House and Senate Democratic leaders of the General Assembly announced Monday the legislature will come back on Wednesday as planned, to hold an initial three-day session, and then adjourn, probably until Feb. 16.

But legislative leaders will “play it by ear” on that return date, based on the data on COVID-19 infection rates available at that time, according to Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg of Boulder.

The first three days will allow lawmakers to be sworn in, deal with appointments, and work on at least six bills that are time-sensitive, primarily fixing errors in bills passed during the 2020 regular session and bills from the November special session.

Those bills could be available for public review later Monday, according to Speaker-elect of the House Alec Garnett of Denver.

Leaders said that during the adjournment, lawmakers will be working on other issues. That includes the Joint Budget Committee, which will continue to work on budget hearings, and preparing the slew of supplemental bills for state agencies that are expected to be introduced when the General Assembly comes back.

Lawmakers will also participate in SMART Act hearings during the adjournment. Those are annual hearings between state agencies and the committees of reference that hold oversight responsibilities. Lawmakers said Monday those hearings will be publicly available.

“Everything will look at lot different,” Garnett said Monday, noting that the bulk of the session work won’t start until the legislature returns from the adjournment. That also means that hundreds of bills usually introduced in the session’s opening days won’t see the light of day until the adjournment ends.

The three bills slated for introduction in the House later this week include:

• A bill on remote notarization of wills. Authority for remote notarization of wills expired last month. Practioners have been worried about having to do wills in person, Garnett explained. 
• A bill to allow remote participation by lawmakers in committee meetings, including for the SMART Act hearings that will begin after the three-day session is over. 
• A bill to change business income tax filings tied to the federal CARES Act. 

In the Senate:

• A bill to extend the deadline around debt collection during a pandemic. A 2020 bill allowed for a temporary time out on new debt collections through Feb. 1, 2021. 
• A small business relief bill passed during the special session needs to be modified due to a lawsuit over relief for minority-owned businesses. That bill will also provide additional time for counties, such as Denver, to get the aid from that bill out the door, according to Fenberg.
• A bill to fix an error in a 2020 bill on occupational therapists.

Among the big questions yet to be answered: just how long the General Assembly will meet in 2021, whether that’s the full 120 days or something less than that. Garnett said lawmakers are working more efficiently, the result of the pandemic’s impact on the 2020 session, and that lawmakers will be working throughout the adjournment.

“We will stay as long as we need to stay,” Fenberg added. “That could be 100 days or 120 days,” depending on what gets accomplished.

Lawmakers are getting vaccinated this week, although Garnett said due to HIPAA regulations they won’t know exactly who’s been vaccinated. 

Gov. Jared Polis recently moved lawmakers into the category of essential government employees, meaning they could be vaccinated in the current phase, along with those 70 years of age and older. 

Fenberg added that lawmakers are not taking vaccines away from others, and that it’s important for the continuation of state government that they be vaccinated. “There’s a lot of work we’re doing this year on providing relief,” Fenberg said. “I see this as something that is necessary so that we can meet safely.”

Leaders also addressed security questions in the wake of last week’s insurrection in Washington, D.C.

“I’m confident that the state patrol is planning for worst-case scenarios,” Fenberg said. The statehouse is for everyone, and “scare tactics won’t get in the way of the democratic process.” 

“We are living in trying times,” Garnett said. “We will take every precaution we need to take.”

As to the return date, Fenberg said that while Feb. 16 is the target, there could be things that come up that could delay that return.

“A month during COVID is like a lifetime. We will play it by ear.”

Polis had previously announced that the State of the State address, which usually takes place on the second day of the session, will be postponed until February.