What a difference a year makes. Last year’s meeting of Colorado’s General Assembly ended acrimoniously and was followed by a series of recall votes. This year’s got some good work done and ended on a relatively high note.
Credit for that goes to the economy and an improved spirit of cooperation. Legislating is always easier with money to spend and slim majorities almost require working together. Although they had a more substantial margin in the House, Democrats controlled the state Senate by only one vote. And with that, they brought little of the controversial agenda with which they began last year.
In 2013, GOP legislators ended the session grumbling about a “war on rural Colorado.” This year saw the creation of an aerial firefighting fleet, the passage of a bill to boost rural broadband and a start at fixing the states’s emergency radio system.
That last was the work of state Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, who had a largely successful session. She also started a bit of a brouhaha with a bill that would have limited lawn sizes in new suburban developments. That ran into fierce opposition and ended up morphing into a study, but with it, Roberts got people talking about water in a new way.
She also got the Legislature involved in the Colorado Water Plan talks engineered by Gov. John Hickenlooper. Members of both parties had complained about being excluded. Roberts’ bill would have given the Legislature veto power over the plan. That was cut back – but left the Legislature a role.
As she put it, “We had to crash the party, but we are now at the table.” That legislative involvement should give whatever is worked out greater legitimacy and a better chance of public acceptance.
Her House counterpart, state Rep. Mike McLachlan, D-Durango, had a good year as well. He was a sponsor of Senate Bill 1, which limits state college tuition increases to a maximum of 6 percent per year – and increases college funding by $100 million. With that, he says Fort Lewis College and Gunnison’s Western State Colorado University should each see an additional $1 million.
He was also was instrumental in getting funding for FLC to rebuild its science building, an on-again/off-again proposition throughout the session. In the end, not only was the money there, but also its delivery was moved up so as to allow construction to begin this summer.
Some good work was done on the freedom of information front as well. Foremost was the passage of HB 1193, which set statewide limits on what state and local governments can charge to research and compile records covered by the Colorado Open Records Act – $30 per hour with the first hour free. A 2013 study found that rates being charged were “all over the map.”
The Legislature acted quickly after a judge dismissed an open meetings lawsuit brought against the city of Aurora by a man who said the city council there had illegally voted with a secret ballot. The judge ruled the man could not prove he had been personally harmed. With HB 1390, the Legislature made it clear anyone has the legal standing to challenge violations of the Open Meetings Law.
Shortcomings include the Legislature’s failure to strengthen the state’s journalist shield law and its inability to pass a bill requiring school boards to record executive sessions. Another failure was the defeat of a bill to open the records of private associations made up primarily of elected officials.
There are always hits and misses, but this year saw more wins than recent years. And a better mood as well.
