Sex ed and filibusters: Partisan fault lines showing at Colorado Capitol

Flashes of partisan politics have lit up the Capitol in the early days of Colorado’s General Assembly as Republicans pull what levers they can as the minority party in both chambers.

They’re rallying social conservatives by the hundreds over a sex education bill. They’re using amendments and even filibusters to delay votes they can’t stop on legislation they see as an attack on their priorities.

“I think you’re going to see a lot more of what happened Wednesday night if Democrats continue to try to drive an agenda that doesn’t take into consideration how conservatives feel about these issues,” said Jeff Hunt, director of the Centennial Institute, a conservative think tank at Colorado Christian University. “Our message to Democrats is that there is a way to do this, and there’s a way to get social conservatives to stand with you.”

Wednesday was the day that hundreds of Coloradans — called to action by the state’s Republican Party and conservative religious organizations — flooded into the Capitol to testify against House Bill 1032, a sex education bill. Among other things, the bill would prohibit an abstinence-only curriculum and send $1 million to a grant program to help schools pay for comprehensive sexual education lesson plans.

Spats and marathon debates are not unusual at the Capitol. After all, policymaking exists in a partisan context. However, the shift in power at the Capitol following a bruising election for Republicans has created a new dynamic.

“There’s pent-up energy to get a lot of things done,” House Speaker KC Becker, a Boulder Democrat, said in an interview with The Denver Post on Thursday. At the same time, she renewed her promise of seeking bipartisan support for legislation when possible.

Still, these early disputes could foreshadow more partisan rancor to come as more progressive bills that Democrats promised during the fall campaign are introduced.

“There’s some need on the other side of the aisle to protect their turf,” said state Rep. Susan Lontine, a Denver Democrat and sponsor of the sex education bill. “I’m sure they’re feeling pretty sensitive about that. Of course they’re going to be extra tenacious about their agenda.”

The risk for Democrats, Republicans say, is that they will win the votes but lose goodwill with the general public.

House Minority Leader Patrick Neville, a Castle Rock Republican, declined to be interviewed for this article but said in a statement, “I wouldn’t define it as partisanship. It’s us fighting back against Democrat overreach in the early days of the session.”

Jack Teter, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains’ political director, said his organization is willing to work with conservatives but won’t compromise on inclusive policies. Planned Parenthood and the ACLU helped draft the sex education bill.

“Colorado voters have been really clear that they want common-sense solutions, not anti-gay extremism masquerading as education policy,” he said. “And the people who came to committee to disparage the humanity of LGBT people and their families don’t represent Colorado values.”

Democrats are pulling their own partisan tricks, Senate Republicans say.

On Thursday, a Senate finance committee spun out of control over a procedural debate. Democrats suggested a Republican-sponsored bill to provide tax credits for teachers who buy their own school supplies was introduced illegally. At one point, state Sen. Lois Court, a Denver Democrat who chairs the committee, used profanity discussing the bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Owen Hill of Colorado Springs.

Court quickly apologized for her “inappropriate” comments and in a later interview with The Denver Post rejected the premise that actions were partisan.

“I tell my constituents all the time that the image they have is that we hate each other — it simply is not true,” Court said. “We understand how to work together. Will we have differences? Absolutely. Do we hate each other because we have them? Not at all.”

It may not be personal, but less than a month into the session Neville, the House Republican leader, has raised the specter of recall elections over a piece of legislation that hasn’t even been introduced yet and Senate Republicans have already attempted to filibuster a Democratic bill on the Senate floor.

“The only way to get them to be bipartisan is to raise holy hell,” said Hill, who led the filibuster last week.

Lawmakers from both parties note that many bills are bipartisan and are making their way through the process with bipartisan support.

But the most divisive issues are yet to come. Legislation is expected on such hot-button issues as oil and gas regulation, the death penalty and paid family leave.

“It’s going to be a really long year,” Hill said.

Senate Democrats are committed to letting Republicans voice their opposition to bills, Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg of Boulder said. But he is resolute that his party’s agenda will be accomplished.

“We want to protect the voice of the minority party,” he said. “We know what it’s like. But we’re not going to let (their tactics) get in the way of getting the work done. We’re going to get the work done.”