BAYFIELD – The future of Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, the state Legislature’s persistent pursuit of prohibitive gun bills and upcoming priorities for elected officials were on the minds of Bayfield residents on Saturday at a Legislative Lowdown featuring Rep. Katie Stewart (D-House District 59) and Sen. Cleave Simpson (R-Senate District 6).
The Legislative Lowdown was held at the Pine River Library in Bayfield and was organized by the League of Women Voters of La Plata County.
Simpson and Stewart recapped what they were up to during the latest regular session, mentioning Colorado’s $1.2 billion budget deficit – the first shortfall the state has faced during Simpson’s tenure in the Senate, he said – and discussed the possibility of a special session being triggered.
Simpson said people shouldn’t be surprised if the Legislature reconvenes for a special session to address two issues: Medicaid and artificial intelligence.
He said it could be necessary for the Legislature to discuss how the state deals with Medicaid, depending on what the federal government does to Medicaid.
The Associated Press reported on Monday U.S. House Republicans unveiled a plan for “$880 billion in cuts largely to Medicaid to help cover the cost of $4.5 trillion in tax breaks,” which Democrats say will kick millions of people off Medicaid.
It might also be necessary for the state Legislature to reconvene in a special session to address issues with a bill regulating AI that has been signed into law but does not take effect until Jan. 1, 2026, Simpson said.
Attendees were invited to submit written questions event moderator Kathleen Wells posed to Stewart and Simpson.
She asked about TABOR’s future.
Stewart said she held a roundtable about TABOR that was “very well attended” and she’s heard from some constituents who want to keep TABOR in place and to have that option on the ballot and others who believe TABOR has negatively impacted Colorado’s budget and how education is funded.
“We need to keep having a conversation about TABOR and work to come to consensus as the state of Colorado of how to move forward and what that looks like,” she said. “I do want to honor the fact that it was voted on in 1992 and put in the state Constitution. But I also think there are a lot of unintended consequences of TABOR and how that impacts our local communities.”
She said TABOR has damaged education in Colorado; the state has borrowed $10 billion from education since the 2008 recession, and Colorado has fell among the lowest ranked states in education.
Simpson said TABOR is doing precisely what voters intended it to do in 1992, and that is to limit the government’s growth. The government should prioritize its spending on the most important matters.
Another attendee asked why the state keeps trying to pass gun laws “that only law-abiding citizens will follow.”
Stewart said she agrees with people who want an end to the state trying to invent new regulations for firearms. Gun violence is a real issue, but it needs to be addressed at the national level, and gun bills considered by the state Legislature don’t fit in House District 59.
Simpson said legislators who are introducing gun bills have good intentions and their hearts are in the right place for trying to reduce gun violence. But the bills proposed aren’t going to accomplish prevention of gun violence.
He said criminals won’t abide by gun laws and the bills explored by the Legislature are just wrapping responsible gun owners up in the conversation about gun violence.
cburney@durangoherald.com
