9 DECEMBER 21-27, 2023 westword.com WESTWORD | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | being funded by the United States,” she says. Epps says any alleged toxicity in the Capitol doesn’t start with her. She recalls the chair of a committee being so “vicious” to her during a meeting last spring that afterward, multiple legislators reached out to apologize for her treatment, saying, “I’ve never in my life heard someone spoken to like that.” When it comes to leadership interrupting and denouncing legislators on the fl oor, Epps says leadership dispro- portionately gavels legislators who are speaking in support of racial justice issues, according to a log she kept during the 2023 regular session. Regarding the special session clash, Epps says it began because Weinberg said “I’m fucking done with you” to Epps after she mentioned Gaza while speaking on the fl oor. Weinberg tells Westword that he did not say anything to Epps, claiming he only raised his hand to ask permission to respond. Westword was unable to hear what was said that day, and the recording of the incident only picks up Epps speaking over the microphone, not whatever was said on the sidelines. “If their version of toxicity is their own comfort being disrupted, that’s nonsense,” Epps says. “To toxicity, when do we start assessing that? When armed men are cursing at me? Or is it when I reply?” Though she doesn’t condone the way some colleagues treat her, Epps says that “feelings need to take a far back seat” for legislators when working on such diffi cult is- sues. She tells Westword she is try- ing to change systems that benefi t many of her fellow lawmakers, so it’s “natural” that they would feel uncomfortable with her actions. “It’s not supposed to be com- fortable. We’re addressing really hard issues often, and so some level of tension is appropriate,” Epps says. “But the Capitol is not a safe place for folks who prioritize following the law and telling the truth. ... It is a very racist place. It is a place that is very anti-Black, it is a place that is anti-immigrant, it is a place that is misogynistic. But I’m not sure how different that is from the rest of the world.” Ortiz blasts the current climate in the Capitol as “the worst it’s ever been,” having worked in the building since 2015 as a legisla- tor and lobbyist. He announced in October that he won’t run for reelection next year, saying his main reason for leaving offi ce is the lack of access and the ableism he expe- riences as the legislature’s only wheelchair user. But the “vitriol” and “toxic working environment” contribute to making the job diffi cult to endure, as well. “We saw that in special session, and that’s only what you’re seeing as public perfor- mance,” Ortiz says. “That was deliberate; that is what you’re getting to see — let alone what happens behind closed doors and in dark rooms.” Epps isn’t the only legislator whose ac- tions Ortiz has taken issue with. He routinely calls out Republican Representative Scott Bottoms on social media for his repeated derogatory remarks against the LGBTQ community. Ortiz tells Westword he also confronted Republican Representative Rich- ard Holtorf in person after Holtorf likened people with physical disabilities to running with bulls in Spain, saying if “you’re dumb enough” to get hurt, “you own it.” “My focus is to call out the worst when I see it,” Ortiz says. “It’s not one or two people’s responsibility, and it’s not one or two people that are creating this toxic work environment. It is a comment on all of us. ... We’re not showing our best, that’s for sure.” Resignations have disproportionately impacted the House of Representatives this year. From 2017 to 2022, the sixteen resigna- tions were almost evenly split between the two chambers: nine in the House and seven in the Senate. In 2023, six resignations came from the House, compared to only two in the Senate. And all six House resignations were Democrats. While she agrees that the political at- mosphere on a national level has become more toxic in recent years, House Speaker Julie McCluskie says she has “always been proud” of how the Colorado Legislature functions. Regarding the mayhem from the last day of the special session, she’s still carefully considering how to respond. On December 13, McCluskie removed Epps from the prestigious Judiciary Committee, citing the special-session incident. “I was very disappointed and concerned with what happened in the chamber on that last day,” McCluskie says. “I am continuing to review what next steps may be appropriate given the activities and behaviors that we saw from members.” McCluskie admits that recent compli- cations have made relations between leg- islators diffi cult. She points to scheduling confl icts causing caucus meetings to be less frequent, and concern or confusion over the open-meetings lawsuit (led by Epps and Democratic Representative Bob Marshall) delaying some opportunities for legislators