The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

The Colorado General Assembly got underway for its 2022 session on Wednesday, Jan. 12 and Governor Jared Polis gave his fourth State of the State address on Jan. 13.

The speech reflected the priorities the governor and Democrats in control of the legislature are touting: affordability, education and addressing skyrocketing crime rates.

Republicans have responded by pointing out those are the same priorities they laid out last August, through a “Commitment to Colorado.” While the themes are the same, each party has a different way to get there.

“Inflation has accelerated during the pandemic,” Polis said. “Supply chains have been disrupted. Spending habits have changed. The cost of housing has spiked. Farmers and ranchers face unprecedented losses and many Coloradans have left the workforce. Too many people are struggling to make ends meet.”

He intends to address affordability by cutting fees and taxes, including those passed by Democrats in the 2021 General Assembly, such as an increase in gas taxes. The Governor also pledged to delay implementation of a paid family leave fee, approved by voters in 2020 and to reduce payroll taxes, items both contained in his 2022-23 state budget proposal.

But Republican lawmakers said rural Colorado and agriculture got scant attention from the governor during the 48-minute speech.

Polis mentioned agriculture only once, in talking about water and a controversy coming from Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts, who last week announced a $500 million plan to divert water out of Colorado, claiming the State is about to violate the compact with Nebraska for South Platte River water.

“Because water is the lifeblood of our state and our critical agriculture industry, we must work together across industries, divides and state boundaries to secure a sustainable water future for all Coloradans, Polis said. “We will continue to protect and aggressively assert Colorado’s water rights under all existing water compacts.”

State Senator Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, in a tweet during the speech, called Polis’ remarks “the most dishonest, disingenuous and arrogant speech in my 16 years in the legislature.”

He later told this reporter that Polis said things that Republicans have been saying for years, but which haven’t reflected his actions during the last three years. “We have seen him sign bills and Democrats pass bills to raise fees … to bypass voter intent” by creating enterprises that fall below the threshold.

That’s a reference to Proposition 117, approved by voters in 2020, that requires voter approval for new state fees that would generate $100 million or more in revenue. However, Democrats, in a 2021 plan to raise $5.3 billion for transportation, created a series of three enterprises — a type of state-run business — that individually would raise less than $100 million each and hence not require voter approval. 

“That’s not the way we do business,” Sonnenberg said.

Polis’ plan to address crime is to provide funding to recruit and retain law enforcement officers and provide additional training. He also called on the legislature to strengthen penalties for drug dealers peddling fentanyl, although Republican lawmakers noted that the State decriminalized possession of fentanyl several years ago.

Sonnenberg said Colorado is now number one in the nation for automobile theft and that police cannot jail those who are arrested because of State laws allowing for personal recognizance bonds. Sonnenberg said he recently met with the sheriff of Morgan County, who told him he arrested someone in the morning and who was arrested again the same day.

“We're not able to put people in jail to keep the public safe,” Sonnenberg said.

Both rural Colorado and agriculture were left out, Sonnenberg said, but added the governor left “the whole state out. He talked about things that just absolutely weren't true,” such as how to make things less expensive when it was his administration that made things more expensive.

Most of the cuts in fees are for one year only and Sonnenberg called that delaying the fees until after the November election, when Polis is up for his second term. “Most people won't pay attention until they see it. Unfortunately, consumers have a very short memory.”

However, Sonnenberg did praise Polis for “fighting for our water against Nebraska’s attacks.”

Representative Rod Pelton, R-Cheyenne Wells, said that if what the governor is proposing saves people money, that will be good for the state. But a lot of what he talked about was just putting things off for a year, Pelton said.

What Pelton would want the governor to do is to repeal all the “bad stuff” that Democrats have passed over the last three year, such as the farmworkers bill of rights or changes to the State’s oil and gas conservation commission, which went from an agency promoting oil and gas to one that is charged with protecting public safety first.

Polis’ omission of agriculture in the speech, Pelton said, was “very telling, his lack of respect for rural Colorado and agriculture in particular.” The Governor says he’s for agriculture, but doesn’t walk the talk, Pelton said. “Anybody can say anything, but actions are what matters.”

He added he hopes Democrats follow through with some of the promises made, but like Sonnenberg noted that the agenda they’ve put forward mirrors the one presented by Republicans five months ago.

Pelton is skeptical. Democrats “will have to prove it,” and he said Republicans will be at the ready to advocate for amendments to the bills that address that agenda. “We’re going to make some tough votes for them,” he said.

Pelton said that with the new legislative maps, approved through redistricting in November, some Democrats are vulnerable who haven’t been in the past. He suggested there may be some wiggle room with some Democrats who wouldn’t normally come to the table. 

It will make for an interesting session, he said.