On Jan. 5, 2020, the Colorado Legislature convened for the second session of the 72nd General Assembly. This year is the second straight year where the Democrats have control over the House, the Senate, and the Governor’s Office. After passing bold bills such as new regulations on the oil and gas industry and free full day kindergarten last year, the Democrats are expected to work through many more issues that they have wanted to legislate for a long time, especially those issues that failed to pass last term.
One of those issues is paid family leave. The original proposal from last year tried to give new parents up to 16 weeks of paid leave. It failed after objections from pro-business groups and the Governor’s Office deemed it to be unpragmatic. When asked about it, Governor Jared Polis said, “From our perspective, any program needs to be actually sound, and be a win for the business community as well as families.” The governor felt that bill did not do enough to help businesses maintain profitability. However, research published by DU last year found that the program would likely save money as “those employers will likely see savings associated with the return of the employee on leave, with fewer dollars spent on hiring and training a new worker.”
Repealing the death penalty will also likely be a hot button issue after it failed last term. Last term’s failure marked the fifth time in 12 years the state has failed to outlaw the death penalty. The bill would decide the fates of Colorado’s three current death row inmates: Sir Mario Owens, Robert Ray and Nathan Dunlap. The last execution to take place in Colorado was that of Gary Lee Davis in 1997.
Additionally, the legislature will be focusing on plans to help improve Colorado’s vaccination rates—some of the lowest in the country—after a bill to formalize the vaccine exemption process failed to pass last year.
Last year, the legislature passed a bill allowing the state to expand healthcare coverage to create a “public option” plan on the state level. In November, the Division of Insurance and the state Department of Health Care Policy and Financing released a report detailing that such a program would lead to “on average, premiums being reduced by 10 percent.” This year, lawmakers need to iron out how it will work so it can launch by their goal of 2022. The program would not be state run like Medicaid and Medicare, but administered through private insurance companies who would have to offer a plan that follows state controlled guidelines, in an effort to reduce health care costs for Coloradans.
The legislature has until May to tackle these complex issues. Additionally, with this year being a contentious election both here in Colorado and nationally, the Democrats will try their best to do as much as possible to sway voters this November.
