The General Assembly’s 2019 session reached its 120th and final day Friday, closing out a busy four months with a flurry of activity.

The Senate adjourned for the year just after 5 p.m.; the House followed just after 6:40 p.m.

The last day saw dozens of bills receive final action, mostly in the Senate, where Republicans previously had slowed down the calendar with lengthy debates, even on bills the chamber wound up voting for unanimously.

At the beginning of the day, the House had four bills, all originating in the Senate, awaiting final action. The Senate had at least 38.

The House gave its final approval to the annual School Finance Act, which was amended to incorporate several bills that the bill’s House sponsors feared would die before they got final Senate action. Those bills included one on grants for physical education and another that would help ninth graders finish high school.

The vote on Senate Bill 246 was unanimous, 64-0. The Senate quickly adopted the amendments from the House and the bill heads to a happy Gov. Jared Polis.

“It’s the best school finance bill I’ve seen in years,” said Republican Rep. Jim Wilson of Salida. 

Also receiving final approval by one chamber or the other on the session’s last day: 

? House Bill 1210, which would allow local governments to set a minimum wage higher than that required by the state, passed the Senate 19-16 then repassed the House 41-23 Friday.

? House Bill 1327, a proposal to ask Colorado voters to approve wagering on sports events, was sent to Gov. Jared Polis with a 27-8 Senate vote Friday.  The bill was introduced late – just two weeks ago – but enjoyed strong bipartisan support. If voters approve, a 10 percent tax on sports betting will support state water planning, as well as provide money to combat gambling addiction.

? House Bill 1110, setting up a task force that will come up with recommendations for the curriculum on media literacy for elementary and secondary public education. The measure passed on a party-line 19-16 vote in the Senate and headed back to the House for agreement on amendments. House Bill 1110 was the last bill to pass the House in the 2019 session and on a 40-23 vote. 

? House Bill 1264, on transparency for the state’s troubled conservation easements program. The bill was amended by the Senate to ensure that a working group meets to figure out how to provide retroactive tax credits to property owners who donated their land for easements. Those property owners later lost those state tax credits, sometimes in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, resulting in financial hardships, including bankruptcies, seizure of bank accounts and foreclosures. House Bill 1264 won Senate approval late Thursday on a 30-5 vote and the House adopted the Senate amendments Friday.

? House Bill 1032, a stripped-down version of the sex education bill introduced on the first day of the session and which generated angry opposition and dozens of hours of hearings with hundreds of witnesses. The bill was rewritten on Thursday to take out some of the language that opponents most strongly objected to, although it retained its core provisions on consent and banning schools and school districts from hiring third-party contractors to teach abstinence only education, using federal Title V funds designed for that purpose.

During the bill’s final moments in the Senate, Republican Leader Chris Holbert of Parker spoke to the opponents outside the Capitol, which has included Colorado Christian University and the Catholic Church, telling them to be sure they’re looking at the version from Thursday and not one from two months ago. 

Republican Sen. Don Coram of Montrose, the bill’s Senate co-sponsor, said he took “a lot of arrows” over his sponsorship of the bill but that it was the right thing to do. The Senate approved the measure on an 21-14 vote Friday. The House later gave its consent on the amendments and approved it on a 40-23 vote.

? House Bill 1124, the Democratic immigration bill that blocks law enforcement officers from enforcing detainers from the federal government without a court order. The bill won a 20-15 vote in the Senate and was not amended by the Senate. It heads straight to the governor for signing.

? House Bill 1168 would set up a “reinsurance” program, basically insurance for health insurance providers that experience high-cost claims. The bill ran into trouble early on when sponsors found out the federal government was unlikely to grant a waiver allowing the program based on its financial model. It went through several more iterations to figure out the best way to get that waiver.

The final version assesses fees from hospitals, which cannot be passed along to consumers under the law; fees on insurance premiums; and funds destined for housing from another bill. Those funds will create a two-year reinsurance program starting in 2020. The bill is considered a short-term fix to high health insurance premiums, primarily in rural Colorado.

The House agreed with Senate amendments and sent the bill on to the governor Friday.

? What got away in the last days: House Bill 1167, on allowing remote notaries, died in the state Senate on Thursday. The bill would have placed restrictions on how Colorado notaries, who would provide their services via video, retain client information, including personal financial information.

The bill was a battle of sorts between its sponsor, Republican Rep. Terri Carver and Republican Sen. Bob Gardner, both of Colorado Springs, with Gardner favoring a model from the Uniform Laws Commission that would have allowed remote notaries to provide that information to affiliated third parties. 

The last act of the House was to read one more thing at length: a proclamation from Gov. Jared Polis honoring retiring Chief Clerk Marilyn Eddins. He also named May 3, 2019 as Marilyn Eddins Day in Colorado.