State lawmakers still have almost 350 bills on their agenda and less than a month left in this year’s legislative session. The House schedule lists dozens of bills that Democrats are trying to tackle each day.
Republicans, however, continue to use delay tactics, one of the minority party's only methods of resistance. This week, they have spoken at length about almost all of the bills on the House floor, even seemingly anodyne measures, causing schedule disruptions, postponed votes, and late nights for lawmakers. Bills that are not addressed by the end of the legislative session are considered dead.
“We will use any tactic we can," Republican House Minority Leader Mike Lynch said. "Unfortunately, or fortunately, one of those is to delay bills. But, you know, I think for the most part, we want these bills to get the attention that they deserve.”
That means preventing the passage of rushed bills, Lynch said. He also hopes the delays will stop Democrats from passing all the bills they have introduced.
The chamber has spent too much time on issues that Lynch said affect only a small number of residents. Local control, taxes and public safety should have been central to the session, he said.
“I don't think the people of Colorado want us to spend two weeks of our 120 days on issues like abortion and guns, that impact a pretty niche part of the state,” Lynch said.
Democratic House Speaker Julie McCluskie said Republican lawmakers are interfering with the priorities Coloradans have voiced at the ballot box.
“I am deeply disappointed with how our colleagues are attempting just to delay the work," McCluskie said. "That is not what Coloradans hired us to do. They hired us to tackle specific challenges they're facing to help see their hopes and dreams, realized through efforts that we here at the legislature carry. I hope they will recognize and certainly hear from people in this state, that there's an expectation that we not be Washington, D.C.”
McCluskie is confident Democrats will get their work done this session. She said Democratic leadership would continue to review House rules that they can impose to limit debate.
Recent delays follow a fragile deal the two parties made last week to keep the schedule moving. Republicans agreed not to have bills read at length and Democrats agreed not to make them work on Sundays.
The deal came after House Democrats invoked Rule 14, a rarely-used provision that limits debate, during a weekend-long Republican filibuster last month over bills that would expand and protect access to reproductive healthcare.
On Thursday, Democratic House Majority Leader Monica Duran used another provision to limit debate on a bill that adds protections against medical debt.
Copyright 2023 KUNC. To see more, visit KUNC. 9(MDEwODI1MTE0MDEzNTk1NjQ4ODc4OTk0Ng004))