The Colorado General Assembly is the state legislature of the State of Colorado. It is a bicameral legislature that was created by the 1876 state constitution. Its

statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

s are codified in the ''

Colorado Revised Statutes The ''Colorado Revised Statutes'' (C.R.S.) are a legal code of Colorado, the codified general and permanent statutes of the Colorado General Assembly. Publication The ''Colorado Revised Statutes'' are revised and published by the Revisor of ...

'' (C.R.S.). The

session laws Session laws are the collection of statutes enacted by a legislature during a single session of that legislature, often published following the end of the session as a bound volume. The United States Statutes at Large are an example of session l ...

are published in the ''

Session Laws of Colorado The law of Colorado consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory, local, and case law. The ''Colorado Revised Statutes'' form the general statutory law. Sources The Constitution of Colorado is the foremost source ...

''. Colorado's legislature is similar to those of other states, except that, unlike many states, Colorado does not give its lieutenant governor any legislative authority (e.g. tie-breaking vote).

History

The first meeting of the Colorado General Assembly took place from November 1, 1876, through March 20, 1877.Presidents and Speakers of the Colorado General Assembly: A Biographical Portrait from 1876
, Colorado.gov, 2013 Revised Edition. (accessed April 29, 2013) Succeeding sessions met every two years until 1950, when it began to meet annually. The lieutenant governor served as Senate President until 1974 when Article V, Section 10 of the state constitution was amended, granting the

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

Senate the right to elect one of its own members as President.

Constitutional definition

The

Colorado Constitution The Constitution of the State of Colorado is the foundation of the laws and government of the U.S. state of Colorado. The current, and only, Colorado State Constitution was drafted on March 14, 1876; approved by Colorado voters on July 1, 1876 ...

establishes a system of government based on the

separation of powers Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...

doctrine with power divided among the

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...

and

judicial The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudication, adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and app ...

branches of government. Article V vests the legislative power of the state in the General Assembly, while reserving to the people the power to propose, approve, and reject both laws and amendments to the state Constitution by initiatives or referendums.Article V, Section 1 of the Colorado Constitution
(accessed April 29, 2013)

Composition

The General Assembly is

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...

, composed of the

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distr ...

and the Colorado Senate. The House has 65 members and the Senate 35. Members of the House are elected to two-year terms, and members of the Senate are elected to four-year terms. General legislative

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

s are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in each even-numbered year. The entire House is elected in each general election. Senators are elected in two classes such that, as nearly as possible, one-half of the senators are elected in each general election. House members are limited to four consecutive terms in office, and state senators are limited to two consecutive terms. However, term-limited former members of both houses can run again after a four-year break. The vast majority of members of the General Assembly who are ultimately elected (in excess of 90% of members ultimately elected in all recent sessions) are nominated through a major political party caucus process that places candidates on a primary ballot for the position sought in their political party, which generally requires 30% support from delegates to the relevant nominating body of the political party. It is also possible for individuals who have been registered to vote and affiliated with the political party in question for at least a year to gain access to a partisan primary ballot by petition. Minor party candidates can gain access to the general election ballot through a minor party caucus process. Unaffiliated candidates can gain access to the general election ballot by petition. Vacancies in legislative offices are generally filled by political party vacancy committees, rather than by-elections. Vacancy appointees who fill the first half of a state senators term must stand for election at the next even year November election for the remainder of the state senate term for the seat to which the state senator was appointed. The state auditor is appointed by the General Assembly, as are many members of independent boards and commissions. Currently, the Colorado General Assembly is controlled by the Democratic Party. Democrats also hold the governor's office. The Colorado General Assembly was the first state legislature to welcome women as elected members, with

Clara Cressingham Clara Cressingham (October 6, 1863 – 1906) was one of the first women elected to serve in any state legislature in the United States. She was also the first woman to serve in a leadership position in any state legislature. Early life Cressingh ...

, Carrie C. Holly and Frances S. Klock all being elected to the State House of Representatives in 1894 and Helen Robinson being elected to the State Senate in 1912 (the second state upper house in the country to welcome women as members).

