Colorado Gov. Jared Polis speaks at the grand reopening of the Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab in Denver on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. The bill sought to hold general contractors liable for wage theft committed by subcontractors. But Polis wrote in a veto letter that as passed, the measure would let subcontractors “off the hook” while penalizing good actors further up the project’s chain of command.
“Under the bill the general contractor — even when not at fault under any reasonable standard — would effectively pay for the same work twice , raising costs,” Polis wrote. Danielson sponsored four of the six vetoed bills. She said in an email that “the governor’s vetoes put him squarely at odds with Colorado families and workers.” In particular, she called the veto of background checks for youth sports employees and volunteers “shocking and disturbing.”
The governor does generally hear out the caucus’ ideas, Cutter said, and she appreciated that four of the priority bills — including free menstrual products for students and a requirement that schools. That was the most of Polis’ tenure as governor, and the most since Gov. Bill Owens, a Republican, vetoed 44 bills from the Democratic-controlled General Assembly in 2006. Polis typically has vetoed about five bills per year.