The Colorado legislature gaveled in Thursday for its latest special session — this one to address a yawning budget gap caused by changes to the federal tax code passed by Congress and President Donald Trump. At the outset, the session is expected to last five days or so.
This story will be updated throughout the day.
7:22 p.m. update: The full Senate gave its initial approval to four bills this evening — setting the stage for them to receive formal votes of approval from the chamber Friday and potentially begin their journey through the House.
The bills are:
- Senate Bill 1, which requires Gov. Jared Polis to notify the legislative Joint Budget Committee of mid-year spending cuts to account for worsening fiscal conditions and to help reduce the state’s shortfall.
- Senate Bill 2, which allows Colorado Medicaid to pay for services from Planned Parenthood after the federal government banned federal money from going to the organization.
- Senate Bill 3, which changes a ballot measure so that, if passed by voters in November, it would allow extra money collected for the state’s universal school meals program to also help with costs for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
- Senate Bill 5, which reallocates $264,000 set aside in the general fund for wolf relocation to a state health insurance fund. But in a key change from the introduced version, the bill would allow Colorado Parks and Wildlife to use money from other sources to pay for voter-approved reintroduction. (See more in an earlier post below.)
Only Senate Bill 4, one of a pair of competing bills aimed at regulating artificial intelligence in Colorado, was still awaiting initial approval from the chamber. Several other Democratic priority bills were introduced in the House, including the other AI bill, and they were still waiting for their initial hearings in front of the entire chamber.
5:47 p.m. update: The second of two bills seeking to amend the state’s artificial intelligence regulations passed a House committee early this evening, a few hours after a Senate committee advanced a competing measure.
The House version, House Bill 1008, cleared the panel on an 8-5 vote, with the committee’s minority of Republicans helping nudge it over the line amid split Democratic support. The bill is backed by Gov. Jared Polis, more moderate lawmakers and a coalition of tech, business and governmental groups.
It would require AI developers and the entities that use their technology to tell people when they’re interacting with AI, and it makes clear that anti-discrimination and consumer-protection laws apply to AI and companies that use it.
Initially, the bill would’ve prevented individuals from suing AI developers or the companies that use the tech for alleged violations of consumer-protection laws; the bill would’ve reserved that authority only for the state attorney general. But the bill’s sponsors, Democratic Reps. William Lindstedt and Michael Carter, removed that provision this evening after they were castigated by progressive groups and consumer advocates for limiting users’ legal remedies.
4:36 p.m. update: Rep. Ryan Armagost, the Berthoud Republican who was set to face a censure vote Friday, abruptly resigned this afternoon in an apparent bid to avoid a public reprimand Democrats planned to seek. His expedited departure comes hours after Democratic leaders said they would censure him for taking a photo of a Democratic colleague and sharing it in a GOP group chat, where the Democrat was ridiculed for her appearance.
3:53 p.m. update: Colorado lawmakers watered down a bipartisan bill that would’ve halted the reintroduction of more wolves in the state this winter after striking a compromise with wolf advocates and the governor’s office.
The amended bill still would reallocate $264,000 from the general fund that’s earmarked for the capture and release of wolves. But it would now allow Colorado Parks and Wildlife to complete the upcoming release and use money from other sources to do so, instead of barring the agency from any new reintroduction until next July.
If the amended bill passes, CPW will be able to carry out releases this winter, agency spokesman Luke Perkins said, by using money from other sources outside the general fund.
After more than three hours of passionate testimony today, the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs committee voted 4-1 to advance the amended bill to the Appropriations Committee.
Several wolf advocates said the bill had little to do with the budget crisis — as its backers had portrayed it — but was instead another attempt to delay the reintroduction of the native species, as mandated by voters in the 2020 election. The bill sponsors, Sens. Dylan Roberts and Marc Catlin, and ranchers said a pause was necessary so CPW could better address ongoing conflict between wolves and livestock.
2:45 p.m. update: The Senate’s Business, Labor and Technology Committee advanced one of the two competing bills that seek to amend Colorado’s upcoming artificial intelligence regulations.
Senate Bill 4 is backed by consumer advocates as well as progressive lawmakers and groups. It would require AI developers and the companies and agencies that use them to notify people who interact with AI. For services that use AI to make consequential decisions — like job or university applications — applicants could request a list of the characteristics that influenced the AI-driven decision.
Colorado’s AI regulations split lawmakers as they pitch reforms for special session: ‘It’s a mess’
The bill now heads to a second Senate committee, which is tabbed to meet later today. The competing bill, House Bill 8, is also set to be heard across the Capitol, in a House committee, later in the day. That measure is backed by businesses and government agencies, and it would also require notification while making clear that the state’s consumer-protection and anti-discrimination laws apply to AI.