Procedure and powers

With the notable exceptions listed below, the Colorado General Assembly operates in a manner quite similar to the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

.How a Bill Becomes Colorado Law
, Office of Legislative Legal Services, October 2001 (accessed April 29, 2013) Regular sessions are held annually and begin no later than the second Wednesday in January. Regular sessions last no more than 120 days. Special sessions may be called at any time by the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

or upon written request of two-thirds of the members of each house, but are infrequent. Some committees of the General Assembly work between sessions and have limited power to take action without General Assembly approval between legislative sessions. Joint procedural rules of the two chambers require most legislation to be introduced very early in the legislative session each year, and to meet strict deadlines for completion of each step of the legislative process. Joint procedural rules also limit each legislator to introducing five bills per year, subject to certain exceptions for non-binding resolutions, uniform acts, interim committee bills and appropriations bills. Most members of the General Assembly decide which bills they will introduce during the legislative session (or most of them) prior to its commencement, limiting the ability of members to introduce new bills at constituent request once the legislative session has begun. Most bills adopted by the General Assembly include a "safety clause" (i.e. a legislative declaration that the bill concerns an urgent matter) and take effect on July 1 following the legislative session unless otherwise provided. Some bills are enacted without a "safety clause" which makes it possible to petition to subject those bills to a referendum before they take effect, and have an effective date in August following the legislative session unless otherwise provided. Colorado's legislature does not have an analog to the

filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...

in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

requiring a supermajority for approval of any matter. The lieutenant governor does not have the power to preside or break tie votes in either house of the General Assembly. All new executive branch rules are reviewed annually by the legislature and the legislature routinely invalidates some of them each year. The General Assembly does not have a role in the appointment or retention of state judges, although it must authorize the creation of each judgeship. Many state agencies and programs are subject to "sunset review" and are automatically abolished if the General Assembly does not reauthorize them.

The state budget process

The governor submits a proposed budget to the Joint Budget Committee each year in advance of the year's legislative session. Colorado's fiscal year is from July 1 to June 30. All bills introduced in the General Assembly are evaluated by the non-partisan state legislative services body for their fiscal impact and must be provided for in appropriations legislation if there is a fiscal impact. A state budget, called the "Long Bill" is prepared each year by the Joint Budget Committee of the General Assembly. Unlike many legislative initiatives, the Long Bill is neither an acronym nor named after an individual with significant influence. The Long Bill is simply a lengthy bill that contains many appropriations. The House and the Senate alternate the job of introducing the long bill and making a first committee review of it. Colorado's state legislature is required to obtain voter approval in order to incur significant debt, to raise taxes, or to increase state constitutional spending limitations. It is also required to comply with a state constitutional spending mandate for K-12 education. The Governor has line item veto power over appropriations.

Legislative staff

The Colorado General Assembly is staffed by approximately 230-year-round staff and 115 session-only staff. Staffing levels and expenditures have decreased since 2003. Similarly to

Congressional staff Congressional staff are employees of the United States Congress or individual members of Congress. History Before the American Civil War, members of Congress did not have staff assistance or even offices, and "most members worked at their desks ...

ers, legislative staff in Colorado fall into five broad categories: member staff, administrative staff, committee staff, communications and leadership staff, and legal service staff. With the exception of those working in communications and leadership, employees of the General Assembly are non-partisan staffers.

Current makeup

There are 65 House Members and 35 Senate Members making up the 100 seats in Colorado General Assembly. Based on the 2010 census, each House member represents about 77,372 constituents and each Senator 143,691. The 2018 Colorado elections resulted in Democrats extending their control in the House (41 Democrats; 24 Republicans) and capturing the Senate majority. All 65 Colorado House seats were up for election in 2020. The chamber's Democratic majority remained 41-24. However, the Democrats gained another seat and kept their majority in the 2020 elections for the Colorado State Senate. Eighteen seats in the chamber were up for election in 2020. Heading into the Nov. 3 election, Democrats controlled 19 seats to Republicans' 16. Democrats gained a net of one seat from Republicans, increasing their party's majority. The current Senate makeup is 21 Democrats and 14 Republicans. The 74th session will mark the first time in state history that women will hold the majority of seats in the General Assembly

References

External links

Official Colorado General Assembly Website
Includes links to state Constitution and statutes. {{Authority control 1876 establishments in Colorado Government of Colorado Bicameral legislatures