Property taxes, Earned Income Tax Credit and other issues the Colorado legislature is tackling this week

If the next four months of the 2024 legislative session are going to be as long as everyone expects, at least the start is slow. The session began last week , and then lawmakers were off Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Frigid weather then forced a Capitol snow day Tuesday. As they often do in the first weeks of session, legislators have a light schedule for what remains of this week.

As of Tuesday morning, only is scheduled to meet to discuss actual legislation (including ). A handful of other committees are set for government oversight hearings with various state agencies, though the snow day will throw some of that scheduling out of whack. The lull won’t last: , and new legislation will continue to drop throughout the month.

Committees will soon have their hands full. Here’s what to expect for the rest of this short week: The first week of session is usually all pomp and circumstance, speeches and selfies. But last week was a bit different: A pair of House committees swiftly advanced in a bid to give more money to lower income working families.

The full House then gave the bill initial approval Friday, with a final vote likely this week before the measure heads to the Senate. If you paid attention to the legislature in November, you may be scratching your head. The legislature considered and passed this same bill back then. What gives? Well, to block that law from going into effect, arguing the measure was passed unconstitutionally in November’s special session.

So now, legislators are set to repeal and replace the first, allegedly tainted bill with this version to ensure the expanded tax credit rolls out smoothly. It’s unclear when the House will vote on the bill for a third and final time. Representatives were set to do so Tuesday before the weather intervened.

The powerful , tasked with drafting the state budget in the coming months, is also continuing its regular meetings this week, with a rotating cast of state officials, to discuss agencies’ budget requests. Meetings are set each day. Committees spend the first few weeks of session warming up with oversight hearings while they wait for new legislation.

The State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive and Transparent Government Act — or SMART Act — hearings give lawmakers a chance to review the performance of state agencies and grill state officials, publicly. They’re usually good fodder for lawmakers to dig in on specific issues that drew headlines or warning signs in the months since the last regular session ended.

The Department of Early Childhood, for instance, will present to two legislative committees this week after weathering a summer of criticism over . The Public Utilities Commission, , is also set to speak to lawmakers Wednesday, and the House and Senate committees overseeing transportation were supposed to talk to the Colorado Department of Transportation amid a push by Gov.

Jared Polis to focus on transit solutions this session. That was scheduled for Tuesday, but … snow. Stay tuned for the rescheduled hearing. Two months after legislators met for four days to discuss a short term balm for searing property tax hikes, the debate around a long term fix continues. Legislators and members of Polis’ “blue ribbon” will meet Friday to continue their search for just such a fix, with an eye toward bringing a bill later this spring.

The return of Colorado’s legislature to the Capitol this week brought lofty talk from legislative leaders about the need for civility. It also came with a harsh reality: . this legislative session as state leaders aim to encourage more building across the state. From the moment the Colorado General Assembly’s leaders , they acknowledged the undercurrent of acrimony that’s seeped ever more deeply into state politics..