Colorado lawmakers grapple with doing the people's work when the people can't be there

Temperature checks. A closed cafeteria. Spaced seating. Lawmakers in masks separated by plexiglass. This may be the new normal at the state Capitol when the legislature reconvenes as soon as May 26.

The public health measures are needed for lawmakers to continue doing their work safely during the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down the legislature on March 14. Since then, the respiratory disease has killed more than 1,000 people in Colorado.

The pandemic also has blown an estimated $3.3 billion hole in the state’s $30-plus billion budget due to the loss of sales and income tax revenue as businesses remain on standby and unemployment spikes. The seven lawmakers on the Joint Budget Committee have voted over the last two weeks to withhold a 3% pay increase for state workers, table capital construction projects and cut more than $100 million to higher education, among other cuts totaling more than $700 million. The committee is considering more cuts to the senior property tax exemption, the state’s contribution to the public employee’s retirement fund, K-12 funding, suicide prevention, substance use disorder treatment, mental health services, vaccine outreach, and health coverage for the uninsured and immigrants.

But even as decisions that will affect most Coloradans are debated, public access to the Capitol and in-person access to lawmakers will be limited to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. The options being discussed include encouraging lobbyists not to gather in the halls outside the chambers and limiting seating in committee rooms and the public gallery above the House and Senate floors.

Read more: https://www.coloradoindependent.com/2020/05/15/colorado-capitol-budget-cuts-public-access-covid-19/