Transportation, PERA among five huge issues Colorado lawmakers face in session’s final 10 days
The 120-day Colorado legislative session ends May 9 with transportation, PERA and civil rights commission remain unresolved
April 30, 2018
State Sen. Kerry Donovan, D-Vail, watches as Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, speaks passionately about the right to dig holes and remove roots, while addressing SB18-167 (enforce requirements to call 811 to locate underground facilities) before a vote at the Colorado state Capitol on Thursday, April 26, 2018. The legislative session will come to a close on May 9, 2018.
This session, more so than most years, Colorado lawmakers saved the best for last.
With 10 days left in the 2018 session when lawmakers return Monday, the most significant pieces of legislation remain unresolved because of partisan differences — and the decisions to come will affect everyone in the state.
The General Assembly's to-do list includes: a measure to stabilize the crippled state pension system that covers 1 in 10 Coloradans; an effort to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into improving the state's roads and highways; the renewal of a commission tasked with defending civil rights; two ballot measures that revamp how political districts are drawn; and more.
At the same time, Democrats in the state Senate are again pushing to expel a Republican lawmaker for harassment after new credible allegations surface. The Democrats' action amplifies the partisan tension in the Capitol.
House Speaker Crisanta Duran, D-Denver, downplayed concerns that lawmakers won't finish their work, but she acknowledged that the "legislative session has been pretty intense from the beginning, … and it will be intense until the end."
