A Republican lawmaker wants voters to decide whether to reduce the length of Colorado’s legislative session from 120 calendar days to 90 days, saying he believes it would make members more productive and cut down on the “bloviating.”
Rep. Kevin Priola of Henderson said that, under his proposal, the session would start one week later in January, end a week earlier and allow for a break in the middle, during a natural lull when bills pass from one chamber to the other and need to be scheduled. Lawmakers could return to their districts for constituent work, Priola said.
The last time Coloradans put limits on the legislative session was in 1988, when the 120-day calendar was adopted.
“After 26 years, it’s time we take a second look,” Priola said.
But the Democrat who will lead the state House next year when the session convenes Jan. 7 was skeptical. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst of Boulder, the House speaker designee, said that if the session were reduced, she doubted lawmakers would still be able to introduce five bills each because it would be difficult getting them heard.
“I’m not sure that would be very good for the people of Colorado,” Hullinghorst said. “We have increasing population and increasing issues.”
Under current law, Colorado’s session must begin no later than the second Wednesday in January and must conclude 120 calendar days later. The legislature traditionally ends in early May; this year it ended May 7.
Priola said he believes the state’s 100 lawmakers could get their work done in 90 days.
“Maybe it will cut down on unnecessary bloviating and unnecessary resolutions,” he said.
Among the resolutions — which express the voice of the legislature and generally do not carry the weight of law — that were debated during the 2014 session: National Parents Day, support for a federal minimum wage increase and honoring those involved with flood recovery efforts in 2013.
Priola’s measure would not change lawmakers’ annual pay, which is $30,000 for what many lawmakers say has become a full-time job and hasn’t been increased since 1999. But it would impact per diem, which lawmakers receive during the session. The per diem is $45 daily for metro-area lawmakers and $189 daily for outlying lawmakers.
Priola’s idea is not new.
In 2009 then-House Minority Leader Mike May introduced a similar measure, citing the budget crisis the state was undergoing. A 90-day session would result in the savings of about $730,000 annually, the Parker Republican estimated.
The measure died in a Democratic-controlled committee, but Rep. Lois Court, D-Denver, said then that the idea was intriguing enough that perhaps an interim committee should take it up. That never happened, but Court said this week it’s still not a bad idea.
“I don’t think it’s ever wrong to be open to conversations about how we operate,” she said.
Whether Priola’s idea will pass Democratic muster remains to be seen. House Democrats next year hold a 34-31 majority, while Senate Republicans will have an 18-17 edge. It would take a two-thirds majority in each chamber to put the measure on the 2016 ballot.
Former House Majority Leader Chris Paulson, who co-sponsored the 1988 measure with Sen. Wayne Allard, said he wanted the session to be reduced to 90 days and had the support in his chamber.
But the Senate president at the time, Republican Ted Strickland, didn’t want any limits. Allard waited until Strickland was out of town and got the measure out of the Senate by one vote. Allard said Strickland was furious so he told Paulson he would have to stay with the 120-day limit.
Allard, who went on to become a U.S. senator, said he was proud of the measure, which passed that November 52 percent to 47 percent.
The measure came after several lawmakers resigned, saying they couldn’t afford to be away from their jobs for so long. At the time, lawmakers received $17,500 annually.
“I remember one session that went past the Fourth of July,” Hullinghorst said, adding she welcomed the limit to 120 days.
“Quite frankly,” she said, “I’ve not felt that the 120-day limit caused any great problems. It seems to work.”
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327, lbartels@denverpost.com or twitter.com/lynn_bartels
Staff librarian Vickie Makings contributed to this report.
Colorado’s legislative session
Current law: Voters in 1988 limited legislative sessions to 120 calendar days, starting no later than the second Wednesday in January.
Proposal: Limits legislative sessions to 90 days, starting one week later, ending one week sooner and taking off mid-session to return to the district.
Nationally: Eleven states do not place a limit on the length of regular session. In the remaining 39, the limits are set by constitution, statute, chamber rule or indirect method.
Other states: New Mexico holds 60-day sessions in even-numbered years and 45-day sessions in odd years. Mississippi’s session is 90 calendar days, except the year after a gubernatorial election, when it is 125 calendar days.
Source: National Conference State Legislatures, Colorado legislature
