As the country shifted to the right on election night, Democrats held onto their dominant control of the Colorado statehouse, although it looks like they will fall one vote short of supermajorities in each chamber.
On Friday Senate Democrats gathered over Zoom — a change necessitated by the snowstorm sitting over the Front Range — to select new leaders for the upcoming legislative session. House Democrats will meet on Monday in the hopes that the few outstanding races will be called by then.
Republicans also selected their leaders this week. The top GOP members in each chamber won’t change; Rep. Rose Pugliese will continue as House Minority Leader while Sen. Paul Lundeen will be Senate Minority Leader.
Sen. James Coleman of Denver will be the next Senate President, replacing outgoing President Steve Fenberg, who is term-limited.
Sen. Julie Gonzales had also sought the position but on Friday decided against officially putting her name in. Coleman, who then ran unopposed, was previously the Senate President Pro Temp.
“Thank you for making this race competitive and for pushing me to be my best,” Coleman told Gonzales over the Zoom meeting. “I look forward to continuing to serve with you, and for all of you.”
Coleman said he will work hard to make sure members of the caucus are seen, supported and promoted.
“No one will out-serve me serving you. We're a family. We will show the country why Colorado is special and continue to be a model,” he said.
Sen. Janet Buckner of Aurora has known Coleman since was a teenager — her husband was his high school principal — and nominated him for the Senate’s highest position.
“James leads with understanding. He leads with collaboration, he leads with humility and a sense of humor,” Buckner said. “I have no doubt how capable and ready he is.”
Coleman won’t officially become Senate president until the start of the next legislative session in January when the full chamber can vote on it.
“My yearbook did not say that I would ever run for office. I can't tell you what it said because it'd probably be inappropriate, but I was most likely to not be here,” Coleman told his colleagues.
Sen. Robert Rodriguez of Denver will continue serving as Senate Majority Leader. Sen. Lisa Cutter will replace Sen. Faith Winter as Assistant Majority Leader. Winter, who went into treatment for alcohol use disorder earlier this year, did not seek to hold onto her leadership position.
Democrats maintained their margin in the Senate, 23-12, just one vote shy of a supermajority. During their caucus meeting, they welcomed five new members: Cathy Kipp, Lindsey Daugherty, Judy Amabile, Marc Snyder and Mike Weissman. All five previously served in the House.
Amabile will join the budget committee. Other leadership spots include Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet as Senate Pro Tem., Sen. Nick Hinrichsen as whip and Sen. Dylan Roberts as caucus chair.
When they return to work, lawmakers will be faced with one overwhelming issue: a much smaller state budget, to the tune of about $1 billion.
Democratic Sen. Jeff Bridges, who was re-elected by his caucus to serve on the powerful Joint Budget Committee, said it’ll be the toughest budget the state has seen since 2020.
“This time it's not because of a global pandemic. It is mostly because of higher Medicaid utilization rates and TABOR. TABOR is why we can't have nice things this year.”
Bridges noted that at the same time, lawmakers will be looking for a billion dollars in budget cuts, voters just told them they must put an additional $350 million toward law enforcement.
In an interview with CPR News, Democratic House Speaker Julie McCluskie said the budget will be the overarching theme of all policy discussions.
“It's a very different fiscal environment than what we've had these past few years,” she said. “The ARPA dollars are gone. Our one-time state savings are gone. So it's really a moment for us to govern responsibly and with clarity around our priorities.”
ARPA is the American Rescue Plan Act — pandemic relief money.
The Speaker said her top priority will be to protect education funding. She and House Majority Leader Monica Duran are not facing leadership challenges and are expected to return for their final two-year terms at the helm of the House.
