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House approves measure to authorize placement of nonpartisan legislative fellows
Summary
Lawmakers approved Senate Bill 309 to allow nonpartisan scientific and technical fellows to be placed with legislative council staff under agreements with nonprofit organizations; debate centered on transparency, donor funding, and safeguards for nonpartisanship.
DENVER — The Colorado House approved Senate Bill 309 on second and then final reading after extended debate over how nonpartisan fellowships would be funded and governed.
The bill authorizes the Legislative Council to approve placements of nonpartisan fellows within legislative staff, creating paid fellowship slots for individuals with technical backgrounds — such as in natural sciences, engineering, computer science and public health — to assist nonpartisan staff with research and analysis.
Representative Brown, a co-prime sponsor, said the program would —create opportunities for emerging policy professionals to contribute to public service in a way that is grounded in facts, not partisanship.— He described the fellowship as an outside partnership designed to add technical expertise to the legislature—s nonpartisan staff, with the fellows supervised by Legislative Council staff.
Much of the chamber-level debate focused on safeguards: whether outside nonprofit funding should be allowed to underwrite fellowships, whether the sponsoring nonprofit must be nonpartisan, and how to label and disclose the source of any work product. Representative Luck unsuccessfully pushed amendments to require that work products identify the fellow and the sponsoring organization and to bar the placement of fellows paid by organizations registered as lobbyists.
Supporters noted the fellowship would be paid initially by philanthropy and fundraising outside the general fund, and that the institute backing the program — the Institute for Science and Technology Policy at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science — described it as a nonpartisan educational placement. Opponents said outside funding risks private influence and sought stricter transparency requirements.
The House ultimately adopted an amendment clarifying that the fellowship program would not require a state appropriation for the placements and moved the bill forward. The measure passed the House and will return to the Senate to reconcile any House changes.
Why it matters: Legislatures around the country are increasingly enlisting technical expertise to evaluate complex policy in areas such as climate, health, and technology. Supporters argued the bill would strengthen the General Assembly—s capacity to analyze technical issues; opponents urged stronger transparency and nonpartisanship safeguards.
