House Speaker Mark Ferrandino said Wednesday there is a “90 percent chance” lawmakers will have to work over the weekend to clear a backlogged calendar — but Republicans and Democrats disagree about which party is to blame.
Ferrandino, a Denver Democrat, pointed out that the House had planned to debate more than 20 bills Wednesday.
“We have been on the floor since 9 o’clock and we have passed only one bill,” Ferrandino said shortly before 4 p.m.
That’s because Republicans fought the second bill up – House Bill 1136 — for more than 5 hours, introducing around 20 amendments. Three amendments, Ferrandino noted, were virtually identical.
The bill concerns employment anti-discrimination, and Republicans argued it was a boon for trial lawyers, but horrendous for business.
“The challenge the Democrats have is they keep bringing controversial bill after controversial bill,” said Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch.
McNulty used to be speaker until Democrats won back the majority in the House in November, and Ferrandino was elected to the top post.
“We control when bills come up,” Ferrandino said, “but Republicans control how long it takes. Right now they’re ensuring bills take a long time.”
By law the session must end May 8, and lawmakers in both parties are grumbling about the number of bills allowed to be introduced this year by the Democrat-controlled legislature. As of Monday morning, lawmakers had introduced 579 bills, 63 more than the total for the 2012 session.
Longtime lobbyists say they can’t remember the last time so many complex and controversial bills were being heard this late in the session, but they also say they don’t understand the GOP tactic of trying to faux filibuster so many measures.