Legislative staff in Colorado

Legislative staffers in Colorado are employees of the state tasked with supporting the function of the Colorado General Assembly and the members who comprise that body. With very few exceptions, these personnel are non-partisan public servants. Colorado employs a total of 345 legislative staff across various functions.

NCSL classifies Colorado's legislative staff members into five broad categories:

Member staff, also called personal staff, are individuals who work directly for a specific legislator. These staffers serve at the pleasure of their respective state representative or senator and their employment with the state ends once their legislator leaves office or is defeated in an election. While technically the employment of these individuals is approved or denied by the Secretary of the Senate or the Chief Clerk of the House, selections are generally made independently by each elected official.

Common staff titles include: Legislative Aide, Legislative Assistant, Administrative Assistant, Executive Assistant, and Chief of Staff. Most official state documents use the blanket term Legislative Aide to refer to all member staff in Colorado.

The salary and benefits of member staff are set by the Executive Committee of the Legislative Council. Each legislative office is allotted a total of $4,200 per year for staff expenses. Each member of the legislature may employ, at most, two staffers as state employees. Other staff must serve as volunteers, interns, be paid out of pocket, or be reimbursed by campaign committees.

Technically, total billable man-hours may not exceed 420 per employee per session; though legislative staffers frequently work 40-60 hours per week, they may only bill the state for their first 24 hours per week at a rate of $10 per hour. Staff salary is based on the 120 business-day cycle of the regular session. Consequently, member staff are classified as session-only employees, meaning they can be paid only for work performed while the General Assembly is meeting, usually from mid-January through early May.

As employees of the State of Colorado, legislative aides participate in the Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association, to which the state makes supplementary contributions. Health, vision, and dental insurance are not provided, but may be purchased by employees. The state does not provide for sick pay or paid vacation days.

Responsibilities for personal staff vary considerably from office to office. Senior staffers in offices with multiple employees, volunteers, and interns incur considerably more managerial responsibility than do their peers in more-sparsely staffed offices. Similarly, the scope of duties of staffers working for senior committee members or legislators from swing districts may not resemble the responsibilities of other members' staffs.

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