Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is Colorado's Borning News. Marty Lenz, Gina Gondick. In morning,
over two hundred new state laws going to effect today,
ranging from protections for consumers and the environment, to school
cell phone use policies and public safety changes, among many others.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Also today, reports believe that Governor Jared Poulis could declare
a special session as Colorado is facing a nearly billion
dollar budget deficit. Joining us on the KOA Common Spirit
Health Hotline is chief legislative reporter for Colorado Politics. It's
Marianne Goodland. Marian thank you so much for your time
this morning. Lots to get to today before we even
talk about the new laws, two hundred over two hundred
(00:33):
of them. We won't get to all of them, obviously,
Let's get your opinion because you wrote an in depth
piece discussing the possibility of a special session. In fact,
we saw the press briefing or the press release nine
forty five today. The Governor's supposed to be making a
quote unquote major announcement when it comes to the special session.
Is it pretty much expected? Did we know we had
to have one and needed by the governor? What will
(00:53):
this process look like?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Wellnor what the governor will do today. What we believe
he is going to do today is issue a call
for the General Assembly to return to the capital to
deal with a nine hundred and fifty five million dollar
shortfall that is in this current year's budget. They had
already cut one point two billion dollars out of the
budget before before the end of the session, and now
(01:17):
the Democrats are saying because of the HR one bill
passed by Congress assigned by the President, it means the
state has about nine hundred and fifty five million dollars
million dollars less revenue coming in and they've they've got
to figure out how to cover that.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
We've joked about it here on the air, Marian about
special sessions seem to be less and less special in
Colorado because the issues are navigating. I think this is
the third one. But from your perch, how serious and
how special is this session because that shortfall.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
It's very serious. They don't have nine hundred and fifty
five million dollars sitting in a piggy bank. We do
have a state reserve that has over two billion dollars
in it, but they're very leary of touching that money
because they're also very concerned about the potential for a recession,
even a mild recession, they would need to tap that
(02:11):
money to make further you know, to cover the state budget. Now,
what we heard yesterday is that the intent here is
to use some of that money from the reserve to
cover this nine hundred and fifty five million, maybe half
maybe half of that will come out of the reserve,
but then they've got to replenish that in the next
budget year. So this is this is like a short
(02:34):
term loan. The rest is going to have to come
through budget cuts, and that's and some finagling on tax policy,
on state tax policy that they hope will we'll shore
up shore things up for now.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
I believe a special session is estimated around three thousand
dollars a day just to hold, So I assume that
the goal is going to be trying to get in
and out as quickly as possible. Do we have any
time line of what we could expect once it's called
how long it could take? On top of the state
capital not being air conditioned, so they probably don't want
to be in there much longer anyways, correct.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Correct, Well, a special session needs to be at least
three days because that's how long it takes to get
a bill through both chambers and up to the governor's desk,
So at a minimum of three days. I think the
one we had one two years ago that wound up
being an extra day wound up being four days, so
(03:30):
you know, it can go longer than that. And there's
another issue that they want to take up that we
believe is going to be in the governor's call, and
that's a bill on artificial intelligence, and that's a consumer
protection issue that has to do with how companies use
artificial intelligence and hiring and education choices. And there's been
a lot of issues around that bill. Colorado is the
(03:52):
only state in the nation that has a bill quite
like this, and there's some concerns that it maybe went
a little too far and then it needs to be
scaled back a little bit.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I have one more question at least about the budget,
and we'll keep our eyes on the AI thing. But
I know this is predictive, Mary Anne, but with this
budget shortfall, are are we looking at draconian cuts or
there are any sacred cows that will not be touched
or is everything up to for discussion when it comes
to trying to write the ship.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Well, the chair of the Joint Budget Committee told me
yesterday that everything is on the table, and that's that
could be pretty scary. We could be talking about education funding,
we could be talking about medicaid issues, we could be
talking about corrections. I mean, those are the sort of
the three biggest areas in the state budget and the
places where lawmakers have gone to in the past when
(04:36):
there's when there's a shortfall that they've got to cover.