to meet with each other. One of her biggest concerns, though, is the way legislators are communicating over social media. While she can gavel down dis- respectful comments on the House fl oor, she can’t control what insults legislators hurl at one another online. And those interactions often spill into the Capitol once the screens are away, she says. “When we’re exchanging barbs or com- ments that are maybe less than productive, that does feed into the relationships that we then have in person when we are debating policy,” McCluskie says. “My hope is that members would really adhere to the same sort of decorum and respect on social media as they would in the chamber.” McCluskie says she hopes to address all of those issues during the next legislative session. But even during this year’s disarray, she says she’s been committed to fostering a “respectful working environment” and “comfortable space for debate,” noting that all legislators are trained on workplace ex- pectations and harassment policies during their orientation. When someone violates those policies, McCluskie says, she addresses it directly with the legislator and with the House mi- nority and majority leaders: “Praise in public, discipline in private.” In previous years, when repeated issues of sexual harassment and racial insensitivity arose, legislative leadership used caucus- wide training to try to “change the atmo- sphere,” Benavidez says. “If you have a classroom where kids are out of control, you address the whole atmo- sphere, not just the one child,” Benavidez says. “I’m not sure that’s happening. ... The legislature is a group of 100 people with big personalities from very different ideologies having to work together. Outbursts are not unexpected. It’s how you address them that makes the difference, and that’s what we’re still missing.” Former state representative Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez says she was part of leading the legislature’s racial bias and equity workshops after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. While she says everyone was, and likely still is, committed to the idea, the focus fell off because of time issues. “We started those conversations. Those did kind of fall to the wayside a little bit in the midst of changing of leadership,” Gonzales- Gutierrez says. While the conversations ended, the prob- lems did not. During the 2023 legislative session, Gon- zales-Gutierrez says she and other female legislators of color were relentlessly threat- ened and harassed online, without much support from leadership. She tells Westword they “had to beg” for leadership to eventually put out a statement defending them. Gonzales-Gutierrez says many legisla- tors of color also felt they needed to add a white sponsor to any controversial legisla- tion regarding issues like criminal justice that disproportionately impact communities of color. She says the white legislator served as a “validator” to assure other legis- lators that the issue was actually serious; lobbyists would ignore her as a bill sponsor and go straight to the white co-sponsor. “That was really hard,” Gonza- les-Gutierrez says. “It felt as if our experience was not being consid- ered as legislators of color.” Gonzales-Gutierrez recalls only one instance when signifi cant criminal justice legislation did not need a white co-sponsor to pass: a landmark police accountability bill requiring body-worn cameras and restricting use of force. She attributes the bill’s success to it coming mere days after Floyd’s murder. But since its passage in 2020, Gonzales-Gutierrez says, many of her legislative colleagues pulled back on their support. “I felt like it was getting worse,” she says. “It’s expected from the Republican Party; we already ex- pect that. But we started to see more pushback from our own Democrats.” Gonzales-Gutierrez resigned from the legislature in August after being elected to Denver City Council. She says the change in offi ce has been “a huge breath of fresh air,” noting that the 100-member, part-time struc- ture of the state legislature makes it harder to manage relationships and personalities than the thirteen-member city council. She also points to unequal representation in the legislature, like the underrepresentation of Latinos, as being a source of strife. Those elements of the state legislature aren’t changing anytime soon, but McCluskie is hopeful that the 2024 session will go smoother when it starts on January 10. “I trust that as we head into this next session, we will — based on our learning from the regular session last year and the special session — be able to work together collaboratively, respectfully, and in a way that really delivers for the people that we serve,” McCluskie says. The vote’s still out. Email the author at hannah.metzger@ westword.com. Representative Elisabeth Epps (in red) sits with pro-Palestine protesters during the last day of the special session. HANNAH METZGER
