News & Alerts
April 1, 2020 COLORADO SUPREME COURT AUTHORIZES PAUSE IN LEGISLATIVE SESSION
On April 1, 2020, the Colorado Supreme Court held that the 120-day regular session may be paused by the General Assembly and that “a mere reference to a number of ‘days’ does not necessarily mean consecutive days.” The General Assembly adjourned on March 14, 2020 (the 67th day of the session) due to the public health emergency presented by COVID-19. At that time, there were 355 pending bills and the legislature had not yet introduced the annual budget required by Article X, Section 2 of the Colorado Constitution. The 4-3 ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court authorizes the General Assembly to pause under a public health emergency and resume at a later time. Once the legislature reconvenes, there will be 53 remaining working days to complete the session.
The full text of the Supreme Court opinion, including the Dissent, can be found here:
https://www.courts.state.co.us/Media/Opinion_Docs/20SA100.pdf