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Final days

Legislative session’s end approaches with a full plate remaining

The 2015 Colorado Legislature has delivered the predictable partisan bickering that split control often engenders. With Democrats in charge of the House of Representatives and Republicans controlling the Senate, there were plenty of measures that gained traction in one chamber only to be quickly snuffed out in the other. That dynamic allowed for position-staking without impacting policy in particularly divisive manner, and those measures that have made their way to Gov. John Hickenlooper’s desk, thus far, are largely well-vetted, thoroughly debated and representative of the shared values embraced by Coloradans and their elected state legislators. In the days that remain, lawmakers have a packed agenda – with large issues still looming in the wings.

The momentum established this session suggests that no bills embodying the outermost positions of either party have much hope of meaningful progress. Instead, the Legislature should focus its remaining time and energy on those that will do the most to set Colorado on a course that remedies some of its vexing challenges. It has the track record in this session to do so, having passed a bipartisan $26.4 billion budget – the most telling feat of a legislative body – and numerous measures that are appropriate reflections of the state’s needs and concerns: powdered alcohol use, sale and possession were banned; tele-health consultations with doctors were protected as covered services under health plans; the state’s health-insurance exchange will be audited to determine its effectiveness.

The action that remains must be similarly oriented to the practical. In its final days, the Legislature must address the school-testing concerns that have parents, teachers, administrators and lawmakers who value testing variously along a spectrum ranging from not at all to very much. State-testing mechanisms may leave something to be desired, but assessing student progress is key to measuring schools’ effectiveness, and legislators must bear that in mind when voting on measures that would put the state at odds with federal requirements. Public education requires accountability, pure and simple.

Lawmakers will have the opportunity to refer to voters a measure that would allow the state to keep $58 million in marijuana sales-tax money that was gathered in excess of the revenue cap set by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. They should do so. The money will hardly fill all the holes in the state’s budget, but it could be used effectively toward school construction or youth prevention programs. It should not be rebated to marijuana purchasers. The Legislature will also discuss a referendum that would ask voters to extend a state-transportation bond, generating $3.5 billion for road projects over 20 years. That is big money requiring detailed accounting of where it would flow. The conversation is worth having.

The Legislature should, in its remaining time, pass Rep. Don Coram’s long-acting, reversible contraception bill that would extend state funding to a program proven to reduce teen pregnancy and abortion rates. It should also consider Gov. Hickenlooper’s challenge to find a way of repaying the state severance tax for the money used from that fund to balance the recently approved budget. There is also an opportunity, however fleeting, to address some of the recommendations – majority and minority – from the governor’s gas and oil task force. The issues that prompted its formation – local vs. state oversight of gas and oil activity – remain a concern that need clarification. There is little time left in the legislative session, but it is sufficient to make a significant impact for Colorado.



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