I’m just a bill on Capitol Hill

DENVER — Throughout her decades-long career covering state legislatures in Florida, New Mexico and Colorado, journalist Sandra Fish has seen it all: Elected representatives who turn room clocks back to avoid adjourning on time, protests erupting during capitol proceedings and lawmakers who print important documents at coffee shops to avoid transparency.

Fish, now a data journalist and correspondent at The Colorado Sun, sat down with Rocky Mountain PBS to discuss how bills become laws, and how Coloradans who do not have connections to lobbyists or interest groups can still access their lawmakers.

Fish has covered the Colorado Legislature since 2004. Though she no longer spends each day watching the legislative session up-close, she still closely monitors bills and analyzes patterns each summer, after sessions have adjourned.

Sandra Fish, data journalist and correspondent at The Colorado Sun.
Photo: Amanda Horvath, Rocky Mountain PBS 

How does Colorado’s legislature differ from those in New Mexico and Florida?

At 100 members, Colorado’s general assembly is smaller than Florida’s but larger than New Mexico’s. Colorado’s legislature size is smaller than that of other states with similar population sizes. Maryland and Minnesota — which have similar population sizes to Colorado — both have more than 100 state house representatives, and more than 45 senators. Colorado has 35 senators and 65 representatives.

While all state legislatures have technical rules around the lawmaking process, Fish said Colorado follows its processes with a tighter grip than New Mexico.

Because New Mexico’s session is much shorter, Fish said the legislature frequently met until the middle of the night and adjourned on weekends to cram bills through at the last-minute. Colorado’s session, Fish said, abides by guidelines to adjourn before midnight.

Florida’s 160-member legislature also had subcommittees, a much larger budget and a larger press Corp bringing more spotlight to how laws are made.

How does a bill go from an idea to a law? Does every lawmaker get equal say?

In 1988, 72% of Colorado voters passed the GAVEL Act (Give a Vote to Every Legislator). The law requires that each proposed bill be given a committee hearing. House and Senate leadership decide which committees to assign bills to. Committees — which each have 10 to 15 members — are then tasked with voting on a bill. Committees meet in small rooms around the capitol, and hearing attendees are not required to wear formal attire, which is required on the House and Senate floors.

If a bill passes through committee, it gets two readings in the House or Senate. The “second reading” — which is actually a first reading outside of committee — is when most debate happens and amendments are made. Many bills pass without discussion, Fish said. But “controversial” bills — typically those relating to gun laws, reproductive rights or other hot-button social issues — sometimes bring debate into late-night hours or weekends. Legislators typically take a voice vote on second reading. If a bill passes that vote, it is given a “third reading,” which is second reading in a full chamber, usually the next day. Amendments at this stage are usually minor, such as typos or specific wordings.

After a bill passes through one chamber, it goes through the same process in its counterpart body — either the House or Senate, depending which heard and took a vote first. The bill goes through a committee and two readings on the floor. If the opposite body comes back with so many amendments that the bill is different from its original form, the two chambers gather in a conference call and try to come to compromises and agreements.

If a bill makes it through all of that, the governor chooses to veto, sign or ignore it. In Colorado, the governor has 10 days to sign or veto a bill. If a governor does not take action within 10 days, the bill automatically becomes law.

How can those without access to lobbyists or special interest groups express their opinions on proposed laws?

Because of their smaller, less-formal nature, committee hearings are often the easiest venues to testify in. On controversial bills with dozens — or sometimes hundreds — of public commenters, committee leadership will limit each person’s testimony to two or three minutes. But on lesser-known bills, commenters sometimes have more time to speak.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the legislature implemented options to watch the session and testify virtually. Those options have stuck around, making it easier for those outside of Denver to testify and keep up with proceedings.

Legislators’ emails are also posted on the legislative session’s website, and most legislators maintain their campaign websites with newsletters and town halls open to their constituents. 

Those interested in tracking specific bills can do so on the same website, which is updated daily.

Colorado’s House and Senate both have Democratic majorities. The governor is also a Democrat. With all three entities belonging to the same political party, how often do they agree and disagree?

More than 78% of the 617 bills introduced in the Colorado General Assembly this year were passed, the second highest percentage in the last 11 years. In 2021, 81% of bills passed. The 617 bills introduced in 2023 was the third-lowest number since 2013, behind the 613 in 2013 and 598 in 2019. Gov. Jared Polis vetoed 10 measures, and 417 became law, according to a Colorado Sun analysis.

The Sun analysis also found party-line voting was stronger in 2023 than previous years, with about 7% of bills passed with only Democratic support and all Republicans objecting.

As national politics continue to grow more polarized, has Colorado’s lawmaking process become more hostile and less bipartisan?

Most bills have bipartisan sponsorship. But bills that typically receive more media attention — about housing, guns, LGBTQ+ issues and abortion access — typically draw more debate and spark greater controversy across party lines.

“Those are the same touch-point issues that we’ve always had,” Fish said. “Those things have always been sensitive issues and probably will continue to be because people have strong opinions.”

According to a Colorado Sun analysis, the 2023 Legislative Session saw somewhat lower rates of bipartisan agreement than previous years, with 88% of the bills that became law receiving bipartisan support. Fish said the number is usually above 90%.

However, Fish said, debate has gotten more hostile in recent years.

“It only takes a handful or fewer people to make this process sort of miserable for a lot of people,” Fish said. “I feel like the discourse is not as civil as it used to be.”

Alison Berg is a reporter for Rocky Mountain PBS. Alisonberg@rmpbs.org.

Amanda Horvath is the managing producer at Rocky Mountain PBS. Amandahorvath@rmpbs.org.