Gov. Jared Polis vetoed 10 bills this year, more than the year of his governorship. They covered a wide variety of policy topics, from gambling to driver’s licenses.
Some were controversial. Others were relative minnows who passed the legislature with little recognition. None will become law.
Here are those 10 bills and why Polis rejected them.
Wolves
Brought to you by a group of Western Slope legislators, SB23-256 would have delayed the reintroduction of gray wolves until the state received specific federal permission. That process is already underway, and critics feared that the bill, if signed into law, would delay it further.
Polis agreed, saying the bill threatened to undermine the will of voters who approved reintroducing wolves in 2020.
clemency
The sponsors of HB23-1214 hoped to standardize the process for inmates applying for clemency. The bill would have included specific processes in the law and would require more transparency for those waiting for updates on their case.
But Polis argued that the legislation affected his constitutional power to expand and monitor clemency, and he vetoed the bill on May 16.
Gamble
SB23-259 became controversial late in the session. The measure would have allowed casinos to extend credit to gamblers, and it was intended for out-of-state high-rollers. But it became something of a zombie bill: It narrowly died on the final ballot, only for a House Republican opposed to call for a revote. It then passed and drew criticism from several House Democrats.
The sponsors, such as El Paso County Democratic Representative Marc Snyder, said the bill was aimed at out-of-state visitors and that gambling addicts would not have easy access to credit. But Polis worried in a letter to lawmakers that it would still do so.
concert tickets
Depending on who you ask, SB23-060 was a giveaway to industry groups or an attempt to protect consumers from the bot-powered chaos of concert ticket sales. It tried to crack down on those bots, improve price transparency, and reduce counterfeit tickets. But critics said it risked disrupting the third-party market and giving too much power to venues.
Polis bowed to the critics. Given the importance of concert halls in Colorado, he said he had a “high bar” for changing the law around it and that consumer groups had called for his veto.
Drug war
In a session increasingly marked by tensions between the House and Senate, HB23-1258 was a quiet but instructive front. The bill would have launched an investigation into the costs of the War on Drugs. The measure was later amended in the Senate to also look at the benefits of that effort. The amendment also limited what could have been studied and what the study could have produced for the legislature.
House sponsors — Democratic Representatives Lorena Garcia and Said Sharbini — rejected those changes, saying they would rather let the bill die. There was no need – they had the votes to pass the bill as they wanted – but Polis intervened. In his letter of veto, he said he felt the study should be more balanced and that he wanted the risks of easing to be examined before enforcement.
Housing
Polis’ most controversial veto of the year HB23-1190, which would have given local governments the right of first refusal to buy certain apartment buildings and turn them into affordable housing. The bill was defended as a market-based strategy to sustain more public housing, but opponents — such as the Colorado Apartment Association — said it would undermine property rights and the housing market.
Still, the four Democrats who carried the bill managed to pass it and, they said, the assurance from Polis’s office that he would not veto it. But on Tuesday, he did just that, expressing concern about its impact on housing and the market. That provoked howls from lawmakers who accused him and the groups who lobbied him to kill it for betraying their trust and circumventing the legislative process.
Drivers license
HB23-1147 would require potential drivers under the age of 18 to receive 30 hours of training, plus several hours more in hands-on driving with an instructor or parent. That education would have cost money, but the bill would also have resulted in a voucher program for underprivileged Coloradans.
But Polis vetoed the bill, saying he was concerned about an increase in the cost of obtaining a driver’s license and said the new program would cost more money than bill sponsors allowed.
Tips
HB23-1146 would have prohibited employers — with a few exceptions — from reprimanding employees who took tips. The house sponsor, Rep. Alex Valdez of Denver, said it was a way to put money in more people’s pockets, and a Republican colleague said it was “reprehensible” that some service workers could not accept a tip.
Industry groups were largely neutral on the bill, with a minor adjustment to clarify restaurants’ position. But Polis wrote in his letter rejecting the bill that he did not see tipping as an appropriate focus of state regulation and that he did not want to interfere with business practices.
Open meetings
Colorado government agencies are governed by the state’s Open Meetings Act, which sets the parameters for how they should conduct public business. If they violate those provisions, they can be sued. A lawyer in Pagosa Springs has done this – more than 30 times.
HB23-1259 sought to limit attorneys’ fees paid to people who successfully sue through the Public Assemblies Act and represent themselves. But Polis wrote that he feared the bill would hinder open meetings.
Ag country
Like the law on open meetings, SB23-273 seemed trained on one specific actor. In this case, that was a real estate project in Loveland. The bill would have closed what sponsors say is a “loophole” in the state law around urban renewal land and – they say – prevent sprawl and protect farmland.
But supporters of the development told Colorado Public Radio that the bill would have put their work in “little limb,” and Polis said he was concerned about the “effects retroactively amending existing statutes” may have.
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