A Republican Colorado state senator says Democrats won’t let him be a prime co-sponsor of a full-day kindergarten bill, the top legislative priority for Gov. Jared Polis.

Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, told Colorado Politics Friday that despite a personal request from Polis that he be a prime co-sponsor of the legislation, that request has been denied by Senate Democrats.

Polis had hoped to have bipartisan prime sponsorship of the measure in both chambers, but the decision to keep Sonnenberg off the bill likely means that won’t happen. Any lawmaker can be a co-sponsor; a prime sponsor is one of the chief advocates for a bill.

Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg of Boulder cited Sonnenberg’s previous votes on full-day kindergarten as well as what he called the Republican’s inflammatory rhetoric on other issues as reasons for the denial. 

Sonnenberg has said he is concerned about what he believes is a growing rural-urban divide, both at the state Capitol and outside of it, which he attributes to the “progressive left” agenda of Democrats this session.

That agenda, he says, includes Senate Bill 181, revamping oil and gas regulations, which he vigorously opposes; the national popular vote bill that Polis signed into law last week; and House Bill 1177, the “red-flag” gun bill that would allow a court to order the surrender of firearms by a person deemed a danger, which was being debated in the Senate on Friday.

“The Senate Majority Leader informed me that I would not be listed as a sponsor of the Full Day Kindergarten bill that Governor Polis personally called me just last week and asked me to sponsor,” Sonnenberg told Colorado Politics in a written statement.

“I had looked forward to working with Senator [Jeff] Bridges [D-Greenwood Village] on an important education bill that would help many of our rural school districts,” Sonnenberg said, referring to the pending bill’s Senate sponsor.

“I had hoped to be able to balance competing interests under the dome while being a co-prime sponsor but that can’t be done from the outside looking in,” he said. “It is hard to say that I will even be able to support the bill or persuade any of my Republican colleagues to support it if I am not able to make sure the competing interests are balanced.” Those competing interests include transportation funding, he said. 

Fenberg told Colorado Politics that the governor doesn’t choose who sponsors bills; that’s a decision made by each chamber.

He added that members of his caucus also opposed Sonnenberg’s inclusion as a prime sponsor for several reasons: That he has consistently voted against bills that sought to fund full-day kindergarten, measures that were sent to the Senate’s “kill committee,” State, Veterans and Military Affairs, when Republicans led the chamber. Although Sonnenberg was not the committee’s chair, he was viewed by many as the committee’s leader.

Fenberg said his caucus “doesn’t trust” Sonnenberg on the issue.

“He has not been a supporter of full-day kindergarten. He’s been an opponent,” Fenberg said. “This [policy] is incredibly important to our members and to the state. People feel uncomfortable with someone who opposed this policy and now supposedly [wants to be] the one who will carry the torch for it.”

Fenberg also pointed to what he called a “toxic” fundraising email that Sonnenberg sent out on March 4, entitled “Evil D.C. Politics Infiltrates Colorado Capitol.” Sonnenberg also wrote an opinion piece by that title that was published March 5 in the Sterling Journal-Advocate newspaper and March 12 in the South Platte Sentinel, a Logan County newspaper.

“The Nazi regime used gun control to disarm its enemies. We know it was evil then, and it continues to be evil today,” Sonnenberg wrote.

Alluding to other Democrat-backed bills — comprehensive sex education, national popular vote and the oil and gas bill — Sonnenberg in the piece called the Democrats’ agenda “evil … with absolutely no desire to reach across the aisle to form good policy. From the introduction of bills which would create safe places to inject illegal drugs with new needles given by government to giving our Presidential votes away to the populated states, this governor and lawmakers are taking Colorado down a path of destruction and socialism.”

Fenberg, who is Jewish, said to have a member “flippantly refer to me and my colleagues as Nazis is a little hurtful and offensive.”

Late Friday afternoon, Sonnenberg apologized, via Facebook. 

“Yes, I have voted no on full-day kindergarten in the past just as the Democrats in the House have killed full-day kindergarten bills sponsored by Republicans since 2014,” Sonnenberg said. “While Senate Republicans believed that paying down the budget stabilization factor was a more pressing priority this session, I agreed to be a part of the solution to find the common ground between Republicans and Democrats regarding full-day kindergarten.

I am sorry if the Majority Leader misunderstood my previous comments, as I would never label my colleagues across the aisle as anything resembling the Nazi regime. Simply put, I was explaining the perils of utilizing the power of government to disarm the people and provided a historical example of where that can end.

I would hope that the Majority Leader would have clarified my past comments beforehand, and am saddened that I won’t be part of what should be a bipartisan, united solution on full-day kindergarten. I thank Governor Jared Polis for inviting me to be a part of it.”

The 2019 session has been one of the most tense in decades, with the state Senate a daily flashpoint for that tension.

Senate Republicans have routinely asked for bills and journals to be read at length, a nondisputable motion that often has slowed Senate action to a crawl.

Senate Minority Leader Chris Holbert, R-Parker, said Democratic leadership has refused to negotiate over the rush to pass some of the most controversial bills or to accept some of their suggestions, such as adding a petition clause to SB 181, the oil and gas bill. 

A petition clause would allow voters to mount a referendum for the 2020 election and to vote on whether the bill should become law. The bill currently includes a safety clause, meaning it becomes law upon the governor’s signature.

The national popular vote law, which would direct Colorado electors to vote for the presidential candidate who wins the most votes nationwide if enough other states agree, included a petition clause. That law is being challenged; a petition that is due back to the Secretary of State by Aug. 1 seeks to put that law to a vote.

The controversy over sponsorship of the free full-day kindergarten bill came on the same day that Polis held a news conference to announce the legislation’s roll-out. 

The Joint Budget Committee voted earlier this week to set aside $185 million for the program, about $42 million less than Polis had requested. However, Polis said the $185 million would pay for the program as he envisions it; the $42 million difference accounts for actual versus estimated enrollment.

“Full-day kindergarten saves families money, frees up funding for over 5,000 free preschool slots, gives parents the option of going back to work sooner, and ensures that all children can get a strong start,” Polis said in a statement Friday.

This bill will fully fund full-day kindergarten through the School Finance Act formula. According to the governor, the bill also:

• Frees up resources for school districts that currently subsidize full-day kindergarten to spend on other priorities, including increasing teacher pay, decreasing class size, and purchasing new technologies.
• Provides access to free full-day kindergarten for families, saving Colorado parents up to $500 per month on tuition fees.
• Narrows persistent achievement gaps by helping to provide free full-day kindergarten to every single child – regardless of their ZIP code.
• Allows school districts that currently use Early Childhood At-Risk Enhancement (preschool) for full-day kindergarten to retain ECARE slots to use for full or half-day preschool within that district.
• Clarifies that nothing requires a child to attend full-day kindergarten or prohibits a school district from offering half-day kindergarten.

In the House, Republican Rep. Jim Wilson of Salida, who has carried legislation on free full-day kindergarten for years without success, will be the measure’s prime sponsor, along with Democratic Rep. Barbara McLachlan of Durango, the chair of the House Education Committee. House Democrats have blocked Wilson’s previous efforts.