Senate Democrats insisted they secured supermajority vote on crucial rule; Republicans cried foul
The special session that started on Friday ground to a halt for several hours after Republicans pointed out that Democrats failed to adhere to rules around procedure.
Ultimately, Senate Democrats prevailed — after declaring that the supermajority of the chamber backed a procedural motion. The Democrats simply decided that a voice vote was sufficient, instead of actually counting each vote, which would have likely shown they did not have enough to satisfy a two-thirds vote requirement to proceed.
The partisan breakdown in the Senate is 23-12, a vote short of a two-thirds majority.
At issue is Rule No. 4, which requires a two-thirds vote for the Senate to move into "special orders." That allows senators to debate a bill that has not been previously announced on the day's calendar.
Notably, it would allow them to advance Senate Bill 1, the Democrats' primary proposal to offer property tax relief.
That rule can be suspended with a three-day written notice to the Senate.
However, someone on the Democratic side of the chamber forgot to send out that letter before the session started. It led to a brief discussion Friday morning, followed later in the day by hours of negotiations between the leadership of the two caucuses on how to move forward. Republicans asked for a delay in the special session to allow Coloradans more opportunity to read the bills on property taxes and other issues being considered in the special session.