Duran
In this installment of why majorities matter, we explore how trial lawyer-loving, union steward House Speaker Crisanta Duran has single handedly doomed bipartisan construction defect legislation. After passing the Republican controlled Senate with a bipartisan vote of 23-12, Duran has assigned Senate Bill 156 to the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee – affectionately referred to as the place leadership sends bills to die.
This is an issue that has stalled in the legislature for years now. With developers, city officials and affordable housing advocates pushing for reform and Democrat stalwarts blocking it at every turn.
Frustration with Duran’s decision was widespread, with Mike Kopp, President and CEO of the business group Colorado Concern saying:
“After a strong bipartisan vote in the Senate the bill will now go through a pretend hearing in the House. It really betrays a shocking indifference to the 40 metro mayors – representing 3 million Coloradans – who asked for one simple thing: a fair hearing so the local reforms could be voted on by the full House of Representatives for the first time ever.”
Construction defects reform would benefit low-income and middle class families who need affordable housing options, so one would think the Democrats would be all over this issue. And to be fair, some of them are. But when it comes to leadership, Duran proves that she is beholden to the donor class of trial lawyers over the people of Colorado.