Gov. Jared Polis signs bill exempting lawmakers from parts of open-meetings law
Transparency advocates cried foul, but leaders said changes clarified rules for phone calls, emails
RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post
Colorado lawmakers are now exempt from parts of the state’s open-meetings law after Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill that legalizes longstanding practices challenged by transparency advocates.
Polis signed SB24-157 into law with immediate effect on Tuesday, a day after the bill cleared the House and a month after the measure was first introduced by legislative leaders. The quick stamp of approval from the governor came as the League of Women Voters of Colorado had publicly urged him to veto the measure, while the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition had scheduled a meeting with his office to discuss the bill and other legislation related to transparency.
In a signing statement accompanying Tuesday evening’s announcement that the bill was now law, Polis wrote that he respected the legislature’s authority to regulate its own inner workings.
The changes, which apply only to the General Assembly, allow legislators to discuss public business in small groups or in so-called serial meetings, which involve a series of conversations that don’t immediately constitute a voting majority of a committee or the chamber. Those meetings will remain public, but lawmakers do not have to publicly announce them.
The bill also states that digital communications between lawmakers, including emails and text messages, don’t amount to a meeting. Under prior state law, electronic conversations that dealt with public business were considered public meetings.
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