Every two years, a group of people who have been elected to the Colorado House and Senate gather at the State Capitol, raise their right hands, and take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Colorado. That Oath of...

Joint Rule 24 of the Colorado General Assembly establishes certain requirements and limitations pertaining to the sponsorship and introduction of bills during a legislative session. Section (b) (1) (A) of Joint Rule 24 allows each member of the General Assembly to...

Article IV, Section 9 of the Colorado Constitution grants authority to the Governor to convene the legislature for purposes of a special or “extraordinary” session. To call a special session, the Governor must issue a proclamation, which must state the purpose for...

Article V, Section 13 of the Colorado Constitution requires the two chambers of the state legislature to keep and publish a journal of its proceedings. Thus, during a legislative session, the introduction of each bill, resolution, and memorial is documented in the...

When a bill passes out of the last committee of reference to which it has been referred by the presiding officer or routed based on its projected fiscal and/or appropriation impact, it returns to the floor of that chamber for Second Reading. In each chamber, Second...

Article V, Section 12 of the Colorado Constitution states, “Each house shall have power to determine the rules of its proceedings…”. That delegation of power from the people to their state legislature recognizes that the three branches of Colorado government are...

There are 99 state legislative chambers among the fifty United States, two in each except Nebraska, which has a one-chamber state legislature. In 23 of those 99 chambers, there exists a requirement that all bills that are referred to a committee receive a public...

During the November 1988 general election, Colorado voters approved two amendments to the state constitution that brought significant and lasting change to the Colorado legislative process. The first of those two amendments limited the Colorado General Assembly to no...

Each year, the Colorado General Assembly conducts a general session that can last no more than 120 legislative days. In some states, the legislature might have authority to meet year-round and in other states, the governor and/or the legislature might have authority...

During the November 1990, general election, 71% of Colorado voters who voted that year approved Amendment 5 to the Colorado constitution, which created limits on the number of consecutive terms that state legislators may serve in the Colorado General Assembly. Those...

Almost all advocacy directed to state legislators from outside the Colorado Capitol is based on telling one or more of them how to vote on a given bill. Advocates on one side of a bill will tell legislators to vote “Yes” for one list of reasons, while advocates on the...

During a legislative session, live video from the Colorado House and Senate chambers is provided online via the Colorado Channel website. In addition to those periodic live feeds, the Colorado Channel offers a library of archived videos of House and Senate business...

When visiting the Colorado General Assembly website, you’ll find a menu of topics that organize that massive and growing library of information into general topics. Where that menu will appear on your screen and how you might go about selecting a category depends on...

When visiting the Colorado General Assembly website, you’ll find a menu of topics that organize that massive and growing library of information into general topics. Where that menu will appear on your screen and how you might go about selecting a category depends on...

Article V, Section 49 of the Colorado Constitution delegates authority to the General Assembly to appoint a non-partisan State Auditor, and establishes the term, qualifications, and certain duties for that position. Article V, Section 49. APPOINTMENT OF STATE AUDITOR...

When visiting the Colorado General Assembly website, you’ll find a menu of topics that organize that massive and growing library of information into general topics. Where that menu will appear on your screen and how you might go about selecting a category depends on...

When visiting the Colorado General Assembly website, you’ll find a menu of topics that organize that massive and growing library of information into general topics. Where that menu will appear on your screen and how you might go about selecting a category depends on...

When visiting the website of the Colorado General Assembly, you’ll find a menu of topics that organize that massive and growing library of information into general topics. Where that menu will appear on your screen and how you might go about selecting a category...

When visiting the website of the Colorado General Assembly, you’ll find a menu of topics that organize that massive and growing library of information into general topics. Where that menu will appear on your screen and how you might go about selecting a category...

When visiting the website of the Colorado General Assembly, you’ll find a menu of topics that organize that massive and growing library of information into general topics. Where that menu will appear on your screen and how you might go about selecting a category...

The Colorado General Assembly website provides public access to the activities and work product of the state legislature. If you’re looking for information about a particular bill, then it is very likely that information is - or will be - available at that website....

The Colorado General Assembly website provides public access to the activities and work product of the state legislature. For example, if you’re looking for information about a particular bill, then it is very likely that information is - or will be - available at...

The Colorado General Assembly website provides extensive information about each bill that is introduced during a legislative session. Shortly after a bill has been introduced, a unique webpage will appear at the website for that bill. Then, as a bill progresses...

In the Colorado legislative process, once a bill has been introduced, it must continue through that process unless a motion is approved to remove that bill from that process. Our legislative process exists according to a calendar and everything that occurs during a...

When the President of the United States receives a bill from Congress, our federal legislature, the President can sign that bill into law, veto the bill, or derail the bill by taking no action. Under that federal process, if the President decides to take no action,...

