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he called Democrats fascist. “You don’t like what you hear so you shut down the debate and the discussion. All the majority party had to do was sit and listen,” he said. “But you can’t do that, because listening to God, truth, righteousness and freedom actually hurts the souls of those who are not in favor of those mentalities. It doesn’t hurt their ears. It hurts their souls.”

On March 27, House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, vowed on the House oor to “not allow this to occur again on my watch.” She called Bottoms’ remarks “inappropriate and unbecoming” and said she regretted granting him a “moment of personal privilege” to speak. It was a big test for McCluskie, a rst-year speaker.

Democrats went on to use Rule 14 more than a dozen times, according to Rep. Anthony Hartsook, R-Parker, citing data tracked by the House GOP caucus.

McCluskie, speaking to reporters May 9 at a post-session news conference, defended the decision to limit debate.

“We began to recognize what was happening in our chamber was no longer respectful and productive,” she said. “Filibustering and delay tactics, by having bills read at length, is not why we were voted into o ce. We were voted into o ce to consider and debate policy. At the time we invoked House Rule 14, we wanted to drive more productive conversations.”

McCluskie said invoking Rule 14 led to more meaningful debate.

Bill banning sale of so-called assault weapons fails

In the early morning hours of April 20, on the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, the Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committee voted down a measure that would have banned the sale of so-called assault weapons in Colorado. e bill’s sponsor, Rep. Elisabeth Epps, a Democrat from Denver, blamed her party’s leadership in the House for the measure’s failure. “It’s just hard to look at the math and know that we have so many more than 33 votes in this House of Representatives and to not be assigned to a committee where we could get to the oor with the bill intact,” she said. It was unclear, however, whether the bill had enough votes to pass the legislature even if it had advanced out of the Judiciary Committee. While the bill’s failure wasn’t the rst major loss for progressives at the Capitol — a fair workweek measure killed in early March was — it was the rst piece of rejected legislation in a big week of General Assembly disappointments for the more liberal wing of the Democratic party.

Democrats on the panel also blocked amendments that would have limited the measure to a much narrower prohibition on devices that make semi-automatic weapons re at a rate similar to automatic rearms.

Republicans appeared to have a chance to kill TABOR measure e measure passed at about 11 p.m., after Republicans in the chamber backed o a quickly formed plan to stop the legislation from advancing on second reading before midnight. If the bill hadn’t passed on second reading Sunday, there wouldn’t have been enough time for the measure to clear the legislature before the end of the 120-day lawmaking term Monday. (It takes three calendar days to pass a bill in the legislature. e measure was introduced May 6.) e Senate GOP caucus huddled in the corner of the chamber at about 10:30 p.m. and gamed out their options. All they had to do was delay for a little more than an hour to kill the measure. And Democrats could only limit debate to an hour under the rules.

House Bill 1311, a measure making Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refunds next year a at-rate amount rather than to tied to income levels, nearly died on the vine May 7 in the Colorado Senate.

“We’re playing a chess match,” Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, R-Monument, told his 11 Republican Senate colleagues. “It’s a race to the clock.”

Lundeen had a brief, tense exchange with Senate President Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder, shortly thereafter. Fenberg was visibly angry and used profanity. en the chamber gaveled back in and Senate Majority Leader Dominick Moreno, D-Commerce City, started to make a motion to limit debate (for the rst time in the Senate in years), at which point Lundeen agged down the chamber’s leadership and the group hurried o the oor for a meeting.

A few minutes later, leadership reemerged from a side room and Fenberg angrily gaveled back in. House Bill 1311 passed in about 20 minutes.

Lundeen and Sen. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, said Tuesday that Republicans determined they couldn’t prevent the bill from passing by midnight.

“You can make everybody’s life very di cult,” Gardner said, “or you can all have a discussion in a civil way.”

If House Bill 1311 had failed, the governor likely would have called lawmakers back for a special session to pass the measure. Additionally, Republicans will be in the Senate minority at least through the 2026 legislative session. Any fracture in the otherwise cordial GOP-Democratic relationship in the chamber could be lasting.

Other big moments at the Capitol this year you should know about

In early March, East High

School

students descended upon the Capitol to demand action on gun violence after 16-year-old Luis Garcia was fatally shot near campus. e students returned to the Capitol after two deans were shot at the school by a student a few weeks later. e teens confronted lawmakers and even spoke with Gov. Jared Polis.

• e Colorado Senate on March

13 rejected a bill aimed at preventing horses from being slaughtered for human consumption. e measure was voted down after the sponsor, Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Boulder County, tried to reverse a deal on the legislation cut in committee. e moment highlighted ssures among Democrats in the Senate and sowed a level of distrust in the caucus for the rest of the lawmaking term.

• Senate Bill 213, the major landuse bill heralded by Polis as a way to solve Colorado’s a ordable housing crisis, was dramatically pared back in its rst committee hearing in the Senate. e bill was then gutted in its next committee, only to be partially resurrected in the House. In the end, the bill died on the calendar in the Senate.

• House Republicans walked out of the chamber May 8 during nal debate on a property-tax relief bill in protest of Democrats pushing through two major tax policies in the nal days of the lawmaking term and limiting debate on the measure in the process. McCluskie said she was disappointed in the GOP’s decision. “We are hired to do one speci c thing in this General Assembly, and that is to cast a vote,” she told reporters Tuesday. Rep. Matt Soper, a Delta Republican, said Tuesday in a briefing with reporters that “when you’re silenced, you don’t have a voice.”

• On the evening of May 8, as the House wrapped up its work, Democrats gathered for an informal caucus meeting to plan out the rest of the night. During the gathering, Epps confronted McCluskie about her leadership. “You asked to do this,” she said. “I’m asking you to do much, much more.” Epps criticized McCluskie for giving Republicans too much leeway and for allowing lastminute bills to be pushed through. McCluskie responded by saying she was overwhelmed at the moment but eager to sit down with her in the future. “We have not had opportunities to communicate, we are not communicating well,” McCluskie said. “ ere has been too much. We have been working hard around the clock. I will lean in, I will do more.”

10 is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media