DENVER – Below is the transcript of Colorado Senate Minority Leader Chris Holbert’s (R-Douglas County) speech on the opening day of the Second Regular Session of the 73rd General Assembly.

“Mr. President, Mr. Majority Leader, colleagues, families and guests:

To the people of Louisville, Superior, and unincorporated Boulder County who were affected by the Marshall Fire, we are truly sorry for your losses and the resulting stresses to your families and your community. To the first responders: firefighters, sheriff deputies, police officers, EMTs and others: thank you for risking everything to save what is left. To the American Red Cross and other charitable organizations, local churches, and private citizens who have contributed to the recovery, thank you. To the insurance industry, thank you for working quickly to connect with residents, some of whom have lost everything. And, to the local, county, state, and federal officials who have worked to direct resources into the affected communities, thank you, too. We are Colorado and we will get through this together.

Twenty years ago, I stood outside of that glass partition – just behind Senator Simpon’s desk – and looked into this chamber with a sense of wonder. Who were the people who were privileged to stand here at this podium and speak to the issues? How did this process work? What lessons of the past did the walls of this magnificent chamber hold? 

Now, at 60, I look back to my 40–year old self standing out there wide eyed and eager and I am humbled by the honor and privilege it is to be in here, to learn from you and from all of those who have served here over the past twenty years. Today, I know so much more about public policy, about people, our unique legislative process and this very special place. Colleagues, thank you for helping me to better understand the challenges of life in rural Colorado, in urban Colorado, and in each of the communities that you represent.

As a conservative, I know my own positions on freedom, liberty, and the proper role of government. As a legislator, my goal has been to be the most conservative member with whom you might work… who holds a Liberal Arts Degree. I am not offended if you happen to have positions that differ from my own. Maybe, just maybe, we can learn from each other.

Colleagues, there is one member of this body who is starting his sixteenth general session. It is rare that the changing geography and timing of state House and Senate districts allow a member to serve a full eight-years in the Colorado House of Representatives and then, to serve a full eight years in the Colorado Senate. Members and guests, please join me in recognizing the former President Pro-Tempore of the Colorado Senate, the former chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, the former chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, the current Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, husband, father, grandfather, farmer, and friend, the good Senator from Sterling Colorado, Senator Jerry Sonnenberg.

We also recognize those Senators who are starting their final session in this chamber. Senators Cooke, Scott, Mr. President Garcia, Madame President (for a time) Donovan, and me. We are all subject to term-limits, while Senators Coram and Lee will be leaving us a bit earlier than expected due to redistricting. You have all contributed a significant portion of your life in service to the People of Colorado, and for that, thank you.

One of the better Opening Day speeches that I recall was offered by then Senate Democratic Leader Lucia Guzman who told us about climbing a chinaberry tree in her yard as a child. She and her brother each claimed a different limb of that tree as their own. Her brother’s limb was less secure, but at the top of the tree. Her limb was more secure, but lower in the tree. When they were together in the tree, her brother would tell her what he could see from his higher vantage point. One day, Lucia climbed up to the top to see for herself. What she saw was different than how her brother had described it.

Different perspectives are more than just good, they are golden, they are treasures. We come from different places and we see things differently. As with young Lucia at the top of that chinaberry tree, even when viewing the same thing from the same perspective, we might see things differently. If the past twenty years has taught me one thing it is that we should not be offended by those differences, we should learn from them.

One year ago, President Garcia and I stood before you and spoke of bipartisanship, collaboration, and the fact that no one party has a monopoly on good ideas.

Since that time, three facts have become undeniable for most Coloradans.

•    Our state is less affordable than it was one year ago.
•    Colorado families are less safe than they were one year ago.
•    And, students are further behind than they were one year ago.

People are increasingly aware that our current circumstances have evolved under one-party control. Over the past two years, people from throughout Colorado and across the political spectrum have demanded immediate action from us. And, time after time, they have been met with the reality that we are a part-time, even seasonal, citizen legislature. That we have general session law-making authority for no more than 120 days each year. That we can make no law but by bill. And, that there cannot be any bills considered unless we are convened in session.

So, here we are, some of us for our final, 120-day general session. Between now and midnight, Wednesday, May 11, Senate Republicans will focus on addressing these three issues and we invite the support of the Majority in addressing the needs of Coloradoans:

Years of reckless spending in Washington D.C. has driven inflation to a 30-year high, taking upwards of $3,500 out of the pockets of average working families this past year. Here in Colorado, our state government is awash in surplus state revenues and federal handouts, and yet my colleagues in the Majority are adamant that our state government is confronted with a “structural deficit;” they’re using that artifice to tax, fee, tariff, and toll their way to governmental prosperity. As a result, Coloradans are feeling the pain of those higher costs.

The median home price in our state has grown 53% since 2016, yet there is a movement from some on the left to cease the building of new homes in our communities. When supply cannot keep up with demand, prices rise, and now our children are unable to buy a home in the state they grew up in. We need more multi-family, owner-occupied, housing in this state. We need greater opportunities for people of limited means to achieve the dream and the long-term wealth-building opportunities of home ownership.

Energy prices are also increasing – anywhere from 10 to 50%. Analysis has shown that an increased regulatory burden and consumer fees have had a direct impact on that rise. Those increases are due to increased regulation and fees that resulted from legislation passed by this body. Those bills, now laws, came straight from this floor under one-party control.

