Here’s some of the notables and quotables from the first week of the 2018 Colorado General Assembly.

ICYMI: Last October, Gov. John Hickenlooper called lawmakers back to the state Capitol for what was eventually a two-day session intended to fix a drafting error in Senate Bill 17-267. You do remember that, right?

Apparently, memories are a tad short at the state Capitol these days, or at least in the opening days of the legislative session and among the legislative powers that be. Over the first two days, the leadership of both parties in both chambers talked about what they want to accomplish in 2018, as did Hickenlooper.

None of those five people mentioned a fix to SB 267, which accidentally stripped a half-dozen special districts of marijuana sales tax revenue. The fix seems to have become the flaming bag of dog poo that almost no one wants to stomp on.

Except for…Rep. Steve Lebsock of Thornton, who by now is probably used to being in the doghouse. Lebsock is the sponsor of House Bill 18-1062, which would reduce the retail marijuana sales tax by 2.9 percent from 15 percent to 12.1 percent. That 2.9 percent would then go back to the special districts that had previously been allowed to collect it. The bill has been assigned to House Finance and House Appropriations committees; it is not yet listed on the public calendar for a hearing.

Faces in the crowd: the opening few days of the General Assembly had its usual pomp and circumstance and lots of old-timers and former lawmakers. That included former Rep. Polly Baca, the first Latina elected to a state House in the country, back in the 1970s; or former Rep. and social studies teacher Tom Tancredo. But notable in their absence: not one member of Colorado’s congressional delegation showed up, either for opening day (Wednesday) or for the governor’s state of the state address on Thursday. The reason: Congress is actually back in session. Both chambers went back to work on Jan. 3.

But there’s one familiar face you won’t see much of anymore: longtime Capitol observer and professor John Straayer, who had been torturing college students from Colorado State University by bringing them to the General Assembly for the last four decades. Straayer retired after the 2017 session. “It will feel a bit strange this spring, not being in the capitol, and I shall miss many good friends as well as a new group of student-interns,” Straayer told Colorado Politics.

President’s words ignite MLK Day resolution in state House: President Donald Trump’s identification of African nations, El Salvador and Haiti as “shitholes” did not go unnoticed at the Capitol, but the notice was a bit weird and even a little profane (although to be honest, one person were just quoting what Trump said). Friday was the day legislators planned to pass their annual Martin Luther King, Jr. resolution (the holiday is on Monday), but Trump’s comments prompted outrage among Democrats.

Leading it off: Democratic Rep. Jovan Melton of Aurora, who said that it almost appears that “King’s message of love and unity has died.” He then pointed to statements by the president, such as calling white supremacists “very fine people,” or calling Mexicans rapists and drug dealers. Then Melton repeated Trump’s “shithole” remark, which earned him a rebuke from Speaker of the House Crisanta Duran. “Don’t cuss,” she said. “I’m quoting the current leader of the free world,” Melton replied.

Things kind of went downhill from there. Democratic Rep. Joe Salazar of Thornton said he wondered what King would think about the country, with mass shootings based on race, religion, immigration, gender or LGBT status; or representatives and senators who call people “illegal. That is not unifying language, that’s divisive.” You’d be forgiven if you thought that last line might have been something of a dig at Republican Rep. Dave Williams of Colorado Springs, with whom Salazar tangled last year over issues such as sanctuary cities and immigration. Williams got into hot water with Salazar and Duran over his use of the word “illegal,” which at one point last April prompted Duran to go to the well of the House to chew him out for it, although not by name. 

Quote of the week: again, from the House’s MLK Day resolution. Republican Rep. Jim Wilson of Salida called for a truce, or at least for people to get along. “We’ve pointed fingers and chewed on each other,” he said. “Today of all days, I hope and pray we in this chamber accept that we’re all imperfect…As you honor [Dr. King’s] memory, overlook each other’s imperfections, discuss with each other our dreams. It starts today, here, not in Washington.”

“I can say this with a complete clear conscience because I do not Tweet, but I would ask when you Tweet about people on the opposite side of the aisle, how many of those have been positive? Just sayin’.”

Words to live by, Rep. Wilson.