The First Regular Session of the 72nd General Assembly will convene on January 4, 2019. Democrats now have a “trifecta,” in which one party controls the governorship and both chambers of the Legislature. This will be a major shift from the divided state government Colorado has known the past two years where Republicans held a one-vote majority in the Senate.

Many issues introduced by Democrats but defeated in the Senate with the previous split-chamber will undoubtedly be brought up again in the new political environment of 2019. The agenda will also be heavily influenced by a total of 30 new Representatives and Senators, as well as a Governor who is expected to be much more involved in policymaking than his predecessor. Next year should be less active for issues related to PERA compared to what was seen this year with SB 18-200.

In the days following the election, each caucus chooses their leadership. The new Democratic majority in the Senate selected former Senate Minority Leader Leroy Garcia (D-Pueblo) to be the next President with Senator Stephen Fenberg (D-Boulder) serving as the new Majority Leader. On the Republican side, former Senate Majority Leader Chris Holbert (R-Parker) will transition to Minority Leader and Senator John Cooke (R-Greeley) will be the Assistant Minority Leader. The Democrats will have a 19-16 majority in the state Senate this upcoming session.

Not only did the November blue wave flip the state Senate that was previously under Republican control, it also gave the Democrats an additional five seats in the lower chamber. In January, there will be 41 Democrats and 24 Republicans in the House. Representative K.C. Becker (D-Boulder) and Representative Alec Garnett (D-Denver) will serve as the new Speaker of the House and Majority Leader, respectively. Republican Patrick Neville (R-Castle Rock) will continue to serve as the Minority Leader and the new Assistant Minority Leader will be Representative Kevin Van Winkle (R-Highlands Ranch).

Leaders in both the House and Senate appoint the chair and vice-chair for each committee of reference, as well as assign members to those committees. Each committee will have more Democrats than Republicans and the nearly 2:1 ratio of Democratic control of the House means they will have a three-vote majority on House legislative committees, which were announced earlier in this month. Meanwhile, Democrats in the Senate will have a one-vote majority on most committees.

PERA annually reports to the Joint Finance Committee as part of the “State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent Government Act,” or “SMART Act” Hearings. Members of both the House and Senate Finance committees of reference hear from each department assigned to their committee regarding any regulatory or legislative agenda, performance plans, as well as any budget requests. This hearing presents an opportunity for PERA to educate lawmakers and answer questions. Representative Leslie Herod (D-Denver) will chair House Finance and Senator Lois Court (D-Denver) will be the chair for Senate Finance in 2019.

The Joint Budget Committee (JBC) is charged with analyzing the inner workings of the agencies and departments comprising Colorado’s state government. This permanent committee sponsors the annual appropriations bill, or “Long Bill,” which allocates and balances the more than $30 billion state budget. The JBC has six members: the chairman, one majority and one minority member of the House Appropriations Committee, and the chairman and one majority and one minority member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. With Democrats in control of both chambers, the committee is now made up of four Democrats and two Republicans with Senator Dominick Moreno (D-Commerce City) and Representative Daneya Esgar (D-Pueblo) serving as the Chair and Vice Chair, respectively. The JBC initiates its annual budget-writing process in November by meeting with all agencies and departments, including PERA, and this effort culminates in the Long Bill’s passage typically in late March or early April.

In addition, PERA reports to the Legislative Audit Committee, comprised of four senators and four representatives with equal representation from the two major political parties. This permanent standing committee reviews and releases audit reports, as well as recommends special studies. Assignments for the Legislative Audit Committee members have yet to be announced for 2019.

With the passage of SB 18-200, the existing Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ Pension Reform Commission, which is a legislative interim committee, was renamed as the Pension Review Commission. SB 18-200 created a subcommittee of the Commission to study and develop legislation concerning PERA. The composition of the Commission was unchanged during the 2018 interim session. The new membership of the Commission and newly created Subcommittee should be announced soon.

PERA on the Issues – your best resource for information throughout the 2019 legislative session.