Democrats pledge to protect Coloradans from Trump policies in 2026 legislative session
Leaders of the House and Senate laid out their priorities for the session against the typical backdrop of opening day pomp: the posting of the Colorado and American flags by a military color guard, a saxophone player performing in the chamber gallery and a gaggle of lawmakers’ children leading the Pledge of Allegiance.
In her final opening day speech as House speaker, Democrat Julie McCluskie opened with a condemnation of political violence and the “caustic rhetoric” in the country. She spoke about the shooting deaths of former Democratic Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home last June, as well as conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was killed at an event on a college campus last September.
“No matter how bitterly we might disagree on the important issues, we have to raise the decency in our rhetoric, together,” the Dillon Democrat said. “Violence can never be the price of democracy.”
She also pledged to “protect the progress” Democrats have made in recent years when it comes to civil rights protections in the state.
“We won’t shove our immigrant and LGBTQ neighbors back in the shadows,” she said. “We won’t give up on disability access or voting rights. We are a model for abortion rights in the post-Dobbs reality, and we won’t roll them back.”
Both McCluskie and Senate President James Coleman touted laws the Democrats passed in recent years with their wide majorities in the Legislature, including measures that protect reproductive rights, increase funding for schools and expand access to health care.
But funding freezes and other threats from the federal government will once again color the session as the second Trump administration enters its second year. The Legislature met last summer in a special session to mitigate the effects of federal tax policy on the state’s budget, and Colorado more recently faced a funding pause for its child care and other safety-net programs as the federal government investigates those services for potential fraud.
“I fear this administration will target Colorado no matter what we do. So members, let’s do what’s right,” McCluskie said. Colorado is a “bulwark” against the unpredictability of Congress and the Trump administration, she said.
Coleman said the state’s already tight budget environment will be exacerbated by the federal government’s actions.
“The federal government’s tariffs, haphazard clawbacks of funding for critical programs have sown uncertainty in our economy,” Coleman said. “They threaten our ability to provide the resources Colorado kids, families, seniors and rural communities depend on.”
This year, Democrats hope to grow the state’s affordable housing stock, stabilize health care premiums, streamline workforce training programs and push toward the state’s climate goals.
“We have, and will, work across the aisle to build a better Colorado, because the challenges facing our state demand nothing less,” Coleman said.
Coleman and McCluskie both paid tribute to former state Sen. Faith Winter, who died in a car crash last November. Coleman asked senators to honor her memory in how they show up at the Capitol, calling her a “coalition and team builder for the ages.”
“Faith’s loss is immeasurable, and as we embark on our work this session I hope that we can incorporate her tenacity and the joy that she found in this work into our policies, as well as the conversations we have with one another,” Coleman said.
Republican perspective
Minority Leader Jarvis Caldwell, a Colorado Springs Republican, commended the Democrats’ efforts to work across the aisle, but he said there will still be “fierce but respectful disagreements on policy.”
He spoke about the essential conservative priorities of his caucus, including parental choice for education and health care, gun rights and opposition to increased regulation, especially when it comes to energy and climate goals.
“We can work toward a cleaner environment, but we must do it pragmatically,” he said, adding that the state’s current trajectory is “activism on a collision course with reality.”
He pushed back on the Democrats’ assertion that federal law, including the One Big Beautiful Act passed last summer, is contributing to the state’s budget challenge.
“The reality is these challenges did not begin this year or with a single federal law. The issues Coloradans are facing have been building for years as a result of state-level decisions,” he said. “Overburdens, overregulation and unprecedented government growth from this building stifle economic prosperity.”
Caldwell also spoke about Kirk’s death, and said it was difficult to witness people “mock” Kirk’s death, especially because many conservatives share his Christian beliefs.
Coloradans want a government that listens to them and respects their work, Senate Minority Leader Cleave Simpson said in his opening speech on the Senate floor. The most urgent priority for the session is to lower costs, and he said Republicans will bring forward ideas “rooted in freedom, accountability, and respect for the people we serve.”
“Lowering cost means making responsible decisions with taxpayer dollars,” Simpson said. “It means scrutinizing spending, reducing unnecessary bureaucracy and recognizing that every policy choice we make has real consequences for real people. Government should be a partner in affordability, not an obstacle to it.”
First bills introduced
After the opening day speeches, the House and Senate introduced the first batch of bills for the session.
- One bill, Senate Bill 26-5, would let a person sue a federal immigration agent over constitutional violations. It comes as U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents ramp up operations in cities like Minneapolis and viral videos show officers breaking car windows, tackling residents and teargassing protestors. An officer fatally shot a Minneapolis woman, Renee Good, during an operation last week.
- Senate Bill 26-4 would further expand who is able to file an extreme risk protection order against someone under Colorado’s “red flag” law, which allows a judge to temporarily remove a firearm from someone they deem potentially dangerous. It is often used in instances when a person is suicidal. The bill would now allow health care professionals and the facilities where they work to file an ERPO, as well as behavioral health treatment facilities, K-12 schools, and higher education schools to petition a judge as an institution. Legislators previously expanded the law to include educators and mental health providers, but the change hasn’t resulted in a larger number of petitions. Of the 164 ERPO petitions filed in Colorado in 2024, 118 were granted by a judge.
- House Bill 26-1001, dubbed the HOME Act, would let school districts, some nonprofits and transit districts to build housing on their land. A similar bill last year would have also included churches and other faith organizations, but it failed to pass.
- House Bill 26-1002 is bipartisan and would expedite credentialing for mental health and substance use providers to address that industry’s workforce shortage.
- House Bill 26-1005, the Worker Protection Act, which would remove a second election in the state’s union formation law, was also introduced on Wednesday.
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