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The bill didn't start out with any real sense of urgency, but circumstances beyond the legislature's control put it on the fast track. HB20-1019 – Prison Population Reduction and Management started...

Repeal of the Death Penalty Debate No doubt you already know the Repeal of the Death Penalty bill passed the Senate and has moved on to the House. While not typically a topic for polite conversation...

It seems that everyone in Colorado agrees we need to do more to improve the condition and capacity of our roads. After that the unity begins to crack as people talk about funding and priorities. The...

With 270 bills introduced in the first eight days of the session, it sounds like we left the starting gate at full sprint but in reality, this is how it is supposed to work. By design bills are...

As the Second Regular session of the 72nd General Assembly begins let’s take a moment to review what’s been happening since adjournment last May. Lot of churn and more than a few meetings almost i...

Now that things are not moving quite so fast, we have time to do a little deeper dive in to a bill that passed and was sent to the Governor. First let me say I support apprenticeship programs, there i...

In broad strokes here's what the First Session of the 72 General Assembly looked like. Democrats held a majority in both chambers, the Governor's Office and all of the statewide offices. They took...

As this is being written we have five days left in the session, when the Constitution says 120 days it means 120 days. The final gavel on the first session of the 72nd General Assembly will come down...

Mixed bag of bills coming up early in the week, I have a few on third reading that I would expect to pass with little discussion. One, a transparency bill, requiring a referral agency make...

As we enter the final weeks of the session the flurry of bill signings will only intensify. Some bills are signed into law amid much fanfare and hoopla, others quietly in the governor's office with...

As the only legislator drinking from the aquifer contaminated by PFAS it seemed fitting that I'd be part of HB19-1259, the bill trying to bring some transparency to their use. PFAS is shorthand for a...

The Senate passed the budget this past week - the one thing we are required to do by law. This was the most collegial process the Senate has enjoyed on any major piece of legislation this year.  The...

To set the first issue up – all bills are to be read in their entirety twice in each chamber, unless "by unanimous consent" they may be read by title only. This has become the common practice and...

While the marquee (controversial) bills get the attention, the majority of the bills going through the Legislature focus more on some detail or clarification that should or perhaps should not be...

SB-182 - Repeal of the Death Penalty has been introduced, it appears to be pretty straight forward. Colorado has been back and forth on this issue. In 1859 we had the first legal execution, in 1897...

We heard it was coming and with the Oil and Gas bill - SB 181, having been introduced late Friday and already scheduled for a committee hearing four days later it's pretty obvious Leadership has...

Starting to see a few more controversial bills making their way through the labyrinth called the Legislature. I'm not complaining, more testimony and discussion should make for a better bill and a...

The Governor, the Senate, the House and even the sidewalks around the capital overflow with ideas on how to improve education but it seems like some good ones are getting nowhere. The sidewalks had...

The first several weeks of the session saw vacancies occurring in the Senate mainly caused by senators leaving to assume other elected and appointed positions. New faces appeared as those positions...

A quarter of the way through my first legislative session and I've had a bill killed in committee, one pass unanimously out of a committee, led the Pledge of Allegiance for a week and offered an...

I assume everyone is aware of the "squatter" problem. Here are a couple of scenarios on how you could find yourself dealing with a squatter in your house or rental property. You are being a good...

During a media interview Governor Polis stated "Basically a budget is a statement of your values". The household version of that is you spend money on what is important to you. The Governor...

The real news coming out of the Capital this week was the Governors State of the State address. From my point of view it was a mixed bag. So here we go – kind of in the order they came up in the...

By way of introduction, my name is Dennis Hisey and by the time you read this I will be your newly minted and freshly sworn in state senator from Senate District 2 (SD2). It's fair to expect this to...