Source: The Sum & Substance
Colorado House and Senate leaders have announced the makeup of committees in preparation for Wednesday’s commencement of the 2025 legislative session, making some key panels more Republican and others more Democratic due in part to election results.
Republicans picked up three seats in the House in November to end Democrats’ supermajority in that chamber but remain at a significant disadvantage, as Dems hold a 43-22 margin there. Meanwhile, Republicans and Democrats each picked up and lost one seat in the Senate, leaving the Democrats holding a 23-12 in that chamber.
In the House, Republicans will hold more committee seats, as House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, grew four committees — Business Affairs & Labor, Education, Finance and Transportation, Housing & Local Government — from 11-person to 13-person panels. However, with each party getting one new seat apiece on those committees, Democrats continue to hold three-seat advantages on three of them and maintain a five-seat advantage on the transportation committee.
The one House panel in which Republicans closed the gap is the House Judiciary Committee, in which the split has gone from an 8-3 Democratic advantage to a margin of 7-4. That committee is likely to hear any bills involving changes to tort law, such as proposed amendments to the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act that would make it easier for people with disabilities to sue for damages or the potential revival of a twice-killed bill that would make it easier to file deceptive-trade-practice lawsuits.
Gains and losses for both parties in Senate
In the Senate, meanwhile, Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez went the other way with the Judiciary Committee, boosting the Democratic advantage on that panel from 3-2 to 5-2 after two years in which moderate Democratic Sen. Dylan Roberts of Frisco was the swing vote in killing several high-profile measures. Rodriguez also added two Democrats to the Senate Finance Committee, boosting the majority party’s advantage there from 4-3 to 6-3.
However, Rodriguez commensurately reduced Democrats’ advantage on the Senate Appropriations Committee — another financially focused panel that hears many of the bills that pass through Senate Finance — from 6-3 to 4-3. And he nudged back the party’s advantage on the Business, Labor & Technology Committee from 5-2 to 4-3.
Both McCluskie and Rodriguez — who determine committee makeups in their separate chambers — also appointed a handful of new committee chairs to replace members who were term-limited, declined to seek re-election or moved from the House to the Senate.
New chairs for key committees in House
Rep. Naquetta Ricks, D-Aurora, will rise from vice chair to chair of the House Business Affairs & Labor Committee, while Rep. Steven Woodrow, a Denver Democrat and outspoken labor advocate, is set to join the committee as vice chair. But Woodrow also is campaigning to fill the open Senate seat that was made vacant by Sen. Chris Hansen’s resignation shortly after the election, which could complicate things in both chambers.
Rep. William Lindstedt, a Broomfield Democrat who has advocated for business on some key issues, takes the reins of the House Finance Committee. And Rep. Alex Valdez, a Denver Democrat and former solar company operator, will chair the House Energy and Environment Committee, which has passed multiple business-opposed regulations that require emissions reductions in recent sessions.
Rep. Javier Mabrey, a Denver Democrat and advocate for both plaintiffs’ attorneys and labor, will take over as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. In what appears to be an interesting balancing act, McCluskie also named first-term Democratic Rep. Michael Carter of Aurora — one of only two members of his party to be endorsed by the more conservative National Federation of Independent Business — as vice chairman.
Vacancies leave questions on Senate committees
In the Senate, Finance Committee Chairman Kyle Mullica, a Northglenn Democrat and emergency-room nurse, will take over as chair of the Health & Human Services Committee this year, leaving Sen.-elect Cathy Kipp, D-Fort Collins, to head the finance panel. And Sen. Faith Winter, a Broomfield Democrat who has sponsored numerous bills to regulate oil-and-gas operations and to boost transit, will return to her previous role a chair of the Senate Transportation & Energy Committee.
The open seats created by the resignations of both Hansen and Democratic Sen. Janet Buckner of Aurora leave some questions about the exact makeup of some Senate committees. With vacancy committees scheduled to choose replacements next week, Rodriguez has filled out the rosters of four different committees with one seat to be left to the unknown replacements of one of the two seats, both of which are contested.
Maybe the most intriguing vacancy is on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which now holds two Democrats who are advocates for expanding plaintiffs’ rights — Julie Gonzales of Denver and Mike Weissman of Aurora — and two more moderate members in Roberts and Sen.-elect Lindsey Daugherty of Arvada. Two of the leading contenders for Hansen’s seat — Woodrow and Rep.-elect Sean Camacho — are both attorneys, making them a natural fit for the panel. But Woodrow has shown more interest in boosting plaintiffs’ rights.
The only major change among the caucus leaders is in the Senate, where President-designate James Coleman, D-Denver, takes over for term-limited President Steve Fenberg. The 120-day legislative session is scheduled to last until May 7.
