9. Vaping crackdown

At the end of the last session, Gov. Jared Polis got behind a push to put a tax on tobacco vaping products to pay for  education and health programs, but the proposed ballot measure never made it out of the legislature in the waning days. The problem, teen usage, hasn’t gone away, and neither has the need for tax money to fight it and help schools. Moreover, a health scare from fatal lung illnesses from black-market vaping products also is pressing lawmakers to act. Expect a step, or at least a half-step for election-year appearances, in the upcoming session. Polis asked the state health department for a report on vaping in September.

8. Taking on TABOR

While Colorado’s economy continues to hum, the state’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights keep lawmakers’ hands off most of the revenue windfall, forcing rebates when the income from taxes exceeds a constitutional spending cap based on inflation and population growth. Voters sent a message last November, when they handily rejected the legislatively approved Proposition CC that would have allowed the state to keep TABOR refunds. That set some the governor and some lawmakers to thinking of ways to raise money for education, transportation and other aspects of state government put upon by growth. Businesses are bracing for “revenue enhancements” that don’t require voter approval. Also to watch: whether progressive groups will take a shot at tax changes at the ballot, ranging from changes to the state’s income tax structure to a full-blown repeal of TABOR. The Colorado Fiscal Institute filed a whopping 35 proposed ballot measures in the week before Christmas on changing state tax policy to enact a “fair and just” graduated income tax system. 

7. Cannabis continuum

Besides a curb on teen vaping, the pot industry tells Colorado Politics to expect some sort of legislative declaration or incentive for the industry to foster social equity — meaning more minority representation in ownership and management — next session. Lawmakers also will examine residency exceptions for certain cannabis employees working for multi-state companies that have operations in Colorado and other states. The governor says the state also must continue to expand the industry’s access to capital and other services available to other industries and employers, though Colorado made progress last session and waits on the federal government, led by U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, to do more on banking rules. But that’s unlikely to move past discussion, given the opposition from Sen. Mark Crapo, R-Idaho, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee.

6. Mental health

The issue touches almost every aspect of Colorado life, from lost time at work to suicides among school students, from the cities to the mountains and plains. Mental health care advocates tell Colorado Politics they are looking to close gaps in coverage and find the missing pieces in the puzzle to help more people in 2020. Bills in the works include measures to set a minimum standard for mental health training for educators, allow some caregivers to work in more situations than they can currently, and establish an alternative transportation system for individuals experiencing crises. Another proposal would require licensed teachers and principals to take at least one class involving mental health aspects as part of their regular recertification process, and another would help provide transportation to help for people in crisis.

5. Education

Teachers want raises. Lawmakers want to pay down their constitutionally required debts to the education system. Parents want a slow roll on tuition increases for higher learning, and Republicans plan to press for more equity for charter schools and rural districts, as well as promote apprenticeships and high school-community college partnerships to trim tuition costs for parents. Polis said he thinks there’s more to do on early childhood education, where the foundation blocks are placed for a lifetime of learning. In other words, it’s the same-old, same-old under the Gold Dome in Denver. 

4. Transportation

Despite billions in state highway needs, there are not a lot of bold initiatives on the front burner for this legislative session. Yes, Polis is promising more than $555 million in new funding for the state’s overcrowded and aging transportation system, but most of that money is the result of 2017’s Senate Bill 267. Republicans plan to ask for another $300 million this year, but with the governor and the Democrats making big, expensive promises on other fronts, don’t look for more big bucks to flow into highways this year.

3. Being green

No one expects to drop another Senate Bill 181, the big bill that gave more authority over oil and gas to local governments, or legislation as far-reaching as the state’s new Climate Action Plan, but the governor is far from done on the environmental front. His goal is to get the state to 100% renewable energy by 2040 as well as clamping down on the Front Range’s air quality non-attainment for ozone. He can’t afford to take a session off completely. As far as the state has gone on electric vehicles in 2019, expect them to go even further to increase their availability and use in 2020. 

“More importantly we’re preparing Colorado for success in the future with lower rates, with sustainable green energy, doing our part on clean air and climate and creating good green jobs in Colorado that will never be outsourced,” the governor said.

2. Family and medical leave

This was the great unkept promise made by Democrats left at the end of the last session. When it became apparent that business interests were opposed and the Democratic governor was skeptical last spring, the idea was demoted from a new state program to provide a paid leave insurance program for all Colorado workers to a study. The study, however, found that the program would be remarkably expensive. Polis told reporters at the governor’s mansion before Christmas that he’s looking for an iteration of the bill that costs the state little or nothing. Premiums for employees and employers, however, could be high, around 1% of workers’ pay, according to a report released in December. How this plays out could prove the most divisive bill of the session — business versus social interests, progressives against everyone else, Democrats versus their promises.

1. Health care

State lawmakers dropped a lot on the system — hospitals, insurance and drug prices — in the 2019 legislative session. It remains to be seen what they could possibly do to top it in 2020 when it comes to new ideas. Instead, they will continue working on what they’ve started: launching a state public-private option insurance program to offer below-market rates, continue the effort to bring cheaper Canadian drugs to Colorado and improving transparency on hospital prices. It’s one thing to pass all that; now comes the work of implementing it. Expect bills to grease the skids and kick the tires on the big initiatives of 2019.

“We’re not going to give up on saving people money on health care,” Polis said. “We’re going to double down and continue on that work.”