Colorado lawmakers returned to the state Capitol on Wednesday morning for the 2026 regular session, which will bring four months of legislating, budget-balancing and politicking.
This story will be updated throughout the day.
11:41 a.m. update: In her final speech as House speaker, Rep. Julie McCluskie criticized political violence and called for an end to the “caustic rhetoric all around us.” She listed the deaths of Rep. Melissa Hortman, a Minnesota Democrat shot and killed over the summer, and Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist shot and killed at a college event in September.
But she also struck a defiant tone against the increased targeting of the state by the federal government and urged her colleagues not to bow to political pressure. She accused the White House of trying to “hold Colorado hostage” and quoted Winston Churchill: “You were given the chance between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor, and you will still have war.”
“I fear this administration will target Colorado no matter what we do,” she said. “So members, let’s do what’s right.”
That drew a standing ovation from the House’s Democratic majority, who stood again as McCluskie pledged to defend immigrants and LGBTQ Coloradans. In a reference to federal immigration agents, she criticized “masked vigilantes” and named Renee Good, the Coloradan killed by an immigration agent earlier this month; Jeanette Vizguerra-Ramirez, the Colorado activist released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody last month after nine months in detention; and Fernando Jaramillo-Solano, a Durango father who was detained and deported with his two children.
Lawmakers are indeed set to take up more immigration bills this year, including one that would give Coloradans the ability to sue ICE agents over constitutional violations. Faced with an ever-present budget gap, McCluskie also shouted out another coming fight: to reform the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. Lawmakers have privately discussed plans to change TABOR and allow the state to retain more money, subject to voter approval.
“It is time to modernize our outdated fiscal structure because our future shouldn’t be bound by a 30-year-old formula that doesn’t account for today’s realities,” McCluskie said, referring to the decades since TABOR was adopted and its cap — set by the state’s population and inflation growth — went into effect.
In his response, Minority Leader Jarvis Caldwell similarly called for a cooling of political temperatures. But he spoke in defense of TABOR and core Republican priorities: opposition to gun control, increased regulation and to bills — often aimed at shoring up protections for transgender Coloradans — that Republicans view as intruding on parental rights.
11:22 a.m. update: The day began with morning press conferences by House and Senate Republicans, who criticized the state of the state after seven years of unbroken Democratic rule.
“It’s been a long time, 60-plus years, (since) we’ve experienced this phenomenon,” Senate Minority Leader Cleave Simpson said. “We think there’s certainly a better path and vision for Colorado in front of us, and we offer a new vision where there’s some balance on it, a balanced approach to police — and will produce better outcomes for Coloradans.”
Sen. Lisa Frizell, the chamber’s assistant minority leader, called for deregulation and a pro-business agenda. Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer already had declared opposition to Gov. Jared Polis’ likely effort to ramp up the state’s clean energy targets — the governor is expected to back legislation that would require all energy sources in the state to be renewable by 2040, 10 years ahead of the current schedule.
But Simpson also said Republicans may need to “engage, potentially differently” with Democrats, who outnumber Republicans nearly 2-to-1 in both the House and Senate.
For the House, new Minority Leader Jarvis Caldwell, a Colorado Springs Republican, likewise tied the state’s woes to the streak of unified Democratic control of its government. Caldwell and his caucus displayed a sign touting various low rankings for Colorado compared to other states: a cost of living that’s too high, too many regulations on businesses and too much crime.
He said parental rights would again be a top priority for House Republicans. Democrats have run several bills over the past few years to protect trans youth, in particular, a move that conservatives have decried as government interference with families.
Caldwell also noted calls to “lower the temperature” in politics, but he pledged his caucus would still fight on its priorities.
Original story: Colorado lawmakers face a battery of challenges as they, joined by their families, celebrated the 2026 session’s first day.
Budget cuts are on the horizon as legislators look to dig the state out of yet another financial hole. Gov. Jared Polis enters his final regular session as a lame duck with an uncertain relationship with the legislature, whom he will address in his final State of the State address Thursday. Over the next 120 days, legislators will navigate controversial scrutiny and funding cuts from the federal government, ongoing cost-of-living pressures, and a Democratic caucus internally roiled by dark money and public sniping.
But opening day is typically colored by lawmakers embracing and leading their families on tours of their home for the next four months. The leadership of both chambers will give speeches, and the formalities of opening day will march along in their usual pomp and circumstance.
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