We wound up with a billion dollar debt to K
twelve from the Great Recession and they only got that
paid off back in twenty twenty four. So you know,
lawmakers would really like not to touch education funding, but
they may not have a whole lot of choices.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
We're speaking with Maryan Goodlind. You can find her article
at Colorado politics dot com talking about the Budge deficit,
the possible special session, and the unresolved AI regulation. But
Marian pivoting over to the two hundred plus new laws
that are going into effect today. When we look at
some of them, what do you believe are some of
the most newsworthy or some of the items that will
affect most people in our state.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Well, the one that I would really look at is
House Bill eleven thirty five. If you've got kids, you
know that cell phones are an issue in our school districts,
and this bill is going to require school districts and
charter schools to adopt policies on the use and possession
of cell phones during the school day. It doesn't say
(05:38):
what those policies have to be, but we're always seeing
signs in cell school districts that they're requiring students to
put their cell phones away or put them in secured
locations during the school day because it's a distraction. So
I think that's a real big one.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Marian. Is there a real divide with that issue too?
I know the school districts in favor, but I understand
a lot of parents are not because of fears with
the issues we have with school safety in those things.
So is that is that where there's a real divide
with this issue?
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Somewhat, Yes, there's been concerns, you know, if a parent
needs to get a hold of a student in an emergency,
but you know they want they want to have that
immediate access. But you know, there was a day and
and I certainly remember them when we didn't have cell
phones in the schools, and when there was a need
to get a hold of student, you call the principal's office,
and you know that, those those kinds of things. So
(06:28):
so I think we've just kind of forgotten what it
was like to live without cell phones, frankly. So we'll see,
we'll see how that turns out.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
You cover those sessions very very closely. Do any laws
come to mind as one that maybe had a lot
of debate or some pushback back and forth when it
came to passing it.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Absolutely, the Color of Voting Rights Act, which was in
Senate Bill one goes into effect today. And this one
was was really really controversial. It requires municipal these provide
multi lingual ballots, and that drew some concern about costs.
This was something of an unfunded mandate for municipalities. But
(07:09):
then Republicans also felt like this bill was completely unnecessary.
It codifies the right of equal access to elections for
based on race and color and ethnicity and language and
so and that one, that one was very controversial.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Marianne, I could talk to you for another twenty minutes
about all this. We'll have to have you back, especially
after we find out what they do in the special session.
Chief legislative reporter for Colorado Politics, it's Mariann Goodland. Marian
thank you, as always.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Absolutely my pleasure. Thank you for having me
It is Colorado's Borning News. Marty Lenz, Gina Gondick. In morning,
over two hundred new state laws going to effect today,
ranging from protections for consumers and the environment, to school
cell phone use policies and public safety changes, among many others.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Also today, reports believe that Governor Jared Poulis could declare
a special session as Colorado is facing a nearly billion
dollar budget deficit. Joining us on the KOA Common Spirit
Health Hotline is chief legislative reporter for Colorado Politics. It's
Marianne Goodland. Marian thank you so much for your time
this morning. Lots to get to today before we even
talk about the new laws, two hundred over two hundred
(00:33):
of them. We won't get to all of them, obviously,
Let's get your opinion because you wrote an in depth
piece discussing the possibility of a special session. In fact,
we saw the press briefing or the press release nine
forty five today. The Governor's supposed to be making a
quote unquote major announcement when it comes to the special session.
Is it pretty much expected? Did we know we had
to have one and needed by the governor? What will
(00:53):
this process look like?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Wellnor what the governor will do today. What we believe
he is going to do today is issue a call
for the General Assembly to return to the capital to
deal with a nine hundred and fifty five million dollar
shortfall that is in this current year's budget. They had
already cut one point two billion dollars out of the
budget before before the end of the session, and now
(01:17):
the Democrats are saying because of the HR one bill
passed by Congress assigned by the President, it means the
state has about nine hundred and fifty five million dollars
million dollars less revenue coming in and they've they've got
to figure out how to cover that.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
We've joked about it here on the air, Marian about
special sessions seem to be less and less special in
Colorado because the issues are navigating. I think this is
the third one. But from your perch, how serious and
how special is this session because that shortfall.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
It's very serious. They don't have nine hundred and fifty
five million dollars sitting in a piggy bank. We do
have a state reserve that has over two billion dollars
in it, but they're very leary of touching that money
because they're also very concerned about the potential for a recession,
even a mild recession, they would need to tap that
(02:11):
money to make further you know, to cover the state budget. Now,
what we heard yesterday is that the intent here is
