Colorado Legislative Strategies Newsletter - Budget Updates

Governor Polis Presents Budget Request to JBC 
 
This week, Governor Polis kicked off Joint Budget Committee (JBC) hearings for the 2026-27 budget by presenting his budget request. Governor Polis explained his budget balances through substantial Medicaid cuts, privatizing Pinnacol Assurance, and administrative savings. Initial reactions from the JBC expressed skepticism over the plan, specifically with lots of questions about the Medicaid cuts and privatizing Pinnacol. 
 
When Polis released his budget proposal earlier this month, it was made very clear that the intention of the Governor’s Office was not to limit how many patients receive Medicaid, and instead they intend to limit services administered to Medicaid patients. JBC members generally agreed with this, but also pointed out how the proposed Medicaid cuts would disproportionately impact Medicaid providers. Specifically, Senator Bridges brought attention to concerns from parents who are caretakers for their disabled children and how the proposed cuts would impact that group of patients. The newest member of the JBC, Rep. Kyle Brown shared strong concerns as well.
 
During the discussion on privatizing Pinnacol, Governor Polis indicated he expects $400 million to come from the conversion, which would then be directed into three one-time funding obligations – roughly $260 million to the homestead exemption obligation in 2026-27; roughly $109 million for controlled maintenance level 1 projects; and roughly $98 million toward restoring the General Fund reserve. 
 
The concept of privatizing Pinnacol was also brought up last year as a way to help mitigate the state’s budget crisis, but was ultimately rejected. Because of this, JBC members expressed frustration that the idea is coming up again, in addition to other concerns over the assumption it would bring in $400 million for the state. If this idea is rejected again, the JBC must find another way to cut that amount from the budget.
 
The JBC has started the long process of budget briefings about department budget requests and will continue to meet throughout the rest of this year, picking back up in the first week of January. 
 
Governor Polis Budget Presentation

Full JBC Schedule 
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