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2019 Colorado legislative session

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Colorado General Assembly

Seal of Colorado.svg.png
General information
Type:   State legislature
Term limits:   8 years in the Senate, 4 terms (8 years) in the House
Session start:   January 4, 2019
Session end:   May 3, 2019
Website:   Official Legislature Page
Leadership
Senate President:   Leroy Garcia (D)
House Speaker:  KC Becker (D)
Majority Leader:   Senate: Stephen Fenberg (D)
House: Alec Garnett (D)
Minority Leader:   Senate: Chris Holbert (R)
House: Patrick Neville (R)
Structure
Members:  35 (Senate), 65 (House)
Length of term:   4 years (Senate), 2 years (House)
Authority:   Art V, Colorado Constitution
Salary:   $30,000/year + per diem
Elections
Last election:  November 6, 2018
Senate
House
Next election:  November 3, 2020
Senate
House
Redistricting:  Colorado Reapportionment Commission has control

Colorado convened its legislative session on January 4, 2019, and legislators remained in session until May 3, 2019. No party had a veto-proof supermajority this legislative session. Following the 2018 election, Democrats had a 19-16 majority in the Senate and a 41-24 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Democratic state government trifecta.

At the beginning of the 2019 legislative session:
  • No party held a veto-proof supermajority in either chamber.
  • Colorado was one of 14 Democratic state government trifectas.
  • Colorado' governor was Democrat Jared Polis.

    • Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2020 state Senate and state House elections.
    Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2018 state Senate and state House elections.

    Partisan control in 2019

    See also: State government trifectas

    Colorado was one of 14 Democratic state government trifectas at the start of 2019 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

    Colorado was one of 28 state legislatures where no one party had a veto-proof supermajority. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

    The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Colorado State Legislature in the 2019 legislative session.

    Colorado State Senate

    Party As of January 2019
         Democratic Party 19
         Republican Party 16
    Total 35

    From 1992 to 2018, the Colorado Senate was competitive, flipping partisan control five times. This was not unusual as the Colorado Senate has a history of being a toss-up chamber. Between 1900 and 2018, the chamber changed partisan hands 14 times. The table below shows the partisan history of the Colorado Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Colorado State Senate election results: 1992-2018

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18
    Democrats 16 16 15 14 18 17 18 20 21 20 19 17 17 19
    Republicans 19 19 20 21 17 18 17 15 14 15 16 18 18 16

    Democrats controlled the chamber following the 1900 elections. By 1956 the chamber had switched control eight times. The competitiveness waned after the 1962 election, as that year marked the beginning of solid Republican control until the 2000 elections.

    In the early and mid-1990s, Republicans had a three- to seven-seat advantage over Democrats. Starting in 2000, Democrats saw a resurgence and partisan control of the chamber underwent several rapid shifts. In 2000, the Democrats took control of the chamber for the first time in nearly 40 years, winning a one-seat majority. In 2002, Republicans flipped control of the chamber back in their favor by the same one-seat majority. In 2004, this happened again with Democrats reclaiming the one-seat majority. After the 2008 election, Democrats held 21 seats, the most their party had held since the 1958 elections.

    The Democratic advantage persisted through the 2012 elections. However, in 2014 Republicans took control of the chamber again with another one-seat majority. They maintained their one-seat majority in the 2016 elections yet lost it to a 19-16 Democratic majority in 2018.

    Colorado House of Representatives

    Party As of January 2019
         Democratic Party 41
         Republican Party 24
    Total 65

    From 1992 to 2018, the Colorado House was competitive, flipping partisan control three times. This was not unusual as the Colorado House has a history of being a toss-up chamber. Between 1900 and 2018, the chamber changed partisan hands 19 times. The table below shows the partisan history of the Colorado House following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Colorado House of Representatives election results: 1992-2018

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18
    Democrats 31 24 24 26 27 28 33 39 38 32 37 34 37 41
    Republicans 34 41 41 39 38 37 32 26 27 33 28 31 28 24

    Democrats controlled the chamber following the 1900 elections. By 1950 the chamber had switched control 10 times, an average of once every five years. It was even more competitive between 1950 and 1976, switching control six times. But the 1976 election marked the beginning of an almost 30-year period of Republican majorities.