Observers of proceedings in the Colorado House and Senate chambers will routinely witness members voting by voice on various motions. When conducting voice votes, the presiding officer will direct those in favor of a motion to say “Aye” or “Yes” and for those opposed...

Every bill that is introduced during a general or special session of the Colorado General Assembly is assigned a bill number that is unique to that bill and that session. The complete bill number is printed in the upper right corner of the first page of each bill. In...

Raising the federal debt limit has become a controversial and repetitive topic in our nation. Congress, our federal legislature, has the power to set that debt limit. When the federal government spends more than it has during fiscal year, it can borrow money to make...

States are different based first on the unique state constitution of each state, followed by the statutes (laws) of each state. When observing activities in state legislative chambers, it can also be helpful to consider that the rules of one chamber can differ from...

The Colorado law-making process is intended to be methodical and transparent. Some might consider it to move too slowly, but the pace is constitutionally structured so that the people of Colorado might clearly understand what laws are being proposed, by whom, where,...

The word “lobbyist” evokes negative reactions from some constituents. It is easy for people to assume that legislative business at the Colorado Capitol is conducted in the same ways as might occur in Washington, DC, another state, or even on a television show. Such...

Occasionally, constituents will contact members of the General Assembly to demand that the state legislature pass a law to ban a certain textbook from use in Colorado public schools. At the same time, other constituents might demand that the state legislature pass a...

It is fairly common in Colorado that well-intentioned advocates from outside the Colorado Capitol become frustrated with the leader(s) of their party caucus for failing to enforce ‘party discipline’. One or more members of a given caucus might have sponsored a bill,...

From statehood in 1876 until 1974, the lieutenant governor of Colorado served as president of the Colorado Senate. During that time, the role of lieutenant governor was similar to that of the Vice President of the United States, who serves as president of the United...

When a bill is introduced in the Colorado General Assembly, it is posted to the General Assembly website as the Introduced version. The word “Introduced” will appear in bold capital letters in the upper right corner of the first page of the bill. That version of the...

The final Section of a bill that is introduced in the Colorado General Assembly explains when and how that bill would become law, if it were to pass through both legislative chambers and the governor does not veto it. That final Section of a bill will either be a...

The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States determines that “The powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” From that starting point,...

In simple terms, a bill is a collection of words and numbers on paper. Each bill that is introduced during a Colorado legislative session proposes to add words and/or numbers to current Colorado statute, remove words and/or numbers from current Colorado statute, or...

During 2021, Democratic members of the Texas state Senate, who were in the Minority, were able to shut down their legislative process by denying quorum to the Majority, which was held by Republicans. That tactic was also used by Republican members of the Oregon state...

Article V, Section 45 of the Colorado Constitution states, “The general assembly shall consist of not more than thirty-five members of the senate and not more than sixty-five members of the house of representatives, one to be elected from each senatorial and each...

The President of the United States appoints members of his/her cabinet, justices of the Supreme Court, and other persons to various roles in the federal government. Such appointments may require confirmation by the United States Senate.  The Governor of Colorado...

During the first few days of each annual general session, members of the Colorado General Assembly are entitled to attend a joint session of the legislature to hear the "State of the State" address from governor. It is an opportunity for the public and representatives...

Article V, Section 21 of the Colorado Constitution states, “Bill to contain but one subject, expressed in title. No bill, except the general appropriation bills, shall be passed containing more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title; but if...

In some legislative bodies, members have the option to vote "present" on a question that is before the body. In such instances, voting "present" allows a member to take a pass on answering the question at hand and, doing so might also affect how the prevailing vote...

It is common for people to refer to members of the Colorado General Assembly as "Congressman" or 'Congresswoman." Please note that is incorrect. In American government, the word "Congress" refers to the bi-cameral federal legislature. There are 435 elected voting...

Colorado was admitted to the Union as the 38th state in 1876.  Each General Assembly is seated for a two-year period, which corresponds to the two-year terms to which each of the 65 Colorado State Representatives are elected. When the Colorado General Assembly...

Article V, Section 17 of the Colorado Constitution states, “No law shall be passed except by bill, and no bill shall be altered or amended on its passage through either house as to change its original purpose.” Sometimes, constituents will contact one or more state...

In the Colorado General Assembly, all bills are drafted by non-partisan attorneys who work in the Office of Legislative Legal Services ("OLLS"). OLLS staff draft bills only for members of the General Assembly. If a member of the public wants to have a bill drafted,...

Article V, Section 7 of the Colorado Constitution requires the Colorado General Assembly to convene at or before 10 a.m. of the second Wednesday of January each year. Thus, customarily, the General Assembly convenes for its annual general session on either the first...

Article V, Section 7 of the Colorado Constitution allows the Colorado General Assembly to meet in general session each year for not more than 120 days. The people of Colorado placed that limitation of on their state legislature when they approved Referendum 3, which...