Face The State Staff Report
With only 120 days in every state legislative session, each of Colorado's state senators is limited to introducing five bills. But a Face The State analysis has revealed that this limit is regularly ignored by those on both sides of the aisle, with incumbent legislators up for re-election often running the most bills.
According to Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, R-Colo. Springs, Democrats are generally granted more "late" bills because they control the process as the party in power. The Late Bill Committee is composed of the speaker and the majority and minority leaders. Legislative rules dictate that this body has authority to grant or deny permission for any legislator seeking to run a bill after the deadline or above the limit of five. (Rule 23 (b) Exceptions)
This year’s leading bill contenders are Democrat Senators Brandon Shaffer, D-Boulder, and Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood, with 13 bills each, and Jim Isgar, D-Durango, with 11 bills.
Isgar says that even though he is running more than twice as many bills as allotted, only one of them is late. The rest of Isgar’s extra bills are from interim committees or departmental bills run in the Agriculture Committee, which he chairs and these do not count against his total.
Isgar is not alone in utilizing such exceptions. Eighteen senators – more than half of the chamber's 35– have introduced more than five bills this session. Only six senators came in under the allowance.
The senator sponsoring the least number of bills is Sen. Tom Wiens, R-Castle Rock, with only one bill.
“Running a lot of bills might make a good headline or look good in a campaign brochure, but generally speaking we just have to many darn laws,” said Wiens, who believes that instead of sponsoring bills he can make a greater impact by being advocate for the people. Wiens has spent a significant chunk of his time this session garnering media attention and securing federal funds to repair Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel.
Shaffer and Boyd, who are both running for re-election this November, did not return calls before press time.
According to McElhany, the problem is less pronounced in the House where there are more members and leadership is stricter about granting late bills.
McElhany says that he considers himself generous when it comes to granting late bills because he believes one of the best ways to start a conversation about an issue is by dropping a bill.
Weins recommends that the senate take a long hard look at all there bills and ask, “Is this something that we really need? Where is the fire?” before they exceed the five-bill limit, which he considers more than ample.
To download a PDF of Face The State's analysis of total number of bills introduced by lawmaker, click here.
