DENVER • State legislators began their session in January expressing the hope that 2009 could be a year when, facing a recession and a big state budget deficit, politics would be set aside and Democrats and Republicans could come together in a spirit of cooperation for the good of all Coloradans.

Hah.

The two parties have been bickering all year, and halfway through the session they haven’t agreed on a single major piece of legislation. They haven’t even agreed on how far short of bipartisanship they have fallen.

Republicans argue that the Democrats, owning the governor’s office and secure majorities in both houses of the Legislature, have basically ignored them. Democrats say Republicans have a “just say no” mentality.

John Straayer, a political science professor at Colorado State University and eminent Legislature-watcher, has seen it before.

“They go into every session talking about being bipartisan – both parties do,” he said, adding that reality quickly intervenes when genuine policy differences combine with “looking down the line to the next election.”

Straayer said the Republican formation adopted under the dome in Denver, as well as the one in Washington, is a united front of opposition. The Democrats’ response, he said, is that “there’s no point in trying to be bipartisan, we’ll just have to use our numbers and run the train.”

But reports of the death of bipartisanship may be premature.

Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, noted that most items on the legislative calendar are free of political controversy. “The bulk of the bills we pass down here are 35 to nothing,” he said.

Those measures don’t get a lot of attention from the politicians or the press, because both groups tend to measure the significance of an issue in terms of the controversy it generates.

But Groff insisted that “on some major issues, you’ll find some common ground.”

Arguably, the only Republican with whom the Democrats have found much common ground this year is Rep. Don Marostica of Loveland, who serves on the powerful Joint Budget Committee. He broke ranks to support a key part of the Democratic agenda – a measure to ditch a law putting a 6 percent cap on year-to-year increases in the state budget.

John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, the bill’s main Senate sponsor, described Marostica’s support as “critically important,” saying it has “steeled the will of many Democrats that are signing on to do this.”

Marostica said he supports Morse’s bill because it is good policy, not to provide political cover to Democrats. He had this warning for Democrats who pursue a unilateral agenda:

“If they do that too often, I think it really hurts them. That’s one good thing about having either the House or the Senate or the governorship in the opposite party – it kind of controls that bullying effect.”

Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, said he was proud that the Democrats were taking the political risks of making major changes without bipartisan consensus. They have little choice, he said.

“I would hope that the other side would develop more of a playbook than just ‘no,'” he said.

Rep. Amy Stephens of Colorado Springs, the House Republican caucus chairwoman, saw the Democrats’ determination to forge ahead in a different light.

“When you’re emboldened by your power, you overreach,” she said. “And I think that’s what we’re seeing here.”

“The public does genuinely want their elected leaders to try to forge consensus on issues,” said Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, the Senate minority leader.

In this March 29, 2008 file photo, Chris Brown accepts the award for Favorite Male Singer during the 21st Annual Kids’ Choice Awards in Los Angeles. Photo by (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)

Matt Sayles