The 2017 Colorado legislative session is being called by many as one of the state’s most productive, thanks in part to a coalition of moderates in the state Senate.
AsThe Denver Post reports, the celebrated 2017 Colorado legislative session owes much of its success to a moderate bloc of lawmakers in the divided General Assembly who put aside suggestions that compromise is a dirty word in politics.
Just one year after the session ended in gridlock, the two parties reached agreements to preserve the hospital provider fee program, which prevented over $500 million in cuts to hospitals; generate nearly $2 million in new money for transportation projects; and spend $26.8 billion in the budget, among other things.
Gov. John Hickenlooper called the session the most productive since he took office six years ago.
And as Colorado Public Radio http://www.cpr.org/news/story/as-legislature-closes-top-republican-and-dem-mourn-loss-of-transpo-tax-bill reports, bipartisan agreements were reached on measures that have divided lawmakers for years, including the transportation bill, which also added money for education and gave small businesses a tax break.
