Colorado Democrats are distributing a list of new laws as proof that their big majorities at the Capitol paid legislative dividends this year.
A decade ago, when Democrats held a slim majority, Democratic Sen. John Morse was recalled from his Colorado Springs seat after supporting basic gun safety legislation, as was a Democratic colleague. Then four years ago, a recall effort in the same district over a gun-control vote by Sen. Pete Lee fizzled on the launch pad.
This year, Republicans made no mention of recalls after Democrats passed laws that would have been unthinkable when both Morse and Lee were in office. They overwhelmingly passed a law requiring a three-day waiting period to receive a gun after purchasing it and allowing gun manufacturers and sellers, for the first time, to face civil lawsuits holding them accountable for dangerous actions.
All gun-safety bills didn’t pass. Republicans took credit for blocking an assault weapons ban, even though the measure died in a committee controlled by Democrats.
But Democrats also made it easier to take guns from people determined by a judge to be an extreme threat to themselves or the community and raised the age to purchase a firearm in Colorado from 18 to 21.
“Those are policies that I think Democrats and progressives have been wanting to get across the finish line for a very long time, if not decades,” Steve Fenberg (D-Boulder), the Senate president, told the Colorado Sun.
Likewise, Democrats passed pro-choice laws this year that would have been a tough sell not so long ago, say advocates, even though Colorado has long been a pro-choice state.
They point in particular to a statute that requires large employers’ insurance plans to pay for the “total cost of abortion care.” It also expands state Medicaid funding for reproductive health care.
“We prioritized the Safe Access to Protected Health Care Package as reproductive rights and freedoms continue to be eroded throughout the country”, said Senator Lisa Cutter (D-Dakota Ridge), Co-Chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus.
Democrats are also proud of a new law that, among other things, restricts investigations related to visits to Colorado by people seeking an abortion — and another statute aiming to stop anti-abortion centers from using deceptive advertising, which can fool patients who might be seeking abortion care.
Democrats deserve credit for passing “important bills,” even as there’s “work ahead” to do, said Alana Miller, Colorado policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in a news release.
Democrats passed laws helping people and businesses save money and the planet, by — among other things — providing tax credits for clean energy, like heat pumps; helping commercial property owners save money on energy efficiency upgrades; speeding up residential solar installation; pushing electric appliances; solidifying clean hydrogen production as a clean energy source, and providing free public transit at peak hours and for electric-vehicle charging stations.
On their way out the door, emboldened Democrats sent Republicans running for the exits as they referred a measure to the November ballot that would, in part, allow the state government use funds otherwise subject to TABOR refunds to reduce property taxes.
