I’m a political nerd, so the start of each legislative session is an exciting time for me. This year, opening day will be even more magical, as the chambers have been fully restored to their original grandeur, the chandeliers have been refreshed, and even the original skylights — covered for many decades by ugly acoustical tile — have been refurbished and opened back up, letting natural light into the proceedings. The House and Senate chambers are now among the most beautiful of any in the nation, and are gems for the whole state to cherish.

There are a lot of big issues that the legislature needs to address this session in those newly restored chambers. During the opening day speeches we will hear a great deal about how each party wants to tackle those issues and how they will work across the aisle to solve these problems. While some are cynical when they hear such talk, I truly believe that the legislative leaders, and the other members want to work together to tackle these issues. It is too early to tell what will actually happen once the gavel drops, and the one certainty about session is that you can never predict where it will go.

However, the effort to solve some of the state’s big challenges will require the Legislature to overcome some strong headwinds. This is an election year, and, with members running for re-election or higher office, there will be a great deal of political posturing. Session always has its political theater, but it is magnified during an election year and compounded further in presidential election years. I am hopeful that as House Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst and Senate President Bill Cadman enter their last session they can work together to solve some of the major issues facing our state.

The Legislature will have to tackle many issues but none as important or impactful as the state’s budget. The state faces a man-made budget shortfall because of TABOR. With economic recovery the state is taking in more revenue, and that is triggering automatic rebates for taxpayers. At the same time, we are underfunding transportation and education, but under TABOR we’re challenged to restore funding to these and other critical programs.

The governor has proposed changing the hospital provider fee into an enterprise to help solve this problem for the next few years. The proposal has bipartisan support from all across the state, including from business, civic and education leaders. The pre-session buzz is all about how the Legislature will handle this man-made budget crisis. It is clear that the Senate Republicans are very reluctant — you could say downright hostile — to the governor’s proposal. But I hold out hope that something will get done; the stakes are simply too high. I don’t think anyone — Republican or Democrat – wants to be responsible for cutting critical dollars for our classrooms or paving the way to Colorado being the only state in the nation not to fund higher education, for example.

As one of the original authors of the hospital provider fee, I regret that we did not make it an enterprise when we passed the legislation. There was talk about doing just that during the drafting of the legislation, and we believed it fully legal then to do so; however, given the delicate negotiations, it was decided that we could tackle it in a future legislative session. This change is something that can and should happen this legislative session.

Outside of the budget, we can expect to see a lot of rehashing of old issues. Whether it is around gun safety, LGBT rights, climate change or women’s health care, we will see both sides stake their positions on these issues during the legislative session.

These are the issues that will make the headlines and catch people’s attention, but, at the same time, the 100 members of the General Assembly will be doing some amazing work that will fly under the radar. Each year, members work on issues that have an impact on every resident of Colorado, and they do so to try and make people’s lives a little bit easier. If you can get past the headlines and look at the actual day-to-day work, you will be impressed about how often hard-thought, hard-fought legislation passes with bipartisan support and how coalitions across party lines, geographical areas, urban and rural come together to solve the issues facing our state.

Every start of session is a time filled with excitement and anticipation. I wish all the members good luck and encourage you to keep an open mind and expand the way you think about an issue. The future of the state is counting on you.

Former House Speaker Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, is the chief financial officer for Denver Public Schools.