issues ranging from veterans' affairs, healthcare and women’s rights. Jeriel has called Grand Junction and the Western Slope home for 16 years, and enjoys running, hiking, biking and crafting with her daughter Emma.