Gov. Jared Polis vetoed Senate Bill 147, a bipartisan lobbying transparency bill that would have required legislative liaisons working for the governor’s office and state agencies to publicly disclose their positions on bills they were lobbying. According to The Denver Post, lawmakers said the bill was inspired by Polis’ own hands-on approach to shaping, amending, and sometimes killing legislation under the dome.
Polis’ reason for the veto deserves to be bronzed and placed in the Museum of Government Nerve. In his veto letter, he argued the bill would be a “very mean thing to do to future governors” because it would limit their ability to gather information and evaluate legislation independently. Very mean. Not unconstitutional tyranny. Not fiscal ruin. Mean. Let that phrase sit there like a participation trophy in a courtroom.
The Bullet Point Brief
- SB 147 would have required governor’s office and state agency lobbyists to disclose where they stood on bills, much like private lobbyists already do. Apparently sunshine is healthy for everyone except the folks operating closest to executive power.
- The bill was bipartisan and had serious support. Out of 100 lawmakers, only six voted against it on its trip through the Capitol. That is not exactly a fringe uprising by three people in matching tote bags.
- Lawmakers said the bill was meant to reset a strained relationship with the governor’s office after Polis became more active in influencing, reshaping, and threatening to veto legislation. Translation: stop working the hallways like a casino pit boss and just say what you mean in public.
- Polis argued the bill would erode separation of powers and create burdens that no other state places on governor-employed lobbyists. Fair enough, that is his argument. But “nobody else does it” is not a principle. It is what teenagers say right before they do something dumb in a parking lot.
- The bill’s sponsors, including Democratic Reps. Meg Froelich and Sen. Lisa Cutter, rejected Polis’ reasoning and said lawmakers’ positions are already public through votes, sponsors, committees, and floor debate. Their basic point: legislators leave fingerprints. The executive hallway apparently prefers gloves.
My Bottom Line
This is not complicated. Colorado lawmakers tried to require more transparency from people paid by the public to influence public legislation on behalf of the executive branch. Polis vetoed it because it might make life uncomfortable for governors. That is not a serious argument. That is a scented candle for executive privilege.
The insult here is not that the governor has opinions on bills. Of course he does. He should. The governor signs them, vetoes them, and has every right to weigh in. But when his team is pulling people into hallways, pressing votes, floating veto threats, and shaping legislation behind the curtain, Coloradans have a right to know what position the administration is taking. That is not “mean.” That is basic accountability with shoes on.
And let’s enjoy the hypocrisy appetizer. Politicians never stop preaching transparency until the flashlight swings toward their own hallway. Then suddenly it is a separation-of-powers crisis, a burden, a threat to independent decision-making, and apparently bad manners. Funny how quickly clean government becomes rude when it asks power to fill out paperwork.
Nobody needs to allege corruption to see the problem. The problem is comfort. If lobbying rules are good enough for private lobbyists, then they are good enough for the people lobbying near the governor’s office with the weight of a veto pen behind them. If transparency is too mean for power, power has gotten too comfortable.
Source: The Denver Post
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