Colorado’s 2024 legislative session adjourned this week. While the lawmaking term was once again marked by last-minute work on high-profile issues, the celebratory and collegial final days were in stark contrast to the tense final days of last year’s session, which saw Republican walkouts and Democratic infighting.
“Whether it's housing, affordability, transit, water, education, and all of the other fascinating, important policy issues we entertained, this was a breakthrough session for Colorado,” House Speaker Julie McCluskie said. “I cannot tell you how proud I am of Democrats and Republicans alike who showed up to deliver on the promises that they made to Coloradans in ways that were bipartisan.”
This year wasn’t without its political drama, though. Ideological differences between Democratic and Republican lawmakers, and within their respective caucuses, continued to fuel heated debates over some of Colorado’s most significant issues. The Democratic majority was ultimately able to pass legislation around issues like housing affordability, gun control and substance use along party lines.
Personal attacks between lawmakers on social media also boiled over into the legislature at times, and multiple scandals caused by lawmakers’ drinking habits created further disruptions. Rep. Mike Lynch was ousted as the House Minority Leader in January after The Denver Post reported on his 2022 DUI arrest. Then, last month, Democratic Sen. Faith Winter sought treatment for her alcohol use after she appeared drunk at a Northglenn City Council meeting. She returned to work a week later.
The partisan divide did, however, give way to rare moments of bipartisanship this year. Some of this year’s biggest breakthroughs came because lawmakers made compromises around contentious but high-priority policies.
Grand compromises
One of the biggest bipartisan breakthroughs reformed the state formula for public school funding for the first time in 30 years. The reform will provide more funding for schools that serve students in poverty, those with special education needs, English-language learners and in rural communities.
“We made it about students instead of systems,” Republican Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen said. “If you are a student who's learning the English language, or if you are a student who comes from an at-risk environment, we should acknowledge that and we should fund based on the characteristics of the students.”
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Other late-session deals on oil and gas regulations and property tax relief also resulted in some of the most significant legislation of the session.
The deals were only finalized in the last weeks of the session. Unlike last year when Republicans criticized last-minute bills, but this year they signed on to the late-session school finance formula and property tax relief measure, and raised only minimal objections to the oil and gas bills. They said the late session bills this year are different because, unlike last year's, they have been developed over the course of many months, with some a continuation of discussions that started last session.
“For seniors, for younger new homeowners who are just starting their family, and for hardworking, taxpaying Coloradans, this will make a difference,” Republican Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer said. “Unlike deals in the past several years, this will provide a long term, permanent solution, and will be simple and easy to understand.”
The compromises were also examples of efforts from lawmakers and Gov. Polis to avoid costly fights over ballot measures in November, and how the threat of ballot measures is being used by powerful groups to influence the legislative process. Conservative groups are putting forward initiatives to cut taxes without making up for potential losses in funding for local services. The fossil fuel industry was preparing initiatives to curtail the state’s ability to regulate oil and gas usage, but has agreed to hold off as part of the legislative deal.
Lawmakers and public stakeholders also reached deals on an income tax reduction and on rules around medical malpractice lawsuits. The deals marked big wins for Gov. Polis and the Democratic caucus, along with other victories, especially on housing, transportation and education.
“Unless you have real buy-in, those solutions won't last. They might not be durable,” Senate President Steve Fenberg, who is term-limited this year and leaving the legislature, said “The way you accomplish things matters. Getting to know your colleagues, examining why they view issues the way they do. Trying to find an understanding is at the heart of the process. That's where the magic happens.”
Housing and transportation
Last year, a Polis-backed land-use proposal failed in the last moments of the lawmaking term, handing the governor and Democratic lawmakers a major defeat. Some Democrats, all Republicans and most local governments opposed the proposal.
This year’s housing legislation was similarly a top priority for the Democratic majority and focused on some of the same ideas as last year’s proposals, with some differences that were key to getting it across the finish line. Last year’s sweeping bill was broken down into some of its component parts - mainly those focused on transit-oriented housing and accessory dwelling units, or ADUs.
“Of the six general assemblies that I've served as governor on, this has been, by magnitude of achievement in area after area, the most significant by far,” Gov. Polis said. “We know the high cost of housing is top of mind for Coloradans across our state. Ninety five percent of Coloradans, all political parties, all backgrounds, all parts of our state, agree that the cost of housing is too high. And I'm proud to say that together, we're breaking down barriers to housing.”
The flagship housing bill this year will increase density around public transportation in areas of the state with large populations, mostly in Front Range communities along the I-25 corridor as well as some in the Grand Junction area. It was a paired-back version of provisions from last year that would have changed zoning rules across the state to increase housing density.
Although it passed, the measure faced opposition from Republicans and some Democrats. For example, Democratic Sen. Joann Ginal from Fort Collins said her city should be able to make land-use decisions for itself.
“It’s too much, too fast,” Ginal said. “As far as affordable housing with this bill, it does mandate huge increases in market rate, and that means that’s not affordable—that’s expensive housing.”
This year’s measure also leaned in to a connection between housing affordability and transportation and narrowed the scope of legislation to focus on densely populated transit corridors.
At the same time, lawmakers also focused on several measures to help develop public transportation. Lawmakers made major investments this year in a future passenger rail service along the Front Range as well as connecting bus and RTD services. Several different measures will generate funding for a future train from Pueblo to Fort Collins.
One piece of that funding will come out of the compromise on oil and gas regulations. The state will impose a new fee on barrels of oil produced in Colorado that will go directly to funding a Front Range passenger rail. Another bill directs the state to match federal funding available for rail service.
Only a few measures impact renters. One adds protections for tenants from arbitrary lease cancellations and another will provide a new tax credit for renters.
Other victories—and defeats
The Democratic majority was able to pass a slew of other victories this year, including several gun control measures.
One of the bills will prohibit guns in so-called “sensitive spaces” like schools, hospitals, churches, recreation centers and others. Government buildings are also on the list, including the State Capitol, where a number of lawmakers currently carry firearms. At present, the only legally gun-free zones in Colorado are polling places.
Other gun control bills increase requirements around safe gun storage in a vehicle and create a specific merchant code for firearms that will allow sales to be tracked more thoroughly. A controversial ban on so-called assault weapons was rejected with days left in the session. A similar bill was also rejected last year.
The Democratic majority also focused some legislation on racial inequities. A bill backed by the legislature's Black Caucus will launch an official study through the state’s historical society, History Colorado, to examine racial disparities in a variety of areas like education, housing, incarceration and health care. Other bills zeroed in on maternal and infant health and mortality disparities. Mothers and babies of color have higher rates of mortality than their white counterparts.
“We can show why we see the disproportionality that we see now,” Assistant House Majority Leader Jennifer Bacon said earlier this year. “I'm interested in the data that says, ‘This is what happens when you redline communities. This is what happens when you limit resources into segregated neighborhoods.'”
Lawmakers also passed a slew of new financial supports available for Coloradans. They include tax credits for low-income earners, families with children and seniors, and funding for organizations that serve migrants coming from the U.S.-Mexico border.
Democrats did suffer some big defeats. Like the failed assault weapons ban, a bill was rejected for the second year in a row that would have legalized overdose prevention centers, or so-called safe-use sites, which are facilities that give people using illicit drugs a designated place to do so under the supervision of health care professionals to help avoid deadly overdoses.
Other defeats included a bill that would increase accountability for police officer misconduct, a fee on alcohol manufacturers to fund substance use services, reforms to Colorado’s construction defect laws, and an amendment to the state constitution to support adult victims of childhood sexual assault.
