Lawmakers reflect on what did, did not get done during regular session

Yahoo

09-05-2025

DENVER (KDVR) — State lawmakers have finished their work at the Colorado Capitol, for now. Both parties reflected on what they see as wins and losses for the state this year during their press conferences.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are glad they were able to end the session with a balanced budget that did not harm schools, but worries surrounding the fiscal shape of the state and its citizens still linger.
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'While we worked really hard to address the $1.2 billion budget shortfall, I think there is still a lot more work to be done and we know that there is potential for more cuts coming forward,' said House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese.
'We are fearful that with the Trump administration, continuing to cut services in rural parts of our state, cuts to public safety, cuts to agricultural and water infrastructure, that there is more work ahead for us today,' said House Speaker Julie McCluskie.
As lawmakers celebrate the end of the session, they also acknowledge they could be back this summer for two reasons: one being unfinished work at the state level, like delaying the state's landmark artificial intelligence regulation measure.
'We couldn't get that done. It was never the plan for this bill to be the final product. And I think that we will get working and whether we go into a special session or go into next year, I think we will be in a much better place with the policy and have more consensus,' said Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez.
Another reason they could come back is the potential for cuts from the federal level, lawmakers could need to rework the state budget if the state does not get the federal dollars they planned for.
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'If we come back into a special session, it will clearly be on the polis administration and the tax and spend democrats in the legislature. I've said it before several times, probably at nauseam for some people, we do not have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. The Democrats in Colorado have the same issue as the tax-and-spend democrats in Washington, D.C. They have a crisis of priorities, and they can't stop themselves from overspending,' said Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer.
Leaders in both parties hailed the failure of a bill that would have allowed the state to sue over the legality of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights as a win for Colorado taxpayers.
'I'm always pleased to have one lawsuit less, so thank you for not suing us,' Governor Jared Polis said as he turned towards Democratic legislative leaders.
'There was a resolution introduced with 31 Democrat members of the House on that resolution, 13 Democrat members of the Senate on that resolution and we worked diligently behind the scenes to make sure that an effort to destroy the Taxpayer Bill of Rights did not come to committee and did not have a vote,' said Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen.
The parties, however, have differing opinions over societal policy measures that have been passed: bills protecting civil rights for immigrants and members of the transgender community.
Republicans said they wished more measures addressing affordability and public safety had been prioritized this year. While the governor acknowledged some bills, like a measure addressing collective bargaining for unions in the state, were not able to reach solutions he liked, he all but said he plans to veto the measure.
'We were seeking a way to get a policy that would have the buy-in to be stable and unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the sponsors and our best efforts, and many in both the labor and business community, we did not quite get there,' Polis said.
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Polis has 30 days to sign or veto bills. Lawmakers said if a special session happens, it would come after details of the federal budget are more finite.
'I expect there is still going to be more because of this affordability issue that we are going to see Medicaid grow in terms of the number of individuals. So it will not surprise me if we need to come back and talk about that,' said Representative Rick Taggart.
'We're watching Congress, it's in the hands of our congressional delegation. The lieutenant governor and I, and many members of the legislature, have called on them not to cut Medicaid, we hope that they don't. But if those big steps are taken, it is quite likely that we would need to work with the legislature to see what that looks like,' said Polis.
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