Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Colorado General Assembly is altering its schedule during the current legislative session. The General Assembly will temporarily adjourn until March 30, 2020.
Colorado’s Constitution limits a legislative session to 120 calendar days. The current legislative session is scheduled to adjourn sine die no later than on May 6, 2020. With the temporary adjournment until March 30, 2020, there is a question whether the 120 calendar days must be counted consecutively from the first day of the legislative session (in this case, January 8, 2020). Accordingly, the General Assembly is requesting the Colorado Supreme Court to issue its opinion on this question.
What all this means for legislation moving forward is unclear. We know for certain the General Assembly and substantive legislative committees will not convene between March 15, 2020 and March 29, 2020.
We expect the Joint Budget Committee, as a year-round committee, to continue to meet while the General Assembly is temporarily adjourned. We will continue to keep Colorado Chamber of Commerce members updated over the next several weeks.