{"id":48412,"date":"2021-02-22T21:23:29","date_gmt":"2021-02-23T04:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-capitol-hallways-have-emptied-putting-ice-on-some-dealmaking\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:42:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:42:44","slug":"colorado-capitol-hallways-have-emptied-putting-ice-on-some-dealmaking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-capitol-hallways-have-emptied-putting-ice-on-some-dealmaking\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado capitol hallways have emptied, putting ice on some dealmaking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Caution
Caution tape is draped around what\u2019s normally a busy cafeteria at the Colorado Capitol.<\/span>Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The normally bustling-with-activity basement cafeteria is draped in caution tape. The lobbies outside the House and Senate chambers, where spittle flies and influence peddlers jostle for a view of lawmakers, are closed. Railings in the Colorado Capitol corridors, where real estate can be hard to come by because they are lined with lobbyists, are mostly empty.<\/p>\n

Coronavirus has, at the very least, relocated statehouse dealmaking.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers, legislative staff members and journalists were granted access to COVID-19 vaccines ahead of the resumption of the 2020 lawmaking term Feb. 16. Lobbyists were not. As a result, many of them are trying to limit their time in the once-bustling statehouse, even if there is nothing stopping them from being in the building.<\/p>\n

That means informal conversations and \u201cdo-you-have-a-minute\u201d meetings, where a lot of important policies get ironed out, will likely happen infrequently this year. And lobbyists, while sometimes reviled for their role representing special interests and deep-pocketed clients, often have more policy expertise and experience at the Capitol than Colorado\u2019s part-time lawmakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way that problems get solved at the Capitol is you bump into the other side in the hallway and you get talking,\u201d said Scott Wasserman, who runs the Bell Policy Center, a liberal economic advocacy and research organization. \u201cI really worry about the lack of casual, informal back-and-forth. It\u2019s going to make the sausage-making really difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most powerful people at the statehouse this year will be those with a coronavirus vaccination and a deep Rolodex. \u201cThe people who have the upper hand are the people who have these legislators\u2019 cellphone (numbers),\u201d said Hannah Collazo, who runs Environment Colorado and plans to avoid the Capitol as much as possible this year out of health concerns.<\/p>\n

\"Lobbyists
Lobbyists gather in the room immediately outside the doors to the state House chamber at the Colorado Capitol early in the 2020 legislative session. The space has been closed because of the pandemic.<\/span>Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Many fear that the pandemic will only intensify the power dynamics at the Capitol and deepen ideological divides. More than $40 million was spent on lobbying during the 2020 legislative session in Colorado, and at stake this year are hundreds of millions of dollars in stimulus spending, a potential transportation package and an overhaul of the state\u2019s health care system.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to mention the effects COVID-19 may have on the public\u2019s ability to engage.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t like what someone has to say? Just ignore their text or call because they probably won\u2019t show up in person to corner you.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it really does is it further enhances the power of those who have it and weakens those who don\u2019t even more,\u201d said Greg Brophy, a Republican former state senator who now works as a lobbyist.<\/p>\n

\"A
A sign blocking off seating in the Colorado Capitol on Feb. 16.<\/span>Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

