Colorado lawmakers may table attempted TABOR reckoning as labor union, hospital fights linger in final days

Just over a week remains in the Colorado legislature s session and a number of the Democratic majority s marquee proposals remain in limbo Big tax and labor bills are still unresolved as the end of the session approaches Time pressure is mounting in other fights including one between hospitals and the drug industry over how the proceeds from a prescription drug plan can be spent And top lawmakers already have punted on other priorities or scaled them back Limbo doesn t mean death in the legislature but every flip of the daily calendar puts more pressure on a bill s backers opponents and interested parties to find a resolution to their liking In selected cases bills have lingered as negotiations proceeded in the background Other deals have been hinted at but haven t yet emerged But the clock is ticking Barring a special session the legislature must adjourn for the year by May Whether the proposals pass fail change dramatically or exclusively don t materialize will depend on a dozen factors between now and then We have a tremendous volume moving through both chambers a lot of big discussions and conversations still happening House Speaker Julie McCluskie explained late last week It is kind of that magic time when things start to fall into place and come together She added I m eager to celebrate another great legislative session in less than two weeks Here s a look at several big debates to watch A TABOR reckoning Maybe not A inadequate weeks after a group of House Democrats called for a reckoning on the Taxpayer s Bill of Rights and previewed a slew of tax-reform measures the majority of that package is either on life patronage or never saw the light of day The centerpiece of the package a resolution that would direct state lawyers to pursue a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of TABOR s very existence hasn t yet reached the House floor let alone started its journey through the Senate The bill passed a committee vote in early April but has languished since House Majority Leader Monica Duran revealed it was questionable if the debate would happen at all given how little time was left in the session TABOR enacted by voters more than years ago requires voter approval for tax increases and limits how much leadership spending can grow Rep Sean Camacho a Denver Democrat backing the TABOR lawsuit revealed he was optimistic the proposal would still be heard Either way he disclosed the state s budget constraints which multiple Democrats ascribe to TABOR s spending caps aren t going away Reps Sean Camacho right and Jacque Phillips speak in the House chamber at the Colorado State Capitol Building in Denver on Wednesday April Photo by AAron Ontiveroz The Denver Post Regardless of whether our bills passed or not next year s budget situation and the year after that and the year after that the question remains can we sustain ourselves under TABOR he reported Friday Another blockbuster proposal to replace the state s flat income tax with a graduated system that would more steeply tax the wealthiest Coloradans was never introduced McCluskie announced Thursday that there would be no income tax proposal introduced this year That would ve been a seismic legislative fight and also very likely would ve been opposed by Gov Jared Polis who s repeatedly voiced endorsement for lowering and eliminating the income tax House Bill which would have tweaked or eliminated tax credits and deductions was gutted in a House committee its amended version passed an initial floor vote Friday Another idea to reclassify highway funding so it didn t fall under the TABOR cap thus allowing the state to spend more money was also never introduced Senate Bill though remains alive and well That bill which would reclassify other types of revenue to free up space elsewhere under the TABOR cap passed the Senate and cleared a first House vote Friday Wellness care fight continues One of the biggest fights of the legislative session has unfolded largely outside populace view But within the Capitol the lobbying and hand-wringing over the federal B Drug Pricing Operation which allows hospitals and physical condition centers to buy prescription drugs at a discount has been constant The politicking started well before session began By January much of the lobbying corps had been hired up either by the hospital industry to back a bill preventing pharmaceutical companies from limiting the scheme or by the drugmakers to oppose the hospitals bill and push their own measure Their bill would require more transparency and guardrails around how the proceeds from the operation are spent Labor unions have also jumped in backing the pharma bill The two bills likely can t both pass and the two sides pharma and hospitals are powerful wealthy and entrenched As a conclusion the path forward is muddy Though amendments inched the bills closer together by late March the Senate threw its hands up and passed both kicking the debate to the House to resolve After a delay the measures were set to be in the House s Healthcare and Human Services Committee on Monday nine days before the session ends I think the hospitals feel like they have given as much as they can in terms of transparency disclosed Rep Kyle Brown a Louisville Democrat sponsoring the pharma bill he s also the chair of the vitality committee And I think that labor in particular or even chosen of the other victim groups feel like they have given what they feel like they can And pharma s in there too and they generally are not very excited about laws like this across the country Rep Matt Martinez a Monte Vista Democrat backing the hospital bill noted his goal is making sure that we re passing good procedures and how we can do that is something we ve been working on Brown stated he expected amendments on at least one bill this week You might see the bills