Republicans in the Colorado Senate asked to go back to work at the Capitol on Thursday, calling on Gov. Jared Polis to convene a special legislative session. 

The Colorado legislature meets to pass laws for 120 days each year from January through May. But the governor can summon lawmakers in the offseason to work on legislation addressing a specific issue. Most recently, Polis called a special session in 2020 to respond to economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Senate Republicans said they want a special session this summer for two issues: rising property taxes and bond eligibility for murder suspects. 

“We have spent many hours in committee and on the Senate floor warning about consequences like these and urging our Democrat colleagues to slow down and think about the results of their rash legislation,” said Sen. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs. “We have called on the Democrats to return to the Capitol this summer to help us fix the mess their ill-considered actions have caused for Coloradans.” 

The concern over property taxes is a familiar one, with Republican lawmakers repeatedly calling for a special session to address the issue for the last two months, beginning days before the 2023 session ended. But bond eligibility for murder suspects is new. 

On June 20, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that people accused of crimes formerly subject to the death penalty are now eligible to be released on bail, including those accused of first-degree murder. This comes three years after Colorado lawmakers repealed the death penalty, meaning there are no longer any “capital offenses” which were formerly denied the right to bail pending trial.

Republicans and Democrats alike have called this ruling an “unintended consequence” of the death penalty repeal, raising concerns about potentially letting violent offenders back onto the streets.

Polis has requested that lawmakers fix this oversight when the legislature reconvenes in 2024, rather than in a special session this summer. 

“The governor supports changes to prevent suspects formally charged with capital offenses from getting out on bail, and now that the Supreme Court has ruled, he calls upon the state legislature to fix this unintended consequence of eliminating the death penalty even if it takes a referred constitutional amendment,” said Conor Cahill, the governor’s spokesman. 

Lawmakers including Democratic Sen. Rhonda Fields and House Minority Leader Mike Lynch have already committed to working on legislation next year to possibly keep accused murderers behind bars while awaiting trial. 

A ballot measure may be needed to make the change, as the Colorado Constitution grants defendants the right to bond unless they’re accused of capital crimes, which no longer exist in Colorado. If so, the measure could not go to voters until the 2024 election, regardless of whether legislation passed in a special session before this November. This is because odd-year elections are reserved for ballot measures related to the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR).

Regarding property tax increases, Cahill said the governor wants that to go to the ballot, too – which it is already scheduled to do. 

In May, lawmakers created a ballot measure, Proposition HH, which will ask voters in November to use TABOR refund money to lower property taxes for 10 years. 

“Gov. Polis and the state legislature are already presenting voters with a historic opportunity to provide immediate and long-term property tax relief to reduce soaring property taxes that correspond with rising home values,” Cahill said. “The governor is skeptical as to why certain Republicans are attempting to block the voters’ ability to weigh in on this important plan to cut property taxes.”

This comes as, in April, Colorado’s county assessors estimated that property taxes for homeowners could increase by around 30% next year, peaking at 60% in some areas on the Front Range. 

But Republicans say Proposition HH won’t lower property taxes significantly enough, and criticized it for reducing the TABOR refunds that Coloradans directly receive. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle also called the legislation rushed, introduced in the last seven days of the 2023 session. 

“Polis must convene a special session to address the devastating increase in property taxes,” said Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, R-Monument. “The legislature and the governor must offer a solution that will lower property taxes without raiding Coloradans’ TABOR refunds.”

The state legislature can call a special session itself, but it would require a request from the Senate president and House speaker, and approval from at least two-thirds of lawmakers in each chamber. The Colorado legislature has never called itself into special session.