State lawmakers are aware of the access problems lobbyists and members of the public will have this year, but they\u2019re mostly brushing off the concerns and chalking them up to the myriad changes people have had to endure during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m empathetic to what they\u2019re talking about, but I think every single person is adjusting to this new normal and I just think that there are creative ways that we can still connect,\u201d said House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo. \u201cWe\u2019re not saying they can\u2019t come into the building, we\u2019re just putting in a lot of safety precautions to keep people safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder, said he thinks lobbyists will still have their voices heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they have a point. But, then again, I don\u2019t feel like the lobbyists are having trouble getting a hold of me right now,\u201d he said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel to me like they are just sitting at home and just wondering what\u2019s happening. They\u2019re still very engaged. That\u2019s their job. They know how to get a hold of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Sandra Hagen Solin, head of the Capitol Solutions lobbying firm, said she found it nearly impossible to effectively get in touch with lawmakers without being in the building during last year\u2019s brief pandemic lawmaking term and a subsequent special session in December.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had made attempts to interact with legislators by text and email,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s just time lag. They were certainly receptive, but there was sometimes \u2013 often times \u2013 a delay. Time is of the essence in the legislative process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loren Furman, who has lobbied at the Colorado Capitol for 21 sessions, said off-the-cuff gatherings are \u201chow the work gets done.\u201d She can\u2019t remember a year where such meetings didn\u2019t play an important role in crafting legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can get an awful lot done in the hallways here,\u201d said Rep. Chris Kennedy, D-Lakewood.<\/p>\n

\"Lobbyists
Lobbyists gather outside of the Colorado Senate chambers on April. 30, 2019. This was a typical Colorado Capitol scene before the pandemic.<\/span>Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Furman, too, found that lobbying from afar wasn\u2019t effective enough. She ended up abandoning her plans to work from home last year when a bill eliminating tax breaks for businesses was rushed through at the end of the 2020 lawmaking term. Being at the Capitol in person was the only way to do her job.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to have that interaction,\u201d said Furman, who represents the Colorado Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n

Rep. Matt Soper, R-Delta, says lawmakers often rely on the deep well of policy knowledge that lobbyists have, which makes up for the limited resources provided to state legislators.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally, it\u2019s just us and then a part-time aide for the session,\u201d Soper said. \u201cIt\u2019s not like we have a vast, professional staff like Congress. So the lobby does become that institutional knowledge. If they\u2019re not in the hallway and they\u2019re not able to connect with us easily, it certainly frustrates the lawmaking process.\u201d<\/p>\n

State lawmakers in Colorado are term-limited \u2013 eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate. Some lobbyists, like Furman, have been in the building much longer than the average statehouse politician.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was an aide here in 2005,\u201d Soper said. \u201cI\u2019d say 60% of the lobby is the same as (it was in) 2005.\u201d<\/p>\n

And this year there won\u2019t be much time wasted at the Capitol, meaning it will be hard for lobbyists and members of the public to stay away if they want to influence legislation.<\/p>\n

\"A
A sign blocking off the Colorado House lobby on Feb. 16. The area would be packed with lobbyists and constituents before the pandemic.<\/span>Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Democratic leadership says there won\u2019t be the normal slow-walk into the lawmaking term. Between coronavirus stimulus and tackling legislation that was left on the cutting room floor last year when COVID-19 arrived in Colorado, there isn\u2019t time to waste.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to sort of, like, slowly heat up the legislative machine like you normally do,\u201d Fenberg said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to hit the ground running.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Legislature gaveled in for the 2021 legislative session in January, but then took a monthlong break in the hope that the pandemic would ease. Normally, the first month of the lawmaking term is spent negotiating and putting final touches on measures. This year, legislators unofficially used the month off to do that work.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s also making lobbying more difficult because finalized bills are being introduced before interest groups have a chance to provide feedback on them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey continued to be hidden from public view,\u201d Brophy said. \u201cBut people are still working on those and cutting deals and none of it is transparent at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Members of the public may also have more difficulty accessing the lawmaking process this year. They are allowed in the Capitol, but in-person interactions are being discouraged. One of the first measures the Legislature passed this year was to enhance remote testimony, but Capitol insiders say there\u2019s nothing quite like a constituent looking a lawmaker in the eye and asking them to vote for or against a bill.<\/p>\n

Soper remembers when scores of people showed up to testify on legislation around increasing the state\u2019s school vaccination rates, tightening gun-control legislation and changing the state\u2019s sexual education curriculum.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s very impactful,\u201d he said of the masses of people coming to have their voices heard. \u201cThat\u2019s something that I as a legislator definitely take into consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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