Dozens of measures rushed to Gov. John Hickenlooper's desk in final hours
By John Frank and Joey Bunch
The Denver Post
May 11, 2016 - On the final day of the legislative session, Colorado lawmakers forged what they believe is a grand compromise to modernize the state's Prohibition-era liquor laws.
"We're changing 83 years of law in the last hours of the session, hoping for the best," said House Speaker Pro Tem Dan Pabon, a Denver Democrat.
The legislation — approved by the House and Senate in overwhelming votes Wednesday — would allow a limited expansion of liquor, wine and full-strength beer sales at more grocery and convenience stores.
Rep. Don Coram, left, who had dressed up for a skit, gives a parting hug to Rep. Lois Court during the annual end-of-session skits called Hummers on the last day of the legislature at the State Capitol on Wednesday. Court is term-limited and will be running for the Senate. Nine senators and 15 representatives said their goodbyes as the 70th General Assembly came to a close. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)
The last-minute push is intended to blunt a potential ballot question in November to allow broader beer and wine sales. But even as lawmakers began popping bottles in celebration, its future remained unclear.
Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat and former brewpub owner, has expressed reservations about the legislation, recently suggesting he would "tend to favor the status quo."
And the organization behind the ballot question, Your Choice Colorado, responded to the bill's passage with indignation, threatening to continue its efforts or file a lawsuit.
The organization objects to the limits in the legislation, such as the delay of full-strength beer sales to 2019 and restrictions on grocery sales within 1,500 feet of a current liquor store.
"Instead of fixing an antiquated law, the legislature failed Colorado consumers, jamming together a last-minute bill that masquerades as a compromise," said Georgie Aguirre-Sacasa, the organization's campaign manager.
Sen. Pat Steadman, a Denver Democrat who helped craft the deal, suggested the opposition is bluffing. "Their appetite for going ahead with their ballot initiatives is greatly exaggerated at the moment," he said.
The heavy lift on the 120th day contrasted a session that saw little movement on most top priorities, such as more money for road construction and deeper budget reforms.
Still, lawmakers spent the last hours rushing dozens of bills to the finish line.
Among the legislation to win approval: a measure to allow out-of-state investors to own marijuana shops, another to significantly cut the license fees for distillers and liquor wholesalers, a bill that removes outdated criminal penalties on people with HIV, another to permit the state to invest public school money in higher-yield but riskier investments.
A last-minute dispute on a pair of bills to allow more leniency for juveniles serving life sentences in prison complicated the picture. But lawmakers managed to pass legislation to reduce the sentence mandates and permit a select group to participate in a program aimed at making the case for clemency.
Despite the ticking clock, the House and Senate found time to honor the Super Bowl championDenver Broncos.
The session's end regressed to a school's-out-for-summer mood, as lawmakers packed boxes and pulled pranks and the House Republicans roasted the chamber's Democratic leaders.
In the Senate, Lakewood Democrat Andy Kerr prefaced his presentation of Senate Bill 183 with this request: "Please do not shoot any more rubber bands at me," he said, as colleagues fired a torrent of colorful loops from their bill folders.
Nine senators and 15 representatives said their goodbyes.
The session adjourned just hours before the midnight deadline, marked by the drop of a rubber-band ball in the Capitol rotunda.
See article online at http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29880916/colorado-lawmakers-strike-deal-booze-bill-session-ends
John Frank: 303-954-2409, jfrank@denverpost.com or @ByJohnFrank
