Nearly 150 Bills Pending In Colorado Legislature Ahead Of Monday Deadline

By Sara Wilson, Colorado Newsline

May 5, 2023

With a little over three days left in the legislative session, Colorado lawmakers still have quite a bit of work cut out for them.

There were 143 bills pending in the Legislature as of 2 p.m. Friday, according to numbers from the Office of Legislative Legal Services. The session ends at 11:59 p.m. on Monday.

Of those bills, 111 are awaiting action in the House and 32 are awaiting action in the Senate. Of the 23 bills pending a second reading, 19 are in the House and four are in the Senate. All 36 bills pending a third reading are in the House.

There are 44 bills still in committee: 33 in the House and 11 in the Senate.

“We’re feeling strong about where we are on the calendar. I hope we can continue to work collaboratively — no reading bills at length, no filibustering tactics, no delays — and that we keep doing the work honestly,” House Speaker Julie McCluskie, a Dillon Democrat, told reporters Wednesday.

“We have some very big pieces of legislation to still get done,” she said. “As we look to the last few days, I want to make sure we do that well.”

House Republicans have attempted to slow the chamber’s productivity in recent days, however, requesting various bills to be read at length, including the 100-plus page land use bill both on second reading Thursday and third reading Friday afternoon, eating up hours of time.

The House is poised to pass that land use bill, restoring certain provisions from its introduced version, initially a sweeping measure to address the state’s housing shortage crisis, on Friday afternoon. The changes between the House and Senate version need to be reconciled before it gets sent to the governor’s desk.

The House also passed a ban on unserialized firearms, also known as ghost guns, on Friday. That bill, which passed the Senate last week, now heads to the governor.

Of the 616 bills introduced this session, 460 are finished in their journey, either sent to the governor or killed somewhere in the process. Gov. Jared Polis has signed 178 bills into law so far.

Some of the most significant pending legislation as of Friday afternoon includes:

• Senate Bill 23-303, to send a measure to voters on the governor’s plan to limit a property tax spike. It passed the Senate on Thursday and awaits its hearing in a House committee, scheduled for Friday after the chamber adjourns.
• Senate Bill 23-271, to strengthen the regulation of intoxicating hemp products. It passed the Senate on April 27 and is awaiting a second reading in the House.
• Senate Bill 23-291, to enact new regulations on privately-owned electric and gas utilities. It passed the Senate on April 26 and awaits a second reading in the House.
• Senate Bill 23-97, to make all car thefts a felony regardless of value. It passed the Senate on March 13 and needs final approval from the House, scheduled for Friday.
• House Bill 23-1120, to require mediation efforts between a landlord and some tenants before an eviction. It passed the House on April 13 and is awaiting a second reading in the Senate, tentatively on Friday.
• House Bill 23-1171, to require “just cause” for eviction. It passed the House on March 15 and is awaiting a second reading in the Senate.

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