EDITORIAL: Extreme, unchecked power poisoned General Assembly

May 14—Let's not celebrate Colorado's 2023 General Assembly, which symbolizes another weird session controlled by doctrinaire left-wing demagogues with nothing to keep them in check.

The Legislature adjourned last week, and a few examples of systematic failure include:

— Legislators gift-wrapped tax refunds — required by the Colorado Constitution's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights — as a hedge against looming spikes in property taxes.

— They passed more climate laws, doing nothing to ease the pain of consumers who can't afford the state's futile war on global warming.

— They enacted "gun control," neglecting substantive means of protecting children from guns.

— They obstructed reproductive rights under the guise of expanding them.

A handful of positives merit mention but represent a small percent of the Legislature's work:

— Legislators passed House Bill 1247 — with urging by The Gazette and other all-the-above energy advocates. The law requires the state to study potential use of modular nuclear reactors.

— They passed Senate Bill 23-097, with The Gazette's nagging encouragement, to make theft of any vehicle a felony without regard to the vehicle's value.

— They defeated a bill written for the state to commandeer planning and zoning decisions from local governments.

Aside from a handful of meaningful bills, consider how badly the state handled taxes, energy, school safety and reproductive rights.

Taxes: Senate Bill 23-303 creates a November ballot measure that asks voters to pay for property-tax relief, shifting money from one pocket to the other. In a conversation with The Gazette's editorial board Thursday, Gov. Jared Polis conceded the proposed tax relief is mostly a TABOR refund anticipated and likely required.

"I've always been supportive of using any or all of the TABOR surplus to cut taxes, and we've done that twice by cutting the income tax at the ballot box," the governor said.

Instead of cutting spending to pay for tax cuts, the state keeps spending big and uses tax refunds to pay for it. Smoke, meet mirror.

Energy: The Legislature passed more regulations to control the climate from Colorado — home to 0.0725% of the world's population. It means more time, money and austerity chasing a pipe dream that financially harms Colorado residents.

"We renamed the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission (now the Energy and Carbon Management Commission)," Polis told us. "It has a new name now, and it oversees all the underground activity. Drilling for geothermal is not too different than drilling for oil and gas. So, they do the subsurface permitting process."

That's a good idea, as everyone should support additional energy sources. It does nothing to provide immediate or near-term relief for soaring energy costs that force low-income Coloradans to choose between food and fuel.

School safety: Colorado's children need protection from deadly violence. Instead of legislating immediate protection from random shooters, the Legislature delivered "gun control" that might, at most, control a few guns and the people who misuse them.

One new gun law purportedly strengthens the state's red flag law, which relies on someone detecting and reporting another person's mental instability before a possible crime occurs.

Other new gun laws raise the minimum age for gun purchases to 21, impose a three-day waiting period for firearms purchases and allow gun victims to sue firearms manufacturers.

These laws provide no practical means of saving lives when killers attack in violation of gun regulations and other laws. "Hey monster, don't shoot because you acquired that gun before your 21st birthday and did not wait three days."

Meaningful gun control, delivering immediate results, involves screening procedures at entrances to schools and other soft-target venues. The governor and Legislature missed another opportunity to ensure funding and minimum screening standards for the state's nearly 1,900 public schools. Instead, we got bills designed for optics and a sense of taking action.

Reproductive rights: One of three new abortion laws obstructs reproductive rights in direct violation of Colorado's Reproductive Health Equity Act of 2022.

The Legislature last year passed House Bill 22-1279 to codify a person's fundamental right to make "reproductive health care" decisions free from government interference. The act defines "reproductive health care" to include "all stages" of reproduction, including "prenatal, postnatal and delivery care; fertility care," and more. It strictly prohibits punishing health care providers for providing any form of reproductive care.

Obsessed with abortion — not merely the right to have one — legislators passed Senate Bill 190. It says health care providers engage in "unprofessional conduct" and are "subject to discipline" for prescribing or administering any pharmaceutical to help women neutralize abortion pills.

"I don't know why politicians thought they should micromanage medicine," Polis said, addressing our concern about contradicting laws. "We are not enforcing that part of the bill ... No one in Colorado will lose their medical license over that."

The law does not work that way. Any prosecutor has authority to enforce any state statute — even laws the governor enacted against his better judgment.

Despite a few good outcomes, the 2023 General Assembly provides a cautionary tale about unchecked, single-party rule by extremists. It leaves society with indulgent, irrational and nonconstructive laws. With deference to Lord Acton, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The Gazette Editorial Board