There’s a saying that if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu. Never was that truer than with the oil and gas industry in Colorado this year. According to a press release, the Democrats in the state House and Senate didn’t meet with an industry representatives while drafting what Democrat Sen. Steve Fenberg calls the “most sweeping oil and gas reforms in the country.”

Makes sense, right? Why include the industry that will be most impacted by your legislation in the actual crafting of the legislation?

Democrats introduced the legislation today at a press conference. But don’t worry, the actual bill is not for public consumption either. The only people who have seen the bill are a bunch of radical activists in Boulder. Seems reasonable.

But that’s not all. In announcing the sweeping changes, Fenberg claimed that oil and gas regulation hadn’t been party to meaningful changes in 60 years. That’s absolutely false, and Fenberg should know better since Democratic Gov. Ritter was a huge proponent of changes during his term in office.

But there’s the rub. Democrats can’t pass bills without lying substantively about their contents or with actually including legitimate stakeholders in the process. It’s too bad, too, since so many Coloradans are depending on oil and gas for their jobs, lower energy, and school funding.