Following a bitterly long hiatus, bipartisanship returned to the statehouse as Democrats stood with Republicans against Rep. Elisabeth Epps who was behaving badly against a Jewish member and disrupting the special session with her pro Palestine friends.
If only Democrats had stood with the GOP on their tax relief plan, but alas, Coloradans got screwed during the four-day session.
To be clear, there was no property tax cut, and most folks will see a property tax increase. The inflation caused by Bidenomics just won’t be as dramatic as expected, but only for one year.
Also, no tax relief was passed for commercial property owners. Instead, government will take a huge bite of new taxes from them, plus they’re taking more of regular folks’ tax dollars to give to some renters who might be affected by government’s never-ending greed.
It turns out when Gov. Polis said the special session was to deal with voters’ defeat of Prop HH, what he meant was for the legislature to find another way to redistribute our tax dollars instead of refunding money earned back to the earners.
It was all so tawdry, and Coloradans of all ideological stripes will be poorer for it.
The political grandstanding by Epps along with some Palestinian protestors who disrupted the session Sunday and Monday turned out to be just as annoying to her fellow Democrats.
That was after Dems allowed Epps to go on a 45-minute rant demanding the state force poor people who rely on government food subsidies to boycott dates grown in the West Bank and hummus produced by an Israel company.
Epps also accused Israel of ethnic cleansing, to which every American with even a modest education of WWII history will testify is as insulting as it is absurd.
Epps amendment was denied by a 39-21 vote with Democrat House leadership siding against her.
Loveland Republican Rep. Ron Weinberg rose to respond to Epps, who left the podium screaming “Free Palestine.” Epps then joined the Palestinian protestors in the gallery to heckle Weinberg and disrupt proceedings.
In short, she created a real shit show.
The Denver Gazette and Page Two over at Complete Colorado were some of the few media outlets that covered the outbursts that followed, while The Colorado Sun did this play-by-play on X.
Rep. Ron Weinberg speaking about his experience as Jew from the well of the House floor and Rep. Elisabeth Epps yelled “you’re out of order” from the gallery, where she is sitting with pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Epps is having a tense discussion with sergeants. #copolitics
— Jesse Aaron Paul ☀(@JesseAPaul) November 20, 2023
From The Gazette:
Before he could speak, Epps went up to the House gallery to join the protesters, who were once again waving Palestinian flags, shouting at lawmakers, and shutting down the House proceedings. She stayed there for more than an hour, while House leaders from both parties talked about how to proceed.
Republicans insisted that Weinberg should be given wide latitude to address Epps’ remarks, saying the Democrats had allowed her to speak without rebuke.
Once the House reconvened, Weinberg was surrounded by his Republican colleagues at the podium, while every Democratic lawmaker also stood in support, a common practice when someone is speaking on a personal issue.
Epps continued her temper tantrum from the gallery as Weinberg spoke.
We would note it’s against House rules for members to encourage the disruption of House proceedings.
And yet Democrats allowed both Epps and Rep. Tim Hernandez to encourage insurrection from the gallery without rebuke. A sure sign of shit shows to come.