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Home The Beats 2020 Legislative Session

2020 Legislative Session

Members of the Colorado House of Representatives toil as lawmakers try to wrap up the 2020 session in the State Capitol Monday, June 15, 2020, in Denver.

Police reforms, hard budget choices mark the end of Colorado lawmakers’ strange year

Colorado lawmakers have finished their work, bringing an end to one of the most unorthodox legislative sessions in recent memory. Possibly even the most...
Denver police ahead of protesters in Denver's Capitol Hill neighborhood on Saturday, June 6, 2020.

Colorado’s sweeping police accountability bill now requires officers to face imminent threat before using...

Colorado Democrats’ sweeping police accountability bill won preliminary approval Monday in the state Senate after undergoing a number of changes, including the addition of a prohibition...

Vaccine bill draws Republican ire after it is scheduled for Sunday debate

A bill aimed at increasing Colorado’s childhood vaccination will get another hearing this Sunday. Despite coronavirus and racial justice protests, it’s expected to draw...
Khyra Parker raises her fist during nine minutes of silence during the sixth day of protests in reaction to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. June 2, 2020.

Huge crowd marches through Denver as protests prompt legislative action

It wasn’t the most organized, or best publicized of the Denver marches to demand change after the death of a Minneapolis man in police...
Lawmakers packed into the House floor with clear dividers between desks for the restart of the legislative session on May 26, 2020. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)

“It’s an 11 on the weird scale”: Colorado legislature makes an awkward return to...

The hallways were mostly empty. The lawmakers were mostly masked. The interactions were mostly awkward.  The General Assembly’s return to the state Capitol after a...

Lawmakers just cut 58% from Colorado public colleges. Federal money will ease the blow.

Colorado’s Joint Budget Committee slashed $493 million from next year’s higher education budget, a massive 58% cut from this year’s funding levels by lawmakers...

Colorado lawmakers grapple with doing the people’s work when the people can’t be there...

Temperature checks. A closed cafeteria. Spaced seating. Lawmakers in masks separated by plexiglass. This may be the new normal at the state Capitol when...
Colorado's Capitol, where Democrats currently control both chambers. (Photo by John Herrick)

Colorado schools, universities could see major budget cuts amid coronavirus downturn Legislators have to...

Colorado schools and universities could see dramatic budget cuts, as the severe measures taken to combat the spread of coronavirus have caused state revenue...
With hospitals struggling to get more ventilators, they must ensure every ventilator they have is ready for service. But manufacturers limit who can repair them.

As ventilators become crucial in saving lives, repair roadblocks remain

DENVER — For years, manufacturers of ventilators and other medical equipment have kept a tight grip on the ability of hospitals to service and...
The state Capitol on Jan. 8, 2020, the opening day of the session. (Photo by John Herrick)

Economic ripple effects of COVID-19 could deal an $800 million blow to Colorado’s budget...

The speedy spread of COVID-19 has slowed Colorado's economy, state economists say.  In December, Colorado was projected to collect an extra $832.5 million in revenue...