For the third year in a row, lawmakers have struck down a proposal that would have prohibited members of the Colorado General Assembly who were appointed through a vacancy committee from serving in the term immediately after.

Sponsored by Rep. Bob Marshall, D-Highlands Ranch, the referral would have put the question on the November ballot and required a 55% vote to pass.

Marshall has long advocated for changes to how vacancy committees pick legislators.

The process, in which a small group of party insiders selects an individual to fill a seat, has faced criticism in recent years as the number of lawmakers appointed by a vacancy committee has increased substantially. According to Marshall, 25 to 30% of current state lawmakers were originally appointed to their position by a vacancy committee.

Marshall first introduced the resolution in 2024, and while the measure successfully passed through its first committee, he claimed it “wasn’t allowed” to be debated on the House Floor. The following year, he brought Rep. Larry Don Suckla, a Cortez Republican, and Democratic Sen. Marc Snyder of Colorado Springs on to help push the proposal, which failed to pass through its first committee.

Lawmakers passed a different measure, House Bill 1315, in 2025, which established a number of new requirements, such as requiring members appointed via vacancy committee to run for office during the general election in even years or a special vacancy election in odd years, whichever comes first.

While supporters of 1315 lauded the measure as much-needed change to the state’s vacancy committee process, Marshall argued it “wasn’t real reform.”

“We still have the same issues,” he said.

Colorado is one of only four states that use the vacancy appointment process, Marshall told the State Civic, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee on Monday. Most states fill vacant seats through special elections, which can be costly and time-consuming — they can take anywhere from 60 to 90 days to run — not ideal in a state like Colorado, whose legislative session is only 120 days, he argued.

The resolution is not “a slam” on vacancy appointees, Marshall told the committee, “but from a systematic view, it’s really bad. It’s not the norm, it’s not supposed to be the norm — it never was supposed to be the norm— and we are making it a norm.”

Rep. Naquetta Ricks, D-Aurora, argued that prohibiting a vacancy appointee from running in the next election doesn’t make sense and could reduce representation from “marginalized” communities.

A number of members of color were appointed via the vacancy committee process, Ricks noted, including Senate President James Coleman, D-Denver, former Sen. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, Rep. Junie Joseph, D-Denver, and most recently, Rep. Kenny Nguyen, D-Broomfield.

“It’s not easy for minorities to even get here… I really do think it is a way that people are able to step into these roles and then do the work, and people see what they bring to their community and how they support their community, and then they want to elect them back,” Ricks said, adding that it is hard enough to get people to run for office as it is without the proposed restrictions.

Several members pointed out that many lawmakers have vacated their positions due to low pay, long hours, and alleged toxicity at the state Capitol.

“How do we address that?” asked Rep. Cecelia Espenoza, D-Denver.

Marshall argued that the real issue is term limits. Since the state imposed term limits on legislators in the 1990s, vacancies have increased exponentially, he said, adding that some members are “timing” their departures so their preferred candidate can take their seat.

“This bill doesn’t fix the problem, said Rep. Michael Carter, D-Aurora. “If we have an issue with vacancies, then we need to do special elections — period.”

Rep. Brandi Bradley, R-Roxborough Park, said she would be voting for the resolution because she doesn’t agree with the vacancy process.

“I would like to see the people vote to put someone in to represent their district and not just 40 people or sometimes 10 people,” she said. “I am completely against that.”

Rep. Chad Clifford, D-Greenwood Village, who was appointed via vacancy committee himself, also supported the resolution.

While he agrees that the bill doesn’t get to the root cause of the state’s many vacancies, Clifford said he would be voting the same way he did on the measure last year so that it could be debated and refined on the House Floor.

“I do feel that this is some kind of conversation that we should have at large, primarily so that we can start to address what causes vacancies,” he said.

The committee voted, 7-4, to kill the resolution, with Bradley, Clifford, and Reps. Scott Bottoms, R-Colorado Springs, and Lisa Feret, D-Arvada, voting in favor of the measure. Six Democrats and Rep. Stephanie Luck, R-Penrose, voted to postpone the resolution.