What was billed as a special session of Colorado’s General Assembly last month to confront an $800 million budget shortfall turned into something else entirely. Rather than debating and approving cuts themselves, lawmakers largely sidestepped that responsibility, leaving the heavy lifting to term-limited Gov. Jared Polis.
Over the course of six days, the legislature passed bills aimed at increasing state revenue, including the elimination of the sales tax vendor fee, the repeal of an insurance industry tax incentive, and the expansion of foreign jurisdiction reviews for corporate taxes. They also directed funds toward health insurance subsidies, Planned Parenthood, and food assistance programs. Lawmakers also delayed implementation of the state’s new AI regulation law until June 2026, acknowledging the complexity of the issue.
However, when it came to cutting spending – the most challenging part of balancing a budget – they handed that authority to the Governor.
As a follow-up to one of our concerns going into the general session, the legislature also took up the wolf issue. Readers will recall our editorial, “Bill is a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” (Herald, Aug. 22) where we warned that attempts to raid the wolf reintroduction program’s funding were politically motivated and undermined the will of the voters.
The compromise reached in the special session did just that, if less damaging than the original draft. The bill reallocates general funds initially set aside for wolf reintroduction program this year to the Health Insurance Affordability Enterprise. Lawmakers stripped the clause prohibiting Colorado Parks and Wildlife from moving forward with introductions. In practice, CPW can still carry out its voter-approved plan, but only by drawing on its own dedicated resources rather than general funds.
That distinction matters. It keeps the program alive, but it also signals how quickly a budget crisis can become a vehicle for political meddling in policy. We still believe this maneuver chipped away at the will of the people, but the amendment preserved CPW’s ability to continue the work with science and management as its guide.
Polis has now signed an executive order spelling out where the ax will fall. The details are stark: a freeze on Medicaid provider-rate increases, reductions to public health agency funding, a sweep of more than $105 million from Proposition 123 affordable housing programs, and cuts to higher education are among the casualties. For Durango and La Plata County, these are real impacts. Health care, housing, public health, and Fort Lewis College, will all feel the strain, with fewer resources to serve the community.
The point is not that cuts are unnecessary – due to the federal tax cuts they are. But they should have been weighed in the open, by the legislature, with debate and accountability. By choosing not to engage in the painful but essential work of prioritizing spending, lawmakers handed off their responsibility to a single office. The result is not only less transparency but a weakening of the democratic process itself.
The cost of a special session is the cost of representative government. It is what Coloradans elect lawmakers to do. By ducking these hard choices, the legislature left Coloradans with cuts made behind closed doors, and left communities like ours to live with the consequences without ever seeing their representatives grapple with them.
