The Colorado General Assembly will tie the knot today at 10 a.m. on what members hope will be a three-day legislative session that ends in a final truce in the long-running political battle over property tax policy.
This story will be updated throughout the day.
Updated at 9:51 am: Lawmakers have introduced a series of bills for consideration this week, though one will float the Capitol in the coming days: a proposed “framework” that includes an additional reduction in the state assessment rate, changes to the cap on how much local revenues from property taxes may grow in the future, and other adjustments. These components have been agreed upon by legislative leaders, outside of conservative advocacy groups and the governor’s office.
The proposed changes would reduce statewide property tax collections by an estimated $270 million per year, on top of the $1.3 billion reduction signed into law after last year’s legislative session. It would also lead the conservative group Advance Colorado to eliminate a pair of ballot measures that, if passed by voters in November, would force even deeper property tax cuts and impose a stricter limit on property tax collections on the entire state, which opponents warn would devastate state and local governments. government services.
But the manner in which the agreement was reached and how it is being used to draw lawmakers from across the state back to the Capitol has drawn sharp criticism and frustration from some lawmakers.
Rep. Steven Woodrow, a Democrat from Denver, referred to Michael Fields, president of Advance Colorado, as “Gov. Fields” during a public caucus meeting where leaders previewed the special session for House Democrats.
Sen. Chris Hansen, a key architect of this and other property tax laws dating back years, said at a Sunday Senate Democrats caucus meeting that the special session is “fundamentally an inability by (Advance Colorado and Colorado Concern) to negotiate in April and Can.”
He called the new proposal a “relatively minor change from (last session’s bill) that completely eliminates the risk of two catastrophic ballot initiatives.”
The Denver Democrat also told lawmakers that they are also not limited to what is in the proposal.
“We negotiated a framework that both sides believed was feasible, but we are now moving to another phase of the discussion, with the 100 members of the General Assembly,” Hansen said. He added that he thinks it will be “an open question” whether Advance Colorado supports the measure until it reaches the governor’s desk.
For his part, Fields said in an email: “Coloradans deserve property tax relief and we are confident that will happen in a special session this week.”
Heading into day one, it is clear that the framework does not have the unequivocal support of Democratic majorities. At the very least, lawmakers said they are still working to fully understand the proposal. Democratic Sens. Janice Marchman and Chris Kolker, of Loveland and Centennial, are hosting a public study session on the bill at 5pm today so that lawmakers can discuss the proposal and ask questions of legislative analysts. Public comment will be reserved for the committee hearings.
Kolker has already raised “serious concerns” that the bill would result in homeowners with properties worth less than $600,000 seeing an increase in the property taxes they owe during the first year of its implementation. But owners of properties valued at $2 million or more would see a decline.
The proposal will need to speed up the legislative process if lawmakers want to complete it within three days — the minimum time needed to pass a bill. To meet that timeframe, lawmakers plan to formally introduce the main bill on Monday and hold the first committee hearing and full debate that same day.
The bill must be formally passed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday and then go to the Senate for a committee hearing and floor debate in that chamber. The Senate will have to formally vote on the bill on Wednesday, and then the two chambers will have to reconcile any differences on it.
The public can comment on the proposal during committee meetings.
Any problem in the debate or behind-the-scenes negotiations could further drag out the special session.
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