The 2025 Special Session of the Colorado General Assembly came to my attention yesterday morning around 11am, with a brief press release from Advance Colorado president Michael Fields.
Advance Colorado’s Statement on the Special Session Announcement
The billion dollar cut the legislature is being asked to make is less than 3% of the state’s $44 billion budget. That money was a tax cut for working families — including those earning a living through overtime and tips. For too long, state officials have raised fees, overspent, and wasted funds on pet projects. Year after year, the state budget has vastly outpaced wage growth. One thing is certain, now is not the time to balance the budget on the backs of working families by increasing taxes on overtime and tips.
The press release confused me somewhat. Mr. Fields seemed to be suggesting that the legislature has already decided to “increase taxes on overtime and tips”, which I suspect many of us would classify as unfair.
But the Special Session is scheduled to start on August 21. So, presumably, no decisions to increase anyone’s taxes have yet been made? Why Mr. Fields would suggest otherwise is confusing.
But we understand that Advance Colorado is a right-leaning organization, and Mr. Fields is a Republican… and a key strategy in America’s current political battle requires Republicans to blame everything on Democrats.
And vice versa.
Thus, some Colorado Democratic Party leaders are blaming the Republicans for the necessity to call a the Special Session.
“All Coloradans are now the collateral damage from the GOP’s cruel [One Big Beautiful Bill], which will jeopardize services for hardworking families, children, veterans and older Coloradans. We’ll work hard to minimize the fallout on our communities, but that requires us to act now to mitigate the harm this bill has caused our state,” wrote House Speaker Julie McCluskie, a Dillon Democrat, in a statement.
The non-partisan Legislative Council Staff and the Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting both predict a $1.2 billion hit to state tax revenue for the current fiscal year, which began July 1.
Colorado is expected to collect revenue over the limit set by the state Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, which will soften the budget impact to somewhere between $680 million, as legislative economists predict, or $783 million, as estimated by Governor’s Office.
House Republican Ty Winter called out Governor Jared Polis for poor timing and a general disregard for rural Colorado — because the Special Session will conflict with the Colorado State Fair.
“The State Fair is a time for rural communities to come together and celebrate their contributions; feeding our state, powering our economy, and showcasing Colorado values,” said Rep. Winter. “It is also a moment for the good people of rural Colorado to proudly share the results of their hard work with the entire state. Calling a special session during this time shows just how out of touch the Governor is with the people who do God’s work on God’s land.”
Two different approaches, obviously.
1. The legislature will be wasting time addressing a problem that’s not really a problem — when they could, after all, be attending the Colorado State Fair — and anyway, the Democrats are simply seeking a way to hurt working families with higher taxes…
Or…
2. The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ has put the state’s budget in a financially precarious position, and we can’t wait until the General Assembly reconvenes next January to fix the problem.
In addition to reconvening the Legislature, Governor Polis also instituted a hiring freeze in the state government until the end of the year.
“We have 11 months remaining in the budget year, and that’s very important. That means that cuts, while difficult, can be spread over a longer period of time than the regular course of (a typical legislative session),” Polis said Wednesday at a press conference in Denver.
This will be the General Assemby’s third special session in as many years. It will last at least three days, which is the minimum time for a bill to pass both chambers.
The special session is also an opportunity to support Planned Parenthood, which was targeted by the federal bill; to tweak ballot language for an initiative this November to retain more revenue for universal school meals; to cushion expected insurance premium increases next year; and to modify the state’s artificial intelligence anti-discrimination law, which is set to go into effect in February.
A rather full agenda?
Colorado House Minority Leader, Republican Rose Pugliese, characterized the call for a special session as an “unnecessary and expensive political stunt.”
“This is a waste of taxpayer dollars and state resources. “The governor is using a special session to stir fear about the Big Beautiful Bill when the truth is that the Big Beautiful Bill continues to cover the people it was designed to serve: seniors, single mothers, children, and people with disabilities.”