When Democratic members of the Colorado House of Representatives met virtually Thursday to discuss an upcoming special legislative session, the frustration among some of them was on full display.

“I feel like this still continues to be a very top-down sort of process,” said. Rep. Steven Woodrow from Denver. 

“Nothing like being held hostage,” said Rep. Sheila Lieder from Littleton.

“I feel very much left in the dark about what’s going on,” said Rep. Tammy Story, of Evergreen. 

House Speaker Julie McCluskie, of Dillon, led the meeting, fielding questions about the process and expressing her own distaste for the circumstances.

“I had hoped and tried to avoid a special session. I believed there was a path forward that would not have involved this,” McCluskie said, “but this is where we are.”

Lawmakers will return to the Capitol on Monday after Gov. Jared Polis called them back to discuss the state’s property taxes ahead of the November election. Two initiatives set to appear on the ballot would slash property taxes in Colorado, something state budget forecasters have said could put them in recession-like financial straits. If approved, initiatives 50 and 108 could significantly decrease funding for schools and local districts such as fire departments. 

But the supporters of those measures, Advance Colorado and Colorado Concern, have said they will withdraw the measures if the legislature approves more property tax cuts. The organizations have already met with Polis’ office and some lawmakers and produced a framework for a compromise. 

That compromise, which builds off a bipartisan bill passed earlier this year, was presented to the state’s Property Tax Commission last week. It was also discussed in the Zoom meeting on Thursday. 

The deal proposes a relatively modest increase in the property tax cuts from the earlier-passed Senate Bill 233 and a slightly stronger limit on tax growth. SB 233 promised to cut property taxes by an estimated $1.3 billion per year. The new deal adds an additional $260 million to those cuts. 

Lawmakers have expressed frustration over the way the deal was developed among only a few people before it could be considered by the full 100-person legislature. Proponents of the ballot initiatives have also threatened that the deal is off if any other bills are approved during the session that they see as damaging property tax negotiations in the future. 

Democrats have floated the idea of introducing a bill during the special session that would allow voters to decide if property taxes should be decided at the local level in the future. Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, a Brighton Republican who has been part of the property tax negotiations, said that idea would violate the current deal.

But Thursday, some House members complained the process isn’t a true deliberation if certain ideas can’t even be considered during the special session. McCluskie responded that she hopes they can still discuss those ideas and asked lawmakers to share their bill ideas as soon as possible.

“Are we going to talk about those in committee? Absolutely. Are we going to talk about those in stakeholding meetings? Yes. And then are we going to talk about them on the floor? Yes. I’m committed to making sure that voices are heard right now,” she said. 

Some lawmakers have also complained that they shouldn’t be negotiating with groups that have proposed such aggressive measures, comparing it to being held hostage and arguing it encourages these tactics in the future.

“Next time, and there will be a next time … the gun that’s currently to our temple will be a rocket launcher,” Woodrow said. 

Democrats have a supermajority in the House and have a near supermajority in the Senate. Polis is also a Democrat. 

Property taxes have been a battle in state politics since 2020 when voters repealed the Gallagher Amendment, a set ratio for commercial and residential tax rates that prevented taxes from growing too quickly. Soon after its repeal, property values soared in the state. 

McCluskie said a bill draft of the compromise struck with Advance Colorado and Colorado Concern will be posted on the General Assembly website once it is available. 

Lawmakers will meet for at least three days to consider that bill and any others that are introduced.