But it would generally place fewer requirements on AI developers and the companies that use the technology; it would also block individual users from suing under the consumer-protection law, granting that authority solely to the state’s attorney general.
1:51 p.m. update: Democratic lawmakers are preparing a resolution to censure a Republican legislator for his role in taking and sharing a picture of a Democratic colleague, who was then the subject of private and public abuse.
The censure vote against Rep. Ryan Armagost, a Berthoud Republican, is set for Friday morning. (Read a separate story about it here.) During a caucus meeting this morning, some Democratic lawmakers said they would never forgive Republican lawmakers for mocking Rep. Yara Zokaie’s appearance in a private group chat, and they criticized Republican leadership for not notifying House leaders of Armagost’s role in taking and sharing a picture of Zokaie.
Republican legislators will be able to respond during debate on the resolution Friday, and Democrats braced for a public fight — and prepared to respond in kind.
Colorado lawmakers return to Capitol to fix budget as they tangle over Trump tax bill — and solutions
“If they try to show out on this issue, it’s going to be very hard to sit still,” warned Rep. Chad Clifford, a Centennial Democrat.
“This is a very serious moment, a moment where I will ask you all to recognize that the minority may respond in ways that I hope do not disappoint us,” House Speaker Julie McCluskie said during the meeting. “I hope they recognize, as well, that regardless of who engaged in this behavior, no member of our body, Democrat or Republican alike, should ever behave in this way.”
The censure vote appeared to have broad support from the Democratic caucus, which has enough votes to reprimand Armagost even if all Republicans vote against it. When McCluskie announced the coming vote, much of the caucus clapped.
1:24 p.m. update: The Republican minorities kicked off the legislative session by accusing the majority Democrats of routing GOP-sponsored bills through “kill committees” — the state affairs committees in each chamber — which will give their proposals a perfunctory hearing before dooming them to a paper shredder.
The GOP is outnumbered by Democrats nearly 2-to-1 in each chamber of the General Assembly, and several caucus members acknowledged ahead of the session what that power imbalance would mean for minority bills.
Speaker Julie McCluskie, a Dillon Democrat, said in response today that she would ensure the bills get a hearing, as required. But she said the premises of many Republican proposals were nonstarters. Several Republican proposals propose outright eliminating some state programs, halting tax credits for low-income Coloradans so that they wouldn’t be paid out of the general fund, and cutting health insurance programs for people without proper immigration status.
“I am committed to making sure that every bill has a fair hearing through a committee of reference, and I can assure you our members will invest themselves in understanding the policy proposals and being sure they are heard,” McCluskie said. “I can also tell you that we will not support further cuts to health insurance for individuals, (and) that we will not be OK with taking away the family affordability tax credit, which so many families depend upon. We will continue to fight with our values in mind to protect Coloradans.”
1 p.m. update: The legislature’s Democratic majorities will truck ahead in the session with their preferred policies of ending and limiting some tax breaks for businesses and cracking into overseas tax shelters. They will also look to dip into the state’s rainy-day fund and turn to Gov. Jared Polis to make mid-budget year cuts.
“While Republicans gave corporate tax breaks, we are here to close corporate tax loopholes,” Rep. Yara Zokaie, a Fort Collins Democrat, said.
Republican House leader Rose Pugliese pledged long debates on the floor, one of the few tools the minority party has to make an impact.
“The fight will last as long as it needs to to make sure every single one of our House members has the ability to represent their constituents and bring forward their ideas and their solutions,” Pugliese said.
Republicans will also work with conservative allies outside the legislature to file lawsuits over proposals they see as violating the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. The state constitutional amendment, known as TABOR, requires tax increases to go to a vote of the people.
“They’re raising taxes on Coloradans and Colorado businesses, and they can’t do that under TABOR without a vote of the people,” said Michael Fields, the president of the conservative advocacy group Advance Colorado.
McCluskie said Democrats’ revenue-raising proposals have been “done carefully and thoughtfully” and do not violate TABOR.
12:50 p.m. update: Lawmakers have introduced dozens of bills that would change the state tax code to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from corporations; set new rules around how Gov. Jared Polis can make cuts to state spending between budget cycles; and more.
State budget analysts estimate Colorado’s budget for the current fiscal year, which began July 1, faces a $783 million shortfall following the federal tax bill signed by President Donald Trump last month. Colorado’s rare and close mirroring of the federal tax code means the state is being hit quickly with trickle-down effects of those federal changes, through lower state income tax collections.
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