How Colorado’s Special Session is Costing Lawmakers and Taxpayers

When Senator Cleave Simpson went in for his knee replacement surgery on October 30, he had no idea he’d be called into work just ten days later.

Simpson intentionally scheduled his surgery during the interim, well before the legislature meets for its regular session in January, allowing him the approximately nine-week healing process before returning to duty. But Governor Jared Polis tossed a wrench into those plans when he called a special property-tax-focused legislative session on November 9, which begins Friday, November 17.

Now, less than three weeks into his recovery, Simpson is making the 230-mile trek from his Alamosa district to the Capitol in Denver. His wife is escorting him on the four-hour journey, since the senator can’t even drive yet.

“When I booked the surgery…