DENVER — With three weeks left before this year’s legislation session is over, Colorado lawmakers and the governor are tackling major legislative issues, from gun safety to labor unions to immigration.
Gun safety
On Thursday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed into law a watered-down but still controversial semiautomatic gun restriction bill.
In its original form, Senate Bill 25-003 would have outright banned the manufacture, distribution, transfer, sale, or purchase of a "specified semiautomatic firearm," which includes semiautomatic rifles and shotguns, as well as gas-operated semiautomatic handguns with a detachable ammunition magazine. However, in February, Colorado Senate Democrats amended the bill so that those guns could still be sold if a buyer first takes a training course.
The course must include information on firearm deaths associated with mental illness, Colorado’s red flag law, and victim awareness and empathy. Before they can take the course, applicants must undergo a criminal background check and obtain a firearms safety course eligibility card.
The legislation does not affect guns that Coloradans already own and, instead, adds restrictions for new purchases of certain gas-powered semi-automatic guns that accept detachable magazines.
Politics
Polis signs watered-down semiautomatic gun restriction bill into law
"This law is not a ban, and I have been clear that I oppose banning types of firearms," said Polis. "Proper gun safety education and training, however, are key components of public safety and responsible gun ownership."
SB25-003 was one of the most hotly contested bills of this year’s legislative session.
"This legislation builds on our commitment to improve public safety, reduce gun violence, uphold our freedom,” Polis said.
State Sen. Tom Sullivan, D-Aurora, who lost his son in the 2012 Aurora movie theater shooting, was one of the prime sponsors of the bill, along with State Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, State Rep. Meg Froelich, D-Englewood, and State Rep. Andrew Boesenecker, D-Fort Collins.
The bill had the support of progressive groups, including the Vet Voice Foundation.
“It's a well-thought-out piece of legislation,” said Harrison Tarter, program director for the Vet Voice Foundation and a U.S. Army veteran. “This bill is simply requiring that if you want to buy an assault weapon that you have to go through a more thorough background check and that you obtain a permit. I think that's a very reasonable piece of legislation.”
But opponents of SB-003, including the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners (RMGO), call it an assault on the Second Amendment.
"They want to chip away, once again, at the Second Amendment,” said Ian Escalante, the executive director of the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners.
Abortion rights
The governor is also expected to soon sign a measure (Senate Bill 25-183) implementing Amendment 79, which voters approved in November.
It will enshrine abortion protections into the Colorado Constitution and lift the ban on public funding of abortions.
“It puts an exclamation point to the mandate voters gave us on November 5 with the passage of Amendment 79. And it’s a win for health care providers in Colorado, who will be able to act in the best interest of their patients without fear or threats from extremists in other states," said Karen Middleton, president of Cobalt, a Colorado abortion-rights organization.
State budget
Lawmakers in the Colorado House of Representatives gave final approval to the state budget on Thursday. The House also passed dozens of related budget bills that include cuts to a number of state programs to help fill a $1.2 billion budget deficit.
The budget package passed the Colorado Senate last week.
"Not everybody will be happy with what we did, and certainly there are some programs that got cut that people wish we hadn't done that,” said State Sen. Judy Amabile, D-Boulder.
The budget proposal must now go to the Joint Budget Committee for review before it heads to the governor's desk.
Colorado Republicans say the state will face a bigger fiscal nightmare next year.
"It's because we have continued to overspend and overspend year over year,” said State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton.
State labor law
With three weeks to go before the end of this year's session, lawmakers must decide the fate of a bill to overhaul Colorado’s labor law.
Senate Bill 25-005, also known as the Worker Protection Act, would get rid of the second election requirement for unions before they can negotiate a contract.
“It would modernize our labor laws and put us more in line with other states,” said Ben Ulrich, who supports the bill.
"For 80 years, we've had this law in the book that's benefited both the employers and unions, and suddenly they want to change it,” said Jesse Mallory with Americans for Prosperity Colorado, which opposes the bill.
Politics
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Protecting undocumented immigrants
Lawmakers will consider a new bill to protect undocumented immigrants from deportation.
Senate Bill 25-276 would restrict U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) access to schools and jails in Colorado and limit the disclosure of personal information.
"Here in Colorado, we have no control over what ICE does or does not do, but we do have control here in Colorado over what we do and what we don't do,” said State Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver.
The bill advanced out of its first committee and heads to its second committee on Friday.
The legislative session is set to adjourn on May 7.
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