migrate even further together I expect them to Brown explained But I don t know Just depends on where we end up I am really hopeful that we can come to certain agreements I think everybody wants the effort to continue and wants to know about how the money s being used and make sure it s being used for individual care The Colorado State Capitol Building during this year s General Assembly on Wednesday April in Denver Photo by AAron Ontiveroz The Denver Post Labor debate simmers Senate Bill introduced on the first day of the session in January was backed by Democrats and unions but opposed by the business neighborhood and Polis One hundred and seven days later negotiations were still ongoing Friday over a proposal that would make it easier for unionized workers to begin negotiating union dues with their employer The bill is aimed at removing a requirement that unions that are forming pass a second vote with a supermajority threshold before workers and management can negotiate that part of their contracts We are at the table and I m optimistic we re going to reach an agreement that labor supports and is excited about explained Rep Javier Mabrey a Denver Democrat who s co-sponsoring the bill But time s running short The bill has already passed the Senate and cleared two House committee votes But it hasn t yet reached the House floor where it demands two more votes before moving to Polis Labor unions are negotiating with the governor s office and business groups like the Colorado Chamber of Commerce The timeline for or likelihood of a deal is unclear McCluskie who s tried to shepherd the negotiations commented Thursday morning that everyone is talking about a compromise that ultimately earns the governor s signature and we can do the right thing by workers in the state and in a way that s in partnership with our business population Polis has also brought in his former chief of staff Lisa Kaufmann to help steer talks If the negotiations bear fruit it may require an entirely new bill Under legislative rules guiding what can be changed in act any movement toward the business group s position would likely mean SB- must be scrapped and replaced with a new bill in the final week-plus of the session That s not fatal Legislators often recite sometimes through gritted teeth that a bill can be passed in three days if needed Still it s an added complication for a contentious bill that s hung over the Capitol since January Both sides are carrying sticks Polis has reported he intends to veto the bill if the sponsors don t reach a deal with the business district And labor unions in turn have leveraged national forces to push Polis to sign the bill They ve also proposed a ballot measure that would make it harder to fire workers in Colorado potentially a greater labor win that poses a deeper threat for businesses Should the negotiations conclusion prove acceptable to the unions union personnel have revealed they will drop the ballot measure Regulation review scaled back clean strength scrapped On Wednesday the Senate introduced a bill that would require the state auditor to conduct performance audits of the state s air corruption control and labor standards divisions The regulation is a much-narrowed version of a proposal drafted earlier this year that similarly called for audits of a few state regulations That earlier idea which was never introduced in the legislature would ve more explicitly created a path to change regulations after the audits were concluded Sen Robert Rodriguez listens to proceedings in the Senate chamber at the Colorado State Capitol Building on Wednesday April in Denver Photo by AAron Ontiveroz The Denver Post Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez a Denver Democrat revealed the regulatory review was scrapped for this session and is now tabbed for work over the summer Instead lawmakers introduced Senate Bill That bill would merely require efficiency audits of the Colorado Department of Community Fitness and Context s air poisoning control division and the Department of Labor and Employment s division of labor standards and statistics Related Articles A veto override in the works junk fees bill signed into law and more from the Colorado legislature Colorado lawmakers advance bill allowing chain-assist vendors to set up along highways to ease winter traffic Colorado Senate votes to override Gov Jared Polis veto of social media regulation bill Colorado will cover abortion for Medicaid patients state employees as Gov Polis signs inhabitants funding law Colorado Senate rejects childhood sex abuse amendment again Advocates hope to put it on ballot anyway Still the Colorado chamber which backed a inquiry highlighting the extent of state regulations last year praised the measure s introduction Wednesday If we want to foster a healthy long-term economic situation it s critical that we create a thoughtful regulatory review process and we re grateful to our legislative partners for paving the way to a more transparent regulatory conditions the chamber s president and CEO Loren Furman commented in a announcement Another bill that had been quietly discussed meanwhile will not arrive this year Polis office and lawmakers had begun drafting a bill to accelerate the state s clean force plans and require that of Colorado s vigor come from clean sources by years earlier than current plans When The Denver Post first shared on the idea earlier this month supporters privately commented the proposal had a chance of coming to fruition this year given that the legislative session s clock was ticking On Thursday though McCluskie declared the bill wasn t happening this year but noted discussions would continue The idea of a clean power plan for is a really big discussion conversation she explained and we entirely did not have time to stake-hold that in a way that would ve been fair to everyone involved Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter The Spot