    In the early and mid-1990s, Republicans were able to boost their majority to over 40 members, coming within three seats of the 44 needed for a two-thirds supermajority. Starting in 1998 though, Democrats saw a resurgence. They picked up seats in the next three elections until taking back control in 2004. Democrats maintained their majority for six years before the 2010 election turned the chamber red again. Democrats gained five seats in 2012 and won back control. Republicans made some gains in the 2014 election, but it was not enough to win the chamber. After the 2018 election, Democrats held 41 seats.

    Leadership in 2019

    Colorado State Senate

    Colorado House of Representatives

    Regular session

    The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2019 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria yet in 2019. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Standing legislative committees

    See also: Standing committee and List of committees in Colorado state government


    A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

    At the beginning of the 2019 legislative session, there were 26 standing committees in Colorado's state government, including six joint legislative committees, 10 state Senate committees, and 10 state House committees.

    Joint legislative committees


    Senate committees


    House committees


    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

    In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

    The methods by which the Colorado Constitution can be amended:

    See also: Section 1 of Article V and Article XIX of the Colorado Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in Colorado
    Colorado Constitution
    800px-Flag of Colorado.svg.png
    Preamble
    Articles
    I • II • III • IV • V • VI • VII • VIII • IX • X • XI • XII • XIII • XIV • XV • XVI • XVII • XVIII • XIX • XX • XXI • XXII • XXIII • XXIV • XXV • XXVI • XXVII • XXVIII • XXIX • Schedule

    The Colorado Constitution provides three mechanisms for amending the state's constitution—a citizen-initiated process, a legislative process, and a state constitutional convention. Once on the ballot, a 55 percent supermajority vote is required for the approval of any constitutional amendment put on the ballot by the legislature or by a citizen initiative, except those that only remove language from the constitution, rather than adding language or changing existing language.

    Initiative

    See also: Initiated constitutional amendment

    An initiated constitutional amendment is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends a state's constitution. Eighteen (18) states allow citizens to initiate constitutional amendments.

    In Colorado, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 5% of the votes cast for the Colorado secretary of state in the preceding general election. Colorado has a distribution requirement for initiated amendments. Signatures must be collected from at least 2% of the registered voters who live in each of the 35 state Senate districts. A 55% vote is required for voter approval.

    Combined initiated constitutional amendments and state statutes

    See also: Combined initiated constitutional amendment and state statute

    A combined initiated constitutional amendment and state statute is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends both a state's constitution and state statute. There are at least two (2) states that allow citizens to initiate combined amendments and statutes.

    In Colorado, the number of signatures required for a combined initiated constitutional amendment and state statute is equal to 5% of the votes cast for the Colorado secretary of state in the preceding general election. Colorado has a distribution requirement for initiated amendments. Signatures must be collected from at least 2% of the registered voters who live in each of the 35 state Senate districts. A 55% vote is required for voter approval.

    Legislature

    See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

    A two-thirds (66.67%) vote is required during one legislative session for the Colorado State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 44 votes in the Colorado House of Representatives and 24 votes in the Colorado State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

    Convention

    See also: Convention-referred constitutional amendment

    According to Article XIX of the Colorado Constitution, the state Legislature can refer a state constitutional convention question to the ballot. A two-thirds (66.67%) vote of legislators in each chamber is required.


    Historical context:

    • A total of 108 measures appeared on the statewide ballot in Colorado during the 20-year period between 1999 through 2019.
    • Through all years between 1999 and 2019, odd and even, the approval rate for measures appearing on Colorado's ballot (all types) was 42%.
    • From 1999 through 2019, the number of measures on statewide ballots ranged from zero to 14.
    • From 2000 through 2018, an average of about nine measures appeared on the statewide ballot during even-numbered years. The approval rate for measures on the ballot in even-numbered years was about 41%.
    • During odd years, an average of 1 measure appeared on the statewide ballot.
    • From 1999 through 2019, about 42% (45 of 108) of the total number of measures that appeared on the statewide ballot were approved, and about 58% (63 of 108) were defeated.


    Historical partisan control

    The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Colorado.

    Colorado Party Control: 1992-2025
    Thirteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  Four years of Republican trifectas
    Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    Governor D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
    Senate R R R R R R R R R D D R R D D D D D D D D D D R R R R D D D D D D D
    House R R R R R R R R R R R R R D D D D D D R R D D D D D D D D D D D D D

    See also

    Elections Colorado State Government State Legislatures State Politics
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    External links

    Footnotes

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