One of the most significant leftover items from the 2019 session is an effort to require businesses to provide paid family and parental leave to employees.<\/p>\n
Last year, Democratic authors of the bill settled for a study after failing to build enough support within their own party amid a barrage of opposition from 200 lobbyists who worked against the bill.<\/p>\n
Opposition from the business community remains fierce, and its prospects remain unclear. An actuarial study shows that a paid family and parental leave program with the most generous, 28-week proposal could cost the state up to $2.2 billion, potentially taking money from employers and out of every Coloradan\u2019s paycheck.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s still not clear if bill proponents will seek to have the state or a third party run the program, and whether small businesses and local governments would be exempt.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel optimistic about its chances for passage,\u201d said Sen. Faith Winter, a Westminster Democrat who is one of the legislation\u2019s champions. Still, Winter said proponents have not started drafting a bill. A task force planned to issue a report Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Tony Gagliardi, executive director of the National Federation for Independent Business in Colorado, said he is worried about the impact paid leave would have on small businesses. \u201cThe bottom line is this is still a mandate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Democrats may struggle to find money<\/p>\n The big agenda that Gov. Jared Polis and Democratic lawmakers promised in 2018 is an expensive one. And the money spigot is running dry.<\/p>\n Democratic budget writers are sounding the alarm about how to cover costs of programs added last year and the new ones they want to pass in 2020. And the latest economic forecasts show the money isn\u2019t as plentiful this year. A year ago, lawmakers set aside about $40 million for legislative priorities; this year, that number will fall closer to $5 million.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a tougher year for budget allocations and new appropriations and maybe new spending initiatives,\u201d said Senate President Leroy Garcia, D-Pueblo.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Polis pledges to cut the income tax without reducing state revenue and put more money in reserves \u2013 both ideas that were rejected by his own party a year earlier.<\/p>\n The tight budget is expected to limit money available for a big-ticket item for Democrats and Republicans: transportation.<\/p>\n Democratic legislative leaders believe a new revenue source \u2013 taxes or fees \u2013 are needed to address transportation issues, but Republicans insist on using existing tax dollars. And Colorado voters in two years rejected statewide efforts to increase taxes or forgo tax rebates to pay for roads.<\/p>\n New ideas this year include the formation of regional transportation districts that can put tax questions on the ballot to allow communities to pay for improvements. But Republicans say that would leave rural communities out of the mix.<\/p>\n The other idea from Democrats is new fees for road users to compensate for the growing number of electric vehicles, and potential surcharges for delivery services. Right now, roads\u2019 main funding mechanism is the gas tax, which has been unchanged since 1992.<\/p>\n Democrats also must decide whether to keep a $2.56 billion transportation bond on track for the 2020 ballot.<\/p>\n Becker was noncommittal when asked what would happen with the measure. \u201cThere will certainly be discussions around it,\u201d she said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t made any decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n Public option insurance in the spotlight<\/p>\n The push for a government-backed health insurance plan<\/a> will put Colorado at the forefront of the national debate on a public option. Political stakes are high.<\/p>\n The concept is a top campaign promise for Polis and might emerge as the most contentious debate in 2020. An opposition group with ties to hospitals and insurance companies fired a warning shot in December with more than $100,000 advertising campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cJudging by the amount of out-of-state money we are already seeing trying to defeat this policy, I expect this to be one of the bigger battles of my legislative career,\u201d said Sen. Kerry Donovan, D-Vail, a leading advocate. \u201cBut health care needs to be disrupted for us to lower costs and make it affordable for people in Colorado and across my district. This is a significant step in that direction.\u201d<\/p>\n Legislation this session will include mandates on insurers and hospitals and set rates to a level that will lower costs for those on the individual market in the first year. The state would oversee the plan, and a private insurer would manage it. The bill would expand access to the program later.<\/p>\n The idea is to create more options for consumers, but Republicans think it would hurt the broader market. \u201cI\u2019m not convinced that a public option or single payer is a good way to deal with health care,\u201d said Sen. Paul Lundeen, a Republican from Monument. \u201cIt\u2019s not sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n The Polis administration is making it a priority to lower the cost of a college education in Colorado, but the higher education institutions say they need the tuition money.