The Denver Post reported the Colorado Legislature will open the legislative session facing these issues:
- Education. How to finance education with the failure of Amendment 66. With significant reserves in the state education fund, lawmakers could use this pot of money to initiate some of the bill's more popular elements, such as a rolling student count system rather than a single count day for purposes of school funding. A financial transparency website that tracks money to the individual school level also proved popular.
- Flood recovery. September's floods impacted 24 counties and killed 10 people. To date, millions of dollars in state and federal money have gone toward the disaster recovery.
- Gun Battles. Republicans will attempt to "reform, rescind or revise" some of the gun bills.
The session will open with three new faces: Republicans Bernie Herpin and George Rivera, and Democrat Rachel Zenzinger. All three are in office as a result of the recall of three Democratic lawmakers who voted for stricter gun laws.
The complete story written by Kim Bartels and Kurtis Lee for the Denver Post can be found here.