As demonstrations swirled around the Capitol five years ago, state lawmakers came together on a sweeping package of reforms that are still playing out.
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The spring of 2020 was an extraordinary time for Colorado’s legislature. The pandemic forced lawmakers to break for two months as they worked out safety procedures, and when they finally returned to the state capitol at the end of May, it was with the goal of fulfilling their constitutional duty to balance the budget and also respond to the pandemic.
But the day before lawmakers reconvened, George Floyd was killed by police officers in Minneapolis. His brutal death, caught on video, touched off immediate protests across the country, and in Denver.
