"We decided that without question we intend tomorrow to call for a special session," Hickenlooper said in a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Hickenlooper became emotional when talking about the civil unions bill saying "I spent a long time in the restaurant business and a lot of the people that helped us create the business didn’t have the same rights as everybody else."

"I had a call yesterday from one of them and they just asked me, ‘If not now, when?’ So our goal is to make sure we do everything we can to try and make sure there is a fair debate on the floor of the house."

"Everyone deserves the same legal rights in this country," Hickenlooper said, adding that his office got more than 500 calls asking for a special session.

He said he can't force lawmakers to approve the bill, but said it was only right to give it a full hearing.

He also joked that the headline coming out of Wednesday would be, "Governor Gambles On Civil Unions."

Republicans lawmakers planed to hold a news conference Wednesday to announce their plans and respond to the governor's request. They have not yet set a time.

30 Bills Still Up In Air

More than 30 bills died on the calendar when the House of Representatives ended its session Tuesday night.

A special session would cost taxpayers $23,500 per day, according to the Legislative Council.

Hickenlooper said the money is in an escrow account reserved for emergency sessions. He said the account has enough for three days.

Lawmakers were scrambling Wednesday morning to see which bills could be sent to triage, and which would be casualties of a political standoff that ended just before midnight Tuesday with no resolution.

Legislators were hoping to use parliamentary maneuvers to save priority measures, such as a bill funding some $20 million in water projects.

The last Colorado special session happened in 2006 to debate immigration bills.