73% of Coloradans consider cost of living to be a very serious or an extremely serious problem. That number increases to 81% among Black Coloradans and to 83% among Hispanic Coloradans. Republicans hear you and we will continue to fight for you.

Senate Republicans will introduce legislation to help lower the cost of living in Colorado. Senator Woodward will sponsor a bill to allow struggling Coloradans to deduct their rent from their income taxes. Senator Woodward will also introduce legislation to allocate a portion of our state government’s historic revenue windfall into the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund to help bring down costs for employers and keep them hiring through these difficult times. 

Senator Hisey will sponsor legislation to ensure that all food is exempted from sales taxes, whether it be from a grocery store or from a local mom-and-pop restaurant. I will introduce a bill to allow licensed or registered professionals who are in good standing in another state and who move here to more efficiently begin doing business and adding to the Colorado economy.

Colorado communities are suffering from some of the highest crime rates in 25 years.  In 2020, we saw a 6.5% increase in violent crimes, an 18% increase in aggravated assaults, and a 29% increase in homicides; more than 300 people were murdered in this state just last year. In addition, Colorado now sits at #2 in the nation when it comes to per capita car thefts – second only to Washington D.C. 

When elected leaders are hesitant to condemn the anarchists who attacked our State Capitol, when law enforcement officers are villainized in the press by their own elected officials, and when criminals are rapidly allowed back onto our streets, what did you expect would happen?

In 2019, many of us worked together to advance police reform in this state. We stood for ending chokeholds, we supported body cameras, and we worked to get bad officers off of our streets. But now, we ask that you join us in ensuring that our families are safe in their communities.

Black Coloradans are just over 4 percent of our population yet they make up 13 percent of all crime victims. Every moment that goes by without us taking action to put an end to this crime wave is an injustice.

To that end, to secure our streets, Senator Cooke will introduce legislation to establish grant programs to hire more police officers that are better trained and who come from the very communities that they would be patrolling.

Injustice doesn’t just occur between criminals and victims. The government education monopoly – flailing for decades in the realm of mediocrity – now escapes any measure of adequacy. That choice-of-one system has failed generations of Colorado students and the majority party has failed to even sound the alarm.

In fact, when Senate Republicans encouraged the Governor to call a special session in order to address growing concerns among parents about the education of their children during the COVID pandemic, our request was dismissed by the controlling political party as a “political stunt.” Well, the outcome of school board elections in 2021 was no “stunt” and rather clearly demonstrates that parents are fed up with the status quo.

Intense debates rage nationally over educational issues such as sex ed, critical race theory, even the role of school resource officers. None of that matters if we aren’t even teaching our kids how to read, write, and do math. You want them to read Ibram X. Kendi? Great. I might want them to read John Locke. But, as of today, the looming problem is that many students can’t read.

Over 50% of students in grades 3, 5, and 7 are not meeting grade level expectations in both English and Mathematics. The Colorado high school graduation rate ranks 41st in the nation, and for those that go on to college, more than a third require remedial education.

States are different, based primarily on the unique state constitution of each state. Here in Colorado, Article IX, Section 15 of our state constitution makes clear that locally-elected school boards have control of instruction in the public schools located within that district. Colorado courts have held that, in order to have control over instruction, a local school board must also have control of its budget.

That’s why, here in this state, we in the state legislature do not determine how much teachers are paid. Nope, here in Colorado, that authority is delegated to the locally-elected school board in each of the 178 school districts.

Article IX, Section 16 of the Colorado constitution makes clear that we here in the general assembly have no authority over which textbooks are used or not used in a local school district. Nope, that authority is also delegated to each of those locally-elected school boards.

When it comes to how public schools are funded, each state can allocate and track total funding in different ways. Here in Colorado, in some of the 178 school districts, as much as two-thirds of their total funding does not come from or through this building.

For those of us who serve in the Colorado General Assembly, our highest and best purpose when it comes to public education is to see that those 178 local school districts receive as much state funding as we can send their way so that those elected leaders can accomplish their constitutional responsibilities. 

To that end, Senators Lundeen and Kirkmeyer will introduce legislation to finally abolish –not just continuously “buy-down”– the budget stabilization factor – once and for all – and to fully fund Colorado schools. No more excuses. We have the money and it is way past time for us to pay off that twelve-year-old negative factor “IOU”. Their legislation will expand educational choice and provide parents and students a pathway toward education alternatives outside of the institutions that are failing them.

Senator Priola will sponsor a bill to allow parents to take control of their schools and convert failing schools into public charter schools. As a reminder, here in Colorado, CHARTER SCHOOLS ARE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Senators, beyond this gold-clad dome of groupthink lies a population of people who are nervous about the increases in their utility bills, rising crime rates in their neighborhoods, and the quality of their children’s education. Those are the issues that most Coloradans care most about.

To address those concerns, Senate Republicans will introduce a package of legislation – our Commitment to Colorado – that provides direct relief to the People of Colorado, working to bring down the cost of living, secure our neighborhoods, and provide more educational choice to our students. At noon today – in the West Foyer – we will unveil those 44 bills for all Coloradans to see.

We hope our colleagues across the aisle give those bills the consideration they deserve. Those bills will not promote a partisan agenda, they will focus on solving the three issues that confront most of the people who you represent.

And now, for one last time, at least during general session, Mr. President, let’s get to work.”