Every legislative session ends in a bill jam. It’s a law of physics. Early bills + late bills x contentious hearings x GOP-led debate over 120 days = almost 200 bills hostage to hours and minutes.

The 2019 legislative session differs from 2018 in the most important way: Democratic control v. split control. The 2018 session heard 721 bills while this session will end at about 600. A split legislature has lots of repeat bills and the same bills introduced in both chambers. That’s not prevalent in a unified Capitol.

The jammed bills are mostly Democratic priorities because pesky Republican bills are long gone in committee hearings. Of 181 remaining bills, only three have GOP-only sponsors, so 178 are all-Dem-sponsored or bipartisan.

Over 260 bills were killed in 2018. This year it’s 109 so far. Of the 109, 23 are Dem-only sponsored, 56 are GOP-only sponsored, and the rest are bipartisan.

The governor and the business community apparently feel left out of the legislative process. Democratic legislators with the four principal leaders, Speaker KC Becker and Majority Leader Alec Garnett and Senate President Leroy Garcia and Majority Leader Stephen Fenberg, moved a clear Democratic agenda forward after a multi-year stymie.

Former Gov. John Hickenlooper tempered oil and gas bills during his terms, but this year Becker and Fenberg pushed Senate Bill 181 to reform the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and oil and gas regulations. If the oil and gas industry had pursued more compromise in previous sessions, maybe it would be in a different place right now.

The current governor and legislators want health care coverage to increase and costs to go down. Two bills addressing those issues will pass. One covers out-of-network costs and the other will form a commission to see where there are opportunities for savings. The governor should be pleased.

But the business community isn’t loving the local government minimum wage bill. Right now, the state minimum wage is $12 but the bill will allow local governments to change that number, including by local initiative. That’s probably the rub as liberal communities will push wages up, perhaps forcing businesses in nearby locations to move their wages up as well. The Economic Development Council of Colorado and City of Westminster oppose the bill, but the city of Boulder and Denver support it.

The bipartisan sales and use tax bill that straightens out collecting taxes by online retailers gets strong support from the business community. Pretty much the entire business community opposes the Consumer Protection Act that increases fines by five times from $2,000 to $10,000 and from $10,000 to $50,000 for bigger violations. The Dem-sponsored bill also restricts contract limitations. This bill will squeeze through its final vote before session ends.

Time is the Republican’s most important resource now. The governor and lots of left- and right-oriented citizens reject the vaccination bill, despite the measles epidemic hitting certain parts of the nation. It’s a House bill that hasn’t crossed to the Senate due to long debates, so it’s no doubt done. The human sexuality education bill will probably pass at long last as it gets its final debate this week. As long as the Senate doesn’t decide to amend it, it will get through.

There’s no talk of a special session this year. The 2019 legislative plane will land by midnight, or so, on May 3 in time for a nice game of golf on May 4 or 5. It’s going to be in the 70s over the weekend, perfect for recovering from a hectic four months.

Paula Noonan owns Colorado Capitol Watch, the state’s premier legislature tracking platform.