Live updates: Gov. Polis signs first special session bills as Colorado legislature enters likely final day

Colorado s special legislative session convened Tuesday as lawmakers continue working to address a nearly million budget shortfall caused by impacts from the current federal tax bill This story will be updated throughout the day p m update As the House took up its final votes Gov Jared Polis office informed that he d signed the first two bills passed during the special session Senate Bill amends an existing ballot measure that seeks to raise money for the state s school meals campaign by taxing wealthier residents Under the new version excess funds raised by the ballot measure would go to funding food assistance which faces funding cuts under the federal budget bill According to estimates on the ballot measure taxes would increase only on those Coloradans who make more than a year Polis also signed Senate Bill which allows the state Medicaid undertaking to cover services at clinics like Planned Parenthood The federal tax bill temporarily blocked federal Medicaid reimbursement to medical care providers that also provide abortion services Time and time again and the majority not long ago last November Colorado voters have overwhelmingly explained they will aid and defend their right to reproductive healthcare care Sen Lindsey Daugherty an Arvada Democrat noted in a declaration when the bill passed the Senate Amidst a hostile national landscape this bill is yet another step we must take to protect Coloradans right to safe accessible and affordable reproductive vitality care p m update Welcome back to a quiet Capitol for what is likely hopefully the sixth and final day of the special session State lawmakers are expected to give final approval to the handful of bills still on their docket The legislature has already passed largest part of the bills that Democratic leadership unveiled to raise roughly million part of their three-pronged plan to fill the million budget hole They are set to pass the last of those measures in contemporary times putting all of them on Polis desk Once those votes are done the House plans to consider a resolution condemning former Rep Ryan Armagost He resigned last week after Democratic leaders reported they would seek to censure him for taking and sharing a picture of a Democratic lawmaker whose appearance was then mocked in a private GOP group chat and then on social media Here s why the Colorado legislature is now meeting in a special session and what s at stake This file is auto-generated function d l use strict l querySelector d addEventListener undefined typeof URL d wp d wp d wp receiveEmbedMessage d wp receiveEmbedMessage function e var t e input if t t secret t message t value a-zA-Z - test t secret for var s r n a l querySelectorAll 'iframe data-secret ' t secret ' ' o l querySelectorAll 'blockquote data-secret ' t secret ' ' c new RegExp https i i i