Hello everyone,
The first regular session of Colorado’s 73rd General Assembly convened on Wednesday and has recessed until February 16th. The Colorado constitution requires the legislature to meet in regular session no later than the second Wednesday of January each year. As a result, they convened, swore in the new members, took care of some organizational requirements (e.g., adopting rules) and passed seven bills prior to leaving town earlier today due to the pandemic.
Usually, the first few days of each legislative session are full of pomp and circumstance. This session things were different. Not only were there few, if any, family members in attendance, but for the first time in recent memory there was a contested election for Speaker of the House. Typically, the majority party elects the Speaker soon after the November election and the full House votes unanimously for that person on the first day of the session. However, this year Republicans nominated their leader to be Speaker. With a 41 to 24 partisan split in the House it was no surprise that Rep. Alec Garnett from Denver was elected Speaker on a vote of 41 to 24. Republicans also spent hours trying to amend the Joint Rules of the House and Senate and the House Rules for most of the day Wednesday to no avail.
Things moved smoother once the House and Senate began considering the seven bills that had been introduced. None of the bills impact the Association or law enforcement. The bills are primarily related to the pandemic. I don’t anticipate much new information to share prior to the legislature reconvening hopefully sometime around February 16th, but please check back for more information.
