Update: SB 230, the collective bargaining bill, won a party-line 20-15 vote in the state Senate Monday.

As of Monday morning, there are 303 bills still awaiting action from the General Assembly, according to the Office of Legislative Legal Services.

Numbers provided to House and Senate leaders in both parties on Monday show 651 bills have been introduced, including six more added in just the last four days. 

This is the time of year to watch just how many of those 303 wind up on the session’s scrap heap. As of Monday morning, the two chambers have killed just 104 bills. Expect that number to soar in the last days of the session that ends no later than midnight on May 11.

The 651 bills introduced marks the highest tally since the record-setting year of 2018, when 714 bills were introduced.

Among the major bills still awaiting action are:

House Bill 1326, on fentanyl. The session’s most significant public safety bill is awaiting action from the Senate Appropriations Committee. it was heavily amended last week by the Senate Business, Labor & Technology Committee, so if and when the bill clears the Senate, the House will have its say on those changes. As of Monday morning, the bill is scheduled for a Tuesday appropriations hearing and onto the full Senate for debate later in the day, according to Sen. Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewood, the bill’s co-sponsor.

Senate Bill 230, the collective bargaining bill, is awaiting a final vote in the Senate. The bill then heads to the House. While it was significantly watered down on Friday to forestall hundreds of amendments from Senate Republicans, the biggest remaining sticking point for counties is the anticipated cost of hiring human resources personnel and attorneys who specialize in labor relations and who would negotiate contracts. That’s likely to be the big fight from House Republicans.

House Bill 1131, which would raised the age from 10 to 13 for charging juveniles with all crimes except for murder and felony sexual assault. It’s awaiting a Tuesday hearing from Senate Judiciary. Background here.

House Bill 22-1064, on flavored tobacco. The bill has been stuck in House Appropriations for almost a month. Sources indicate Gov. Jared Polis wants the bill killed because it would impact revenue that pays for the Department of Early Childhood and state-paid preschool. Background here.

Senate Bill 22-223, the early TABOR refund check pledged last week by Gov. Jared Polis and Democratic leaders in advance of the November election. The bill is on the agenda for debate that could happen as soon as Monday.

Two bills attempting to pay back the $1 billion in federal loans the state had to take out to cover unemployment benefits arising from the pandemic and its resulting recession. Senate Bill 234, which is sponsored by Joint Budget Committee members Sens. Chris Hansen, a Denver Democrat and Bob Rankin, a Republican from Carbondale, the bill would put $600 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act money toward the $1 billion debt, with solvency surcharges expected to cover the rest. But the bill has a number of other provisions that would change eligibility for unemployment insurance, and Republicans have another bill in the works that just pays back the loan. The former won preliminary approval from the Senate Monday morning and heads to a final vote, as soon as Tuesday. The latter, Senate Bill 66, is scheduled for a Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee hearing on Tuesday.

House Bill 1244, a top priority by environmental groups, intends to create health-based regulations to address air pollution. The law would allows the Air Quality Control Commission to regulate toxic air contaminants based on adverse health effects. The AQCC would develop a list of those contaminants by Jan. 1, 2024 and update it every five years. The list would become part of a statewide monitoring program under the state Department of Public Health & Environment. The bill has been stalled in House Appropriations since April 7, and is a likely target for House Republicans when it reaches the House floor. 

House Bill 1233, which is among the health-related bills generating lots of attention and ads, would allow optometrists to perform eye surgery after completing 32 hours of training. It’s garnered major opposition from eye surgeons and eye physicians. The bill will be heard in Senate Finance Monday afternoon.

House Bill 1370, which was initially opposed by the health insurance industry, would change the rules around “step therapy,” a process that requires patients with chronic conditions to first take a less-expensive drug to treat their condition before moving on to a more expensive one, as well as requiring rebates that insurers and pharmacy benefit managers receive for bulk purchasing of expensive drugs to be passed on to consumers and small businesses. The bill won a 42-23 vote on Monday and now heads to the Senate.

The recycling bill, House Bill 1355, won approval from the House on a 38-27 vote Monday and now heads to the Senate. The bill sets up a statewide recycling program, to be run by a nonprofit, that would charge producers and manufacturers of certain kinds of packaging “dues” to pay for the recycling program. 

And lest you think they’re done introducing bills, the governor and Democratic leaders are scheduled to hold a 1 p.m. press conference to announce legislation to address property taxes.