DENVER – A state-supervised public option for Coloradans seeking health insurance and an ambitious family medical leave proposal headline Democrats’ agenda for the 2020 legislative session starting Wednesday.

Democrats who won control of both chambers in 2018 aim to build on legislation passed last year to extend health care coverage, lower rates and put a spotlight on hospital and prescription drug prices.

Minority Republican leaders are wary of more state involvement in insurance markets and any involvement when it comes to business leave offerings for their employees. Again, they will insist that Colorado’s roads get their fair share of state spending without raising taxes.

Both sides profess a desire to avoid a repeat of a rancorous 2019 session in which Democrats overhauled regulation of the oil and gas industry and passed a “red flag” gun bill designed to remove firearms from people deemed by a court to be a threat to themselves or others.