to use some of that money from the reserve to
cover this nine hundred and fifty five million, maybe half
maybe half of that will come out of the reserve,
but then they've got to replenish that in the next
budget year. So this is this is like a short
(02:34):
term loan. The rest is going to have to come
through budget cuts, and that's and some finagling on tax policy,
on state tax policy that they hope will we'll shore
up shore things up for now.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
I believe a special session is estimated around three thousand
dollars a day just to hold, So I assume that
the goal is going to be trying to get in
and out as quickly as possible. Do we have any
time line of what we could expect once it's called
how long it could take? On top of the state
capital not being air conditioned, so they probably don't want
to be in there much longer anyways, correct.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Correct, Well, a special session needs to be at least
three days because that's how long it takes to get
a bill through both chambers and up to the governor's desk,
So at a minimum of three days. I think the
one we had one two years ago that wound up
being an extra day wound up being four days, so
(03:30):
you know, it can go longer than that. And there's
another issue that they want to take up that we
believe is going to be in the governor's call, and
that's a bill on artificial intelligence, and that's a consumer
protection issue that has to do with how companies use
artificial intelligence and hiring and education choices. And there's been
a lot of issues around that bill. Colorado is the
(03:52):
only state in the nation that has a bill quite
like this, and there's some concerns that it maybe went
a little too far and then it needs to be
scaled back a little bit.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I have one more question at least about the budget,
and we'll keep our eyes on the AI thing. But
I know this is predictive, Mary Anne, but with this
budget shortfall, are are we looking at draconian cuts or
there are any sacred cows that will not be touched
or is everything up to for discussion when it comes
to trying to write the ship.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Well, the chair of the Joint Budget Committee told me
yesterday that everything is on the table, and that's that
could be pretty scary. We could be talking about education funding,
we could be talking about medicaid issues, we could be
talking about corrections. I mean, those are the sort of
the three biggest areas in the state budget and the
places where lawmakers have gone to in the past when
(04:36):
there's when there's a shortfall that they've got to cover.
We wound up with a billion dollar debt to K
twelve from the Great Recession and they only got that
paid off back in twenty twenty four. So you know,
lawmakers would really like not to touch education funding, but
they may not have a whole lot of choices.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
We're speaking with Maryan Goodlind. You can find her article
at Colorado politics dot com talking about the Budge deficit,
the possible special session, and the unresolved AI regulation. But
Marian pivoting over to the two hundred plus new laws
that are going into effect today. When we look at
some of them, what do you believe are some of
the most newsworthy or some of the items that will
affect most people in our state.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Well, the one that I would really look at is
House Bill eleven thirty five. If you've got kids, you
know that cell phones are an issue in our school districts,
and this bill is going to require school districts and
charter schools to adopt policies on the use and possession
of cell phones during the school day. It doesn't say
(05:38):
what those policies have to be, but we're always seeing
signs in cell school districts that they're requiring students to
put their cell phones away or put them in secured
locations during the school day because it's a distraction. So
I think that's a real big one.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Marian. Is there a real divide with that issue too?
I know the school districts in favor, but I understand
a lot of parents are not because of fears with
the issues we have with school safety in those things.
So is that is that where there's a real divide
with this issue?
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Somewhat, Yes, there's been concerns, you know, if a parent
needs to get a hold of a student in an emergency,
but you know they want they want to have that
immediate access. But you know, there was a day and
and I certainly remember them when we didn't have cell
phones in the schools, and when there was a need
to get a hold of student, you call the principal's office,
and you know that, those those kinds of things. So
(06:28):
so I think we've just kind of forgotten what it
was like to live without cell phones, frankly. So we'll see,
we'll see how that turns out.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
You cover those sessions very very closely. Do any laws
come to mind as one that maybe had a lot
of debate or some pushback back and forth when it
came to passing it.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Absolutely, the Color of Voting Rights Act, which was in
Senate Bill one goes into effect today. And this one
was was really really controversial. It requires municipal these provide
multi lingual ballots, and that drew some concern about costs.
This was something of an unfunded mandate for municipalities. But
(07:09):
then Republicans also felt like this bill was completely unnecessary.
It codifies the right of equal access to elections for
based on race and color and ethnicity and language and
so and that one, that one was very controversial.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Marianne, I could talk to you for another twenty minutes
about all this. We'll have to have you back, especially
after we find out what they do in the special session.
Chief legislative reporter for Colorado Politics, it's Mariann Goodland. Marian
thank you, as always.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Absolutely my pleasure. Thank you for having me
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!