Gov. Jared Polis, in first veto of year, rejects bill changing public records law — setting up potential override vote

Gov Jared Polis rejected a bill that would have altered the state s masses records laws on Thursday setting up a rare attempt by legislators to try to override the veto In a letter announcing his decision the first veto of the legislative session the governor wrote that Senate Bill made certain administrative changes to the Colorado Open Records Act that he considered fine including requiring additional populace information about the filing and costs of records requests But he wrote that it had two fatal flaws The bill would ve given administration entities more time to respond to requests than at this moment allowed if they determined the request was for financial gain requiring representatives to make that determination themselves It also would ve created two classes within the masses records law requiring faster responses for journalists sticking to the three days now considered reasonable while allowing for delays of a couple additional days for everyone else I acknowledge CORA can be improved and the bill includes specific narrowly tailored common-sense reforms Polis wrote in his veto letter While I would assistance these types of narrowly scoped adjustments to CORA I cannot do so in the context of the broader more essential problems SB - would have on transparency and the State s open records structure The bill s bipartisan group of sponsors who attempted a similar bill last year have announced the measure was broadly intended to give small governmental entities more time to respond to CORA requests which they argued had mounted in fresh years Supporters announced they gave special consideration to media requesters because journalists are typically more skilled at filing specific requests that can be more easily fulfilled Still allowing for additional delays had sparked opposition from transparency advocates like the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition which petitioned Polis to veto the bill A few Republicans had also opposed the measure for the deference it gave to members of the media I m disappointed because to me these are needed updates to CORA stated Rep Matt Soper a Delta Republican who co-sponsored the bill with fellow Republican Sen Janice Rich and Democrats Sen Cathy Kipp and Rep Michael Carter Soper revealed Polis met with Rich Kipp and Carter on Wednesday and essentially inquired them to convince him not to veto the bill The bill s sponsors now plan to try to override Polis veto which would require the patronage of at least House members and senators two-thirds of each chamber Overrides are rare The last attempt was in Soper noted and the last effective override was in That in turn was also the first override since the end of the Reagan administration Vetoes typically happen after the legislative session ends making it impossible in majority of cases for lawmakers to try to override a governor s rejection But this veto comes with nearly three weeks left in the session and SB- passed both the House and Senate with veto-proof bipartisan majorities That means the sponsors theoretically would have sufficient patronage to overcome the two-thirds threshold Related Articles Can the Trump administration intervene on Colorado s new gun-control law Republicans hope so Proposed Colorado law will cause explosion in predatory disability lawsuits Opinion Leader of Colorado s Libertarian Party calls man anti-gay slurs in Facebook exchange Legislature approves Sand Creek Massacre memorial for Colorado Capitol Former congressman Greg Lopez announces third run for Colorado governor Still Soper noted the vote would be close and he expected Polis and his staff to lobby against an override Democratic and Republican lawmakers would have to buck Polis just as bills pile up on his desk for passage into law Largest part lawmakers also are keenly aware of the tricky optics of state executives appearing to make regime operations more opaque In rejecting SB- Polis made good on a warning he delivered to lawmakers when he signed another bill earlier this month That law which allows colleges to directly pay athletes for the use of their names and likenesses also broadly blocked those agreements from being accessed by the inhabitants through records requests While Polis signed the bill into law he wrote in an accompanying report that he would scrupulously review future regulation that limited access to inhabitants records His rejection of Soper s bill was celebrated by Jeff Roberts the executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition The group had opposed the bill last year too and Roberts noted he was pleased with Polis defense of CORA s existing timelines As for a likely override Roberts noted he hoped legislators who voted for this bill now think twice about what this bill does and that they pay attention to the governor s concerns Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter The Spot