{"id":89476,"date":"2020-04-08T22:24:40","date_gmt":"2020-04-09T04:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-lawmakers-set-date-for-return-hoping-the-worst-will-pass\/"},"modified":"2020-04-08T22:24:40","modified_gmt":"2020-04-09T04:24:40","slug":"colorado-lawmakers-set-date-for-return-hoping-the-worst-will-pass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-lawmakers-set-date-for-return-hoping-the-worst-will-pass\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado lawmakers set date for return, hoping the worst will pass"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Colorado
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis delivers his second State of the State address in the House chambers at the state Capitol on Jan. 9, 2020.<\/span>Kathryn Scott\/Special to The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The General Assembly tentatively plans to resume the legislative session May 18 after a two-month hiatus amid the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

The Democratic leadership set the date during a meeting Wednesday at the closed state Capitol<\/a> but suggested it may change depending on the status of the public health crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep in mind, a lot could change between now and then, and I think it\u2019s important that we remain flexible and pay very close attention to where we are in regards to the risks to public health,\u201d said House Majority Leader Alec Garnett, D-Denver.<\/p>\n

The Executive Committee of the Legislative Council, which includes the top-ranking lawmakers in each chamber, spoke in muffled tones through face masks, sitting at least 6 feet apart at the front of a mostly empty room.<\/p>\n

The statewide stay-at-home order issued by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis runs through at least April 26, but doesn\u2019t apply to the legislative branch.<\/p>\n\n

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended the cancellation of gatherings<\/a> with 50 or more people through May 10.<\/p>\n

The legislature temporarily adjourned March 14 as the spread of the COVID-19 disease began to accelerate, and it set a return date of March 30, only to indefinitely extend the break. A subsequent Colorado Supreme Court ruling gave the legislature flexibility to extend the session beyond the original May 6 adjournment date because of the ongoing threats to public health.<\/p>\n

Legislative leaders are discussing whether to hold remote hearings, but obstacles remain to make them accessible for lawmakers and inclusive to the public. Furthermore, it would require a legislative rule change by a two-thirds vote, meaning lawmakers would need to return to the Capitol.<\/p>\n

The new timeline offered by legislative leaders would allow the budget committee to return the week of May 11 and finalize the $32 billion spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Republican leaders did not voice objections to the dates.<\/p>\n

The must-pass budget remains the largest obstacle. The March economic forecast suggested lawmakers will need to cut spending to address a $1.5 billion decline in state revenue over the next three years related to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

House Speaker KC Becker, D-Boulder, estimates the budget hole is closer to $2 billion or more, and lawmakers have requested an updated fiscal forecast for when the Joint Budget Committee restarts its work in May.<\/p>\n

The legislature expects to send the budget to the governor by May 30, if not sooner.<\/p>\n

Even as leaders set a date to resume, it remains unclear when the session might end. Each lawmaking term is 120 days, but 52 days remain, meaning it could extend into July.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, journalist-owned news outlet exploring issues of statewide interest. Sign up for a newsletter and read more at coloradosun.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Suspended session will resume May 18; budget writers will get started sooner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":89478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[394,233,685,13,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-89476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado-legislature","tag-coloradosun-com","tag-coronavirus-covid-19","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89476"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=89476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}