By Kevin Lundberg | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
I have been reviewing most of the bills introduced in the Colorado legislature for the past 23 years. I haven’t kept exact records, but that amounts to more than 15,000 bills and resolutions.
From that perspective, I have the following observations about the current crop of bills we have already seen this year.
With the Democrats in full control of the House, Senate and governor’s office, it is no surprise that there are a lot of bills that promote a woke agenda, expand government reach, increase taxes (which they label fees) and give homage to the global warming extremists. There are also many very good bills that could head our state in the right direction, but most of these bills will never get past their first committee hearing, more often than not killed by a party-line vote.
In Colorado, it is a tough environment for conservative values. I have a great respect for the conservatives that continue to engage in the political battles under the gold dome. They are relentless in defending the right and confronting the wrong.
We are about one month into the four-month legislative session and about 300 bills have been introduced. Here are a few bills that stand out right now. For a more complete picture of the worst and the best bills, check out my weekly newsletter, published on my website: KevinLundberg.com.
Good Bills
HB25-1040 Adding Nuclear Energy as a Clean Energy Resource — Here is a real energy solution that everyone should get behind.
HB25-1051 Repeal Recycled Paper Carryout Bag Fee — Its about time we eliminate this nuisance fee.
HB25-1068 Malpractice Insurers Gender-Affirming Care Minors — If a doctor engages in these horrific medical practices, that doctor should be legally responsible for the results and malpractice insurers should not be required to carry insurance for such practices.
HB25-1074 Change Confinement Standards Egg-Laying Hens — Get rid of this current budget-busting Colorado regulation! (Killed in first committee.)
HB25-1143 Open-Source Software in Voting Systems — This is a great idea, We the People should have full access to the software systems that count our votes.
HB25-1164 Constitutional Carry of Handgun — Why is a permit required to exercise an enumerated constitutional right?
SB25-057 Noncitizen Voter Registration Cancellation — This would be a good step forward in cleaning up our voter registration rolls. It directs several departments in the state government to forward on to the Secretary of State all evidence they collect of individuals who are not U.S. citizens to cross check with current voter registration rolls. (Killed in first committee.)
The Worst Bills
There are too many to list all of them, but the ones that stand out the most include:
SB25-003 Banning Semiautomatic Firearms & Rapid-Fire Devices — Will ban the sale and manufacture of many (if not most) semi-automatic weapons. (Passed committee hearing)
SB25-005 Worker Protection Collective Bargaining — This bill breaks the balance Colorado has had for nearly a century between a union state and a right-to-work state. (Passed first committee)
SB25-045 Health-Care Payment System Analysis — This is a very dangerous bill that is trying to put the state on the track of a disastrous policy of letting the government control all of the funds for medical care. They have been trying to do this for years and so far the people have not bought this big socialist scheme. (Passed first committee)
SB25-081 Treasurer’s Office — Concerning public financing, and establishing the building urgent infrastructure and leveraging dollars authority. This rather extensive bill (29 pages) looks to me like a big end run around TABOR. It creates a bonding authority for tax-free bonds (hence the federal government ends up subsidizing the interest rates for the bonds). The authority skirts the TABOR requirement for a public vote before entering into long-term debt by carefully crafting a system that seems to not obligate the state for the bond repayments, yet uses the authority of the state treasurer’s office to run the operation. I am flagging this bill as a blatant violation of the Tax Payers’ Bill of Rights. As a footnote, SB81 also is a union sweetheart bill, requiring all funds for construction to go through union shops.
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