Four of the legislative leaders for the General Assembly outlined their priorities for the 2023 session that starts Monday in the annual preview hosted by the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber’s priorities for 2023 are similar to those presented by lawmakers during Wednesday’s breakfast: sustainability, including clean air, the current water crisis, public transit incentives, and renewable energy; housing, which means going beyond affordable housing with construction litigation, reforms, zoning, and land use; and economic competitiveness, according to moderator Kristen Blessman, president and general manager of PBS12.

The legislative leaders addressed questions on public safety/crime, rulemaking by state agencies, housing affordability, water, and sustainability, including green energy.

Speaker of the House designee Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon; Senate Majority Leader Dominick Moreno, D-Commerce City; Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, R-Monument and

House Minority Leader Mike Lynch, R-Wellington commented on what it was like to come to Denver, particularly the 16th Street Mall, years ago, but that an explosion of drugs, including fentanyl, have changed it for the worse. He noted the 2022 measure he co-sponsored with then-Speaker Alec Garnett, but later withdrew from on its final vote. There’s more that can be done, Lynch said, to crack down on illegal drugs. But the legislature also needs to look at what it’s done in the past and “not be afraid to change” and reverse some of its previous decisions. People are afraid to say they were wrong and “let’s try something different,” Lynch said.

Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, R-Monument, said he sponsored a bipartisan bill in the 2022 session to put $50 million into training on critical incident intervention for law enforcement. The bill was pared down to $500,000 and had a Democratic co-sponsor, but still failed. “It died for politics,” Lundeen said. “We have this challenge” because of the tone but “we need to come together and say, yes, we do perceive a problem,” which he said would require a cultural as well as a policy shift.

Speaker of the House designee Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, commented that property and auto theft crimes should be addressed. “We’ve already made significant investments in safe streets,” McCluskie said. She also noted that crime in rural Colorado does not look the same as it does in urban communities, so the goal should be to tackle root causes, which include behavioral and mental health, and providing services to address those issues.

But the state has yet to see the results of the billions of dollars the General Assembly has invested in these areas, she said. It’s when those dollars will be in action that “we will begin to see the response to crime and the root causes of crime ultimately tackled.

Bipartisan legislation to address auto theft is already planned in the Senate, according to Senate Majority Leader Dominick Moreno, D-Commerce City. He noted current law dictates that stealing a car valued at $2,000 or less is considered only a misdemeanor. That’s negatively impacted low-income individuals who rely on those vehicles to get to work or for other purposes. Gov. Jared Polis, in a letter Sept. 15 to the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, indicated support for updating the law, to remove the monetary value language. 

On the issue of agency rule-making, the lawmakers encouraged the public to engage with the legislature. A 120 day legislative session is not enough to engage with every stakeholder, Lundeen said. In addition, “we need to continue to observe and watch the implementation of policy make those course corrections when we see that implementation may not be producing the desired outcomes.”

“We need your input constantly as we go about moving the direction of the state,” Lynch added.

Blessman, on housing affordability, pointed out that it is the top obstacle for recruiting and talent for business, but the state is short about 225,000 housing units. More should be done regarding zoning, regulations, building codes and construction litigation reform, she said, asking how the legislature will address that issue, including on reforming zoning regulations.

While the recently voter-approved Proposition 123 will put millions of dollars annually into affordable housing, the program relies on local governments to opt in to receive those funds, Moreno said. “It’s not necessarily unreasonable for the legislature to assert a bit of a role in these housing decisions, because we need to create more units across the state in order to keep up with workforce demands and lower the price of housing for everyone,” he said, adding that it will be one of the big fights in the 2023 session. 

Lundeen pointed to previous legislation on climate change that he said has added $42,000 to the cost of a new home. “Is it affordable housing or is it a $42,000 more expensive dwelling?” he asked. Lundeen advocated for “massive” capital deployment to build housing but without risking the loss of that capital. :It should be more than a state program that adds a few hundred million dollars here or there. We need to do some things that are fundamental in saying affordable housing is a priority.”

“The best thing we can do is get out of the way of the free market,” added Lynch, claiming the problem is overregulation of the housing industry, which he said requires spending tens of thousands of dollars before a home can even break ground. 

Finally, the lawmakers addressed sustainability, in response to a question on how the state can better balance its “aspirational interests” around sustainability versus what is economically and technically reasonable according to the business community.

Lundeen spoke in favor of clean natural gas, stating it has done more to clean up the environment than any other type of fuel. The question, he said, is whether the goals are achievable in the timeframes that have been chosen.

Goals are great but what matters are actionable steps, Moreno said. The legislature hasn’t always done the best at making sure the state reaches the milestones.

Moreno also touted the governor’s $120 million plan for tax credits to get more electric vehicles on the road, which he said will help meet part of the “decarbonization” goal.

The focus on mobile sources is incredibly important, McCluskie said, adding that she’s eager to dive into the governor’s proposal.