{"id":90206,"date":"2020-03-12T19:30:29","date_gmt":"2020-03-13T01:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-capitol-shutdown-imminent-as-lawmakers-prepare-legislation\/"},"modified":"2020-03-12T19:30:29","modified_gmt":"2020-03-13T01:30:29","slug":"colorado-capitol-shutdown-imminent-as-lawmakers-prepare-legislation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-capitol-shutdown-imminent-as-lawmakers-prepare-legislation\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Capitol shutdown imminent as lawmakers prepare legislation"},"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. The legislature signaled Thursday that it might shut down.<\/span>Kathryn Scott\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In the clearest sign yet that the Colorado legislature is nearing a temporary shutdown in response to the new coronavirus, top lawmakers on Thursday rushed toward votes on legislation they say must pass before a recess.<\/p>\n

The stoppage, which legislative leaders say is imminent, could come as soon as this weekend after the General Assembly ties off loose ends.<\/p>\n

A new bill introduced Thursday afternoon will allow the state\u2019s political parties to delay assemblies and conventions \u2014 scheduled to begin Saturday \u2014 because of the coronavirus. The measure also gives them leeway to consider remote voting methods in order to avoid convening large crowds with populations vulnerable to COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.<\/p>\n

The House plans to rush the measure \u2014 House Bill 1359 \u2014 through its first two votes hours after introduction on Thursday afternoon and allow for final passage in the Senate as soon as Saturday. Leadership says it must pass before they break.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are on the fastest track that we can be,\u201d House Majority Leader Alec Garnett, a Denver Democrat, told reporters. \u201cThis isn\u2019t like just canceling school or canceling an event. We have to make sure we are thinking through the bills that we must pass and we are thinking through what we must do to go into recess. We\u2019re in the process of just getting our house in order.\u201d<\/p>\n

The major outstanding item is the state budget \u2014 the only bill that lawmakers are required by the state constitution to approve each year \u2014 but lawmakers have until the end of June to finalize it. The legislative budget bill is separate and nearing approval, and leaders are considering whether to add provisions to continue paying themselves and staffers who are put out of work because of the stoppage.<\/p>\n

Any recess is expected to be temporary, said House Speaker KC Becker, a Boulder Democrat, but it\u2019s not clear when the legislature would return and pick back up the work. To keep the budget on track, the leadership is discussing whether to allow the Joint Budget Committee to continue work even while other lawmaking is halted.<\/p>\n

The rapidly changing situation prompted anxiety at the Capitol on Thursday, where lawmakers were told to be flexible but also to stay calm amid the uncertainty. The day began with Democrats gathering in a hastily organized, meant-to-be-secret meeting where Becker urged calm and excoriated her members for spreading rumors to the press about the virus and a potential Capitol shutdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is helpful if people don\u2019t spread rumors,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause I keep having people come to me saying \u2018I hear this,\u2019 \u2018I hear that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In a matter of days the question of whether to continue the legislative session has gone from wait-and-see to a frenzy of closed-door meetings and action, mimicking the coronavirus\u2019 rapid spread and the pressure it\u2019s putting on state government.<\/p>\n

The virus had infected at least 49 people in Colorado through midday Thursday. Gov. Jared Polis earlier this week declared a state of emergency and warned Wednesday that the situation will worsen.<\/p>\n

Delaying county assemblies for coronavirus<\/div>\n

The quick drafting and introduction of the bipartisan bill to change the county assembly and convention dates came after a flurry of meetings with the Democratic and Republican party leaders.<\/p>\n

The county assemblies are crucial because it\u2019s one way candidates \u2014 including in the marquee U.S. Senate race \u2014 can qualify for the June primary ballot. The other method is collecting signatures from voters. The process cannot be altered without the passage of a law.<\/p>\n

Under legislative rules, lawmakers can approve a bill in as little as three days with a suspension of the rules, and it\u2019s now likely they will work through the weekend to do so.<\/p>\n

House Bill 1359 allows the parties to delay county assemblies and conventions \u2014 which typically draw hundreds of party members and skew older \u2014 until April 11. The statewide meetings, set now for April 18, would need to take place by April 25. The remote voting, if approved by the party, could include email, mobile application or other means, conducted over a seven-day period.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat this is doing is really taking into consideration the large groups of delegates that are going to be coming together, much of which is an at-risk population that could be very vulnerable to the spread of the coronavirus,\u201d Garnett said. \u201cSo for the first time, in this very narrow instance, we\u2019re allowing the parties to amend their rules \u2026 to take into consideration this public health crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first version didn\u2019t include extra time for the candidates who are collecting signatures. Lorena Garcia, a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, suggested it\u2019s unfair to allow more time for one and not the other. \u201cThe legislature needs to take action because of the fact that we are putting our canvassers, our volunteers, at risk going door to door,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The measure\u2019s introduction came as Garcia was canvassing door to door in Colorado Springs, asking voters to sign her petitions. People were home when she knocked \u2014 one upside of the concern about the disease. But it took a little extra encouragement to get them to sign.<\/p>\n

Garcia carried a small bottle of sanitizer with her and wiped down the pen before handing it to each person. Once done, she squirted another dose of sanitizer in the person\u2019s hands. \u201cThere\u2019s not really too much alarm,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019ll sign and then they\u2019ll wash their hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

What else needs to get done at the Capitol?<\/div>\n

Beyond the new bill, there are several other measures legislative leadership is considering before they hit the pause button, including:<\/p>\n

A resolution asking the Colorado Supreme Court for clarity on whether they can extend the lawmaking term past May 6, when it is set to end, if they take a break.<\/em>A bill that addresses state rules and regulations, which is already nearing passage.<\/em>A resolution that defines when the recess begins and how long it would last.<\/em>The question for the Colorado Supreme Court is crucial because there is a massive slate of legislation \u2014 including some of Democrats\u2019 and Polis\u2019 biggest priorities \u2014 either waiting for passage or introduction. <\/em>Some Republicans are suggesting a halt to lawmaker is the way to stop the legislation, but Democrats are committed to pressing their agenda forward.<\/em>While the legislature\u2019s rules say the General Assembly can pause and continue past its end date when the governor declares an emergency, state Sen. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, argued this week that doing so would be unconstitutional. <\/em>But it\u2019s unlikely the Supreme Court would offer an opinion before lawmakers are forced to take a coronavirus recess. \u201cI don\u2019t think that the answer to that question will be back before we decide (to recess),\u201d Garnett said.<\/em>Legislative leadership \u2014 with a commitment from the Capitol\u2019s top Republicans not to take political advantage of the situation to limit what bills Democrats can pass \u2014 say they don\u2019t plan to wait for the court\u2019s answer because public safety is paramount. <\/em>Garnett floated the option of Polis calling a special legislative session after May 6 if the Supreme Court rules that lawmakers can\u2019t continue past that date. \u201cThe governor can always call a special session and bring us back in,\u201d he said.<\/em>Conor Cahill, a spokesman for Polis, indicated that the governor may do just that.<\/em>\u201cAt this point, the General Assembly is still conducting business as part of its regular session,\u201d Cahill said in a written statement. \u201cThe governor would contemplate a special session if it is necessary to do so following the conclusion of the current regular session.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A bill would preserve the primary process without forcing people to gather for county assemblies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[685,13,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-90206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","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\/90206","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=90206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90206"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=90206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}