These days, those loudest in the public square often get the most attention. The bold, the extreme, and well, really-extreme tend to get reported on in our print and electronic media. But as I’ve mentioned before, the most important and impactful work done in governance is often by workhorse folks, who care about getting the job done more than they care about getting attention.

Sure, the splashy stuff tends to get the most eyeballs looking at it. For example, Colorado Politics readers likely read the recent report on the new state GOP party chair, a guy named Dave Williams, who is one of the cult that continues to claim Trump won in 2020. He also ran against Doug Lamborn for Congress down here in Colorado Springs (as did I in 2008, albeit from the other side of the aisle), and Williams briefly made the news when he wanted the ballot to show his middle name as “Let’s Go Brandon,” a crude and all-too-common GOP obscenity against that Joe Biden guy, who actually won in 2020. Spoiler: the court said no.

So, the Colorado GOP picked a leader for the next two years that is disconnected with reality and appears entirely too comfortable with extreme and, frankly, dangerous views on where this country should be headed and how. Fellow CoPo columnist and former GOP state chair Dick Wadhams, with whom I often disagree but whom I respect as honorable and insightful, said it better than me: the state GOP has shot itself in the foot yet again. And, of course, I’m not unhappy to see that.

But I’m not going to talk about the shiny and flashy bits of Colorado politics.

Rather, I’d like to draw your attention to a story whose very title might have caused some of my dear readers to nap off there for a moment: “Polis signs 10 more bills into law.” The business of legislatures is to legislate, first and foremost. Certainly there are important oversight roles to play, as well as other functions, but ask most elected officials what they are proud of, it will likely be a bill or two they got signed into law, be it at the local, state, or federal level, even though that process is only slightly more interesting than watching paint dry.

Back when I was working for U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet I went to quite a few bill signing events. The governor signs the bills into law, pens are passed around, and there are usually remarks about moving the state forward. But when you look at the 10 bills noted in the article, you can’t help but notice that most of them seem minor and technical, and that, dear readers, is a good thing.

In general, for most issues, incremental change is the best way forward. Certainly there are some issues that demand new and bold legislation, but most of the work our elected folks tackle are tweaks to improve existing statues, either by updating them or fixing them in other ways. For example, Polis signed House Bill 1064, the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact. This new law will make it easier, once an additional nine states have signed on, for teachers to move from state to state while keeping their teacher’s licenses intact and up to date. This is part of a larger effort to make various state licenses more easily transferred, and this has particular relevance for military families. My late first wife was a licensed physical therapist in Wyoming, the state of my first military assignment, but when I was assigned to the Air Force Academy, her license did not automatically transfer. She had to essentially restart her license process, including a big test, to be able to practice her craft in Colorado. One of the projects I worked on in the Bennet office at the federal level was to allow military spouses to carry their various licenses to new assignments without undo burden. But absent a federal law, and given the current teacher shortages around the nation, Polis’s signature on HB1064 will be a good thing for Colorado, but it is unlikely to make too much of a splash on your local news, and that’s a shame.

Another bill related to military service is House Bill 1045. Signed by Polis, it is now law employers of Colorado National Guard members must give their employees up to three weeks of leave, when those individuals are called to military service or training. Prior to this bill, being in the Guard could create some significant complications for members whose bosses were not particularly cooperative.

Those bills are just two of the 10 signed last Friday, and are only a fraction of the total output of the legislature by the time the term ends 120 days after it began. And you will likely never hear the names of most of those new laws. Though a handful may be sweeping in their impact, most will trim away around the edges of the law, fixing issues, expanding opportunities, or a whole host of other legislative tasks.

We are fortunate to have such workhorses in the legislature and as governor. And it’s nice to see an efficient (and Democratically-led) state legislature continue to quietly do the work of democracy.

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.