DENVER | The Colorado Legislature wrapped up its regular lawmaking session on Wednesday, and throughout the tributes to outgoing lawmakers and praise of Capitol sergeants at arms and janitorial staff, the two chambers cleared their calendars to adjourn after 120 days of policymaking.
It was also a day of goodbyes for some of the top legislative leaders. House Speaker Julie McCluskie’s final session as a representative wrapped up after eight years in the House and four years serving as speaker. It was also the final year in the chamber for House Majority Leader Monica Duran, who is seeking a Senate seat next year. Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez is also term limited.
“Please lead the Western Slope way. Put partisanship aside. Focus on problem solving. Think about ways to come together. Stop the bickering just for bickering’s sake,” McCluskie, the first female Western Slope speaker, told the chamber in her final comments.
The House and Senate ended their business around 7:15 p.m.
In the House, members gave final approval to a slate of bills, including a requirement to release body-worn camera footage to family members of people killed by police, increased protections for students with disabilities in public schools, and the annual statutory cleanup bill.
They killed a bill that would have required in-person purchases of firearm barrels.
In the Senate, lawmakers passed legislation boosting background checks for drivers for ride-hailing companies like Uber, requiring abortion medication availability on college campuses, and creating a new security advisor role at the Capitol.
They also amended a bill to counter Initiative 175 this November, a proposed ballot measure that would direct more money to road funding in the state. The bill would essentially neutralize the initiative if it passes by lowering the state’s gas and special fuel taxes, drawing the ire of Republicans, especially those in rural districts with poor road conditions. The amendment is a “showing of good faith” to the initiative proponents, said Democratic bill sponsor Sen. William Lindstedt. It creates a new enterprise fund for road maintenance with fees from long commercial trucks and permits for hauling manufactured homes.
The Senate voted down a bill that would have created a state-level “general duty” clause in the event that the federal government rolls back federal worker safety protections. The general duty clause requires employers to keep a workplace free from common hazards in their industry. Six Democrats joined Republicans to vote against the bill.
Response to Trump
Lawmakers worked this year under the shadow of another billion-dollar budget shortfall, greatly limiting their ability to create new programs or pass bills that carried a significant price tag. Instead, some of the most significant policy action focused on slashing spending and paring back spending for Medicaid and other safety-net programs.
The Legislature, led by Democratic majorities in both chambers, also passed a bill to remove a second union election requirement in Colorado, despite a veto last year on a nearly-identical bill. Members revived a plan to restructure the makeup of the Regional Transportation District board. And they finally reached a resolution on the multiyear fight on how the state should regulate artificial intelligence, nullifying a 2024 law that prompted a lawsuit from the Department of Justice and Elon Musk’s AI company.
For the second year, Democrats also worked to blunt the impact of President Donald Trump’s second term, from letting Colorado follow vaccine access guidelines from medical authorities other than the federal government to allowing people to sue federal immigration authorities over constitutional violations.