COLORADO LEGISLATIVE STRATEGIES NEWSLETTER

Introduction

You made it to the end of February! In addition to being the shortest month (except if you’re in the Capitol) and one of the most frequently misspelled words in the English language, February is of course also Black History Month. So you must have been thinking all month, I wonder how a CLS newsletter intro will connect Black History Month with the Colorado legislature. 

It’s no secret that Colorado has a relatively low Black population – according to the last Census, states range from nearly 38 percent to under one percent and Colorado came in at number 37 overall with just over five percent Black population. 

However, the Colorado legislature has consistently over-performed with the number of Black legislators in the General Assembly. The Black Caucus currently has eight members, slightly down from 10 members last year. But eight percent of the legislature still drastically outperforms the five percent of the overall state.

Only Oregon has a higher overrepresentation at roughly four percent more than the state overall, with around six percent of their legislature and around two percent of their state overall. A handful of other states overperform by a point or two, and the vast majority of states are underrepresented in their legislatures. 

Moreover, the Colorado Black Caucus includes the current President of the Senate and the House Assistant Majority Leader, in addition to several other leadership positions and committee chairs. 

So now you know that while Colorado is certainly not known nationally for a large Black population, when it comes to the legislature it definitely should be. 

Now here’s the big news to know from the Capitol this week. 

Budget News

The budget deficit is so bad that this week the Speaker of the House floated the idea of resetting the state’s spending cap under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR). 

In short, TABOR restricts growth in state spending using a formula of population growth plus inflation. Anything over that cap must be returned to taxpayers. The problem, though, is that a lot of mandatory costs for the state – primarily in Medicaid but also in K12 and early childhood spending – are now growing faster than the cap goes up. That in turn puts a lot of pressure on everything else in the budget. 

The majority of local governments and school districts have permanently lifted the TABOR cap, a move that is commonly known as de-brucing (a reference to Douglas Bruce who was the driving force behind getting TABOR passed). The state, however, has not de-bruced and in fact has been resoundingly told no by the voters the last two times it’s been on the ballot.

The Speaker invoked Referendum C, which was a successful bi-partisan ballot measure in 2005 to pause the spending cap for five years and then reset it. But a lot has changed since 2005, back then there was a Republican Governor who was supporting the measure (and some would say he ended a promising political career with that move), and it remains unclear how any Republicans or the current Governor would get behind something like that now. 

The fact that this long-shot idea is being openly discussed now demonstrates just how bad the budget situation really is and how there are no easy solutions to fix it. 

Read more – Facing $1 billion budget gap, Colorado House leader says state may need TABOR reform

First Law of 2025

The first law of the 2025 legislative session was officially signed by Governor Polis this week. House Bill 1022, a bipartisan cleanup bill, allows for individuals who passed a competency evaluation on or before July 1, 2017, to be included in the definition of “qualified medication administration personnel”. Last session, a bill defining “qualified medication administration personnel” passed, but unintentionally left out individuals who had completed a competency test through CDPHE. A mistake in a bill, who would have thought our distinguished legislators could do such a thing?? But at least they fixed it, albeit a year later. 

Read more – Colorado Gov Jared Polis signs first law of 2025 session, a bipartisan cleanup measure

The Governor also signed the package of supplemental budget bills later in the week. 

Vacancy Update

It was announced this week that a Boulder County Democratic vacancy committee is set to convene on March 18 to select a replacement for former Senator Jaquez Lewis. So far, ten individuals have thrown their hat in the ring to be appointed. At the top of the list is Katie Wallace, who is the current executive director of the Colorado Democratic Senate Campaign Fund. Wallace has received endorsements from Representative Karen McCormick, who is the only state representative in Senate District 17, as well as endorsements from other former and current representatives from neighboring districts.

Read more – Boulder County Democratic vacancy committee to select successor to former Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis

2026 Announcements

We might only be two months into 2025, but this was a busy week for candidacy announcements from several individuals running for statewide seats in the 2026 election. All four term-limited, statewide offices will be up for grabs in 2026, as all four officeholders are term limited. 

On Wednesday, current state Representative Brianna Titone announced plans to run for state Treasurer in the 2026 election. Her announcement came with endorsements from several other state lawmakers, as well as local elected officials. Current state Senator Jeff Bridges has been rumored to have interest in this race as well, but has yet to officially announce a campaign.

On Thursday morning, former Speaker of the House Crisanta Duran announced she will run for Attorney General in 2026. Duran’s announcement came two days after Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty made an announcement that he was also running for Attorney General. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold has also expressed interest in this race, but has yet to officially announce a campaign.

Lastly, the Colorado Sun reported this afternoon that U.S. Senator Michael Bennet is “strongly considering” the possibility of running for Governor in 2026. The article included information provided by a Bennet aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Bennet was originally appointed to his U.S. Senate seat in 2009, and has successfully won three reelections since then. So far, the only Democrat who has officially launched a gubernatorial campaign for 2026 is current Attorney General Phil Weiser.

Read more – Michael Bennet is “very, very seriously” considering a run for Colorado governor in 2026, senior aides say

Conclusion

Enjoy the warm weather and false spring while it lasts! Have a good weekend.
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