<\/p>\n The conflict is expected to escalate in 2020, months after the failure of Proposition CC, which would have provided colleges with a lifeline to money.<\/p>\n Polis wants to limit tuition hikes next budget year to 3%, while others are looking at how to keep tuition flat. Other lawmakers plan to put forward bills to address loan interest as a way to lower costs.<\/p>\n Big moves on climate change, but what\u2019s next?<\/p>\n Much of the Democrats\u2019 environmental agenda came to fruition in 2019 during a push for tougher regulations on oil and gas operations and more stringent mandates on carbon emissions.<\/p>\n Now, House Speaker Becker says it\u2019s time for the \u201cnext level.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve run climate change legislation for years; we\u2019ve finally passed it. So what are the next things we need to do to just have a cleaner, greener energy future?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n Right now, there aren\u2019t many specific policy proposals being discussed. A few ideas on the table, however, include making it easier for local governments to ban single-use plastics, a moratorium on styrofoam and an effort to increase Colorado\u2019s ability to monitor air quality and enforce violations.<\/p>\n Air quality is likely to be the most contentious issue, especially with drillers. Republicans say they are looking out for such ideas and the potential damage they could have on Colorado\u2019s sprawling energy industry.<\/p>\n \u201cI wonder what else they have to kill off the largest industry in the state,\u201d said Sen. John Cooke, a Greeley Republican.<\/p>\n Criminal justice is poised to be front and center again.<\/p>\n One debate expected to consume the Capitol is whether to alter Colorado\u2019s felony murder law, which allows people to be charged with first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without actually killing anyone. In addition, advocates will push to repeal the death penalty.<\/p>\n The felony murder reform<\/a> effort is being led by Sen. Pete Lee, a Colorado Springs Democrat and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who wants to change felony murder to a second-degree murder, Class 2 felony offense. That alteration would take life in prison off the table. \u201cI think people ought to be convicted of what they did,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n Prosecutors are pushing back. \u201cI think felony murder should stay right where it is,\u201d said 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler. \u201cI think that there\u2019s a misconception that felony murder (is used against people) who had no clue what was going on and had no idea that there was risk of death to another innocent person.\u201d<\/p>\n The question of whether to abolish the death penalty makes a return from a year ago. The effort to get rid of capital punishment in Colorado last year was yanked because of Democratic friction in the Senate. Sen. Julie Gonanzles, D-Denver, plans to take the helm of the repeal effort this year, but she faces a pair of Democrats whose loved ones were murdered and who want to keep the death penalty.<\/p>\n Finally, also look for an effort to change Colorado\u2019s laws around investigating law enforcement-involved deaths. Polis has said that\u2019s an issue he wants to tackle in 2020.<\/p>\n Democrats look to eliminate use of private prisons<\/p>\n Lawmakers will decide whether to spend millions of dollars to close a privately run prison in Colorado Springs and reopen a state facility near Ca\u00f1on City. If it happens, it could help reach a goal among some Democratic lawmakers to end the practice altogether.<\/p>\n The debate centers around the Cheyenne Mountain Reentry Center, run by the private company GEO Group. The Colorado Department of Corrections says there have been \u201cdeficiencies\u201d with GEO\u2019s work at the 700-inmate facility.<\/p>\n But reopening Colorado State Penitentiary II<\/a>, near Ca\u00f1on City, will cost taxpayers $7 million in the first year and $6 million each subsequent year. The Polis administration thinks the cost is worth it, but it could be a tough sell with a tightening state budget.<\/p>\n Bent and Crowly counties host the other two private prisons, but the Polis administration says it can\u2019t do without them. \u201cI don\u2019t know what the future holds. But I can tell you right now, today, we need those prison beds and those other private prisons,\u201d said Dean Williams, the executive director of the state corrections department.<\/p>\n School safety and gun control<\/p>\n In the wake of May\u2019s fatal shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch, lawmakers looked this summer to make Colorado K-12 education safer.<\/p>\n Proposals from a bipartisan interim committee on school safety include providing students with excused mental health days, expanding behavioral health training in schools and bolstering the state\u2019s Safe2Tell reporting system. Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, a Commerce City Democrat who led the interim committee, has a bill of her own that would require health insurance companies to provide a free, annual 60-minute mental health screening for all their clients.<\/p>\n None of the legislation drafted by the interim committee deals with firearms, but Democrats are likely to bring legislation that would require safe storage of guns.<\/p>\n If last session\u2019s battle over the \u201cred flag\u201d law<\/a> is any indication, however, any attempt to tighten Colorado\u2019s firearm regulations will likely prompt a fierce partisan battle.<\/p>\n