Colorado may have some big problems, but it’s impossible to tell from bills signed by Gov. John Hickenlooper as of the last three days of the General Assembly.  The governor signed 179 of 686 bills by end of day Monday.

The slow pace of bills pushed 193 bills into unfinished status on the 119th day, or second-to-last, of the 70th General Assembly.

Signed bills were mostly narrow and technical as of May 9. HB16-1008 allows roadway shoulder access for buses. HB16-1298 sets the legal height of unladen and laden vehicles and maximum weight of vehicles using alternative fuel.

Meanwhile, end-of-session, late night committee hearings and end-of-session deals cause Coloradans to wonder what the heck’s going on.

Rep. Daniel Kagan, D-Cherry Hills Village, chair of House Judiciary and leader of a notorious 17-hour committee hearing on probate law, said in a comment to Fox-31 Denver, “We don’t bury bills in Colorado.” But bills certainly get killed and even resurrected in these last days’ mush rush.

One outraged citizen sought help from Colorado Capitol Watch staff about how to interpret “laid over daily,” the status of HB16-1256, a bill to determine whether Colorado is giving water away to Nebraska. The bill banged around the Capitol since its introduction on Feb. 8. It’s hard to tell a citizen so committed to a piece of legislation that the bill had its “Laid Over” wake on May 3 and will not pass. “It’s all fixed,” he said, “by money.”

Another anxious citizen called about HB16-1222, a bill to supplement BOCES online education resources by up to $480,000. The legislation has been on an unusual path.

The bill, introduced Feb. 4, passed the House April 29. On May 5, the record shows the bill was Postponed Indefinitely in Senate Appropriations. This citizen thinks the bill is in the grave, but on perusing the May 6 calendar, finds the bill is back in play in Appropriations, and on Reconsideration, the bill moves to the Senate chamber, where it passes on May 9 and heads to the House for consideration of Senate amendments.

“I don’t even know what’s in the bill, anymore,” complains our hapless citizen. “I only found it risen from the dead by accident!”

The School Finance bill, HB16-1422, has also had a peculiar run. The bill sets the per-pupil contribution for public education. The House bill moved to the Senate on April 5 and was heard on April 28. During this same period, two charter school bills, SB16-187 and SB-188, were up for hearings in the Senate when it became apparent they would fail in the House. On Senate third reading, a most unusual point in time, Sen. Michael Johnston, D-Denver, who’s retiring because he’s term-limited, amended HB16-1422, slipping in language from both SB16-187 and 188 into School Finance.

Charters got some of what they want, the School Finance bill must pass, but citizens, who will pay the bill, were completely iced out of the debate and consideration. They won’t know what they’re on the hook for until sine die, official end of session.