Hello everyone,
Last week started off with some partisan fireworks but ended with bipartisanism. On Monday, we saw two partisan fights in the Senate. First, in the morning, the Senate spent three-and-a-half hours debating SB 004 Expand List of Petitioners for ERPO on Second Reading. Then in the afternoon, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a three-hour-plus hearing on SB 005 Rights Violation in Immigration Enforcement Remedy before passing the bill on a party-line vote. The fireworks continued into Tuesday when the Senate passed SB 004 on Third Reading with all Republicans and one Democrat voting no. Also on Tuesday, the House spent over three hours debating SJR 006 Coloradans Navigating Complex U.S. Immigration System that turned into a referendum on ICE.
However, the most important news of the week happened on Wednesday when the JBC started making figure-setting decisions on the FY 2026-27 budget. Although they have not yet voted on salary increases for next year (Governor Polis has requested a 3.1% across-the-board increase), on Wednesday morning the JBC voted to fund the CSP โstep systemโ for troopers โbased on Committee decisions for salary increase componentsโ (which have not been made). While no decision is final until the Governor signs the Long Bill, this is a good sign. The JBC also voted to deny the Governorโs request to reduce payments to PERA to paydown the unfunded liability. The Governor had requested reducing AED and SAED payments to generate $30.3 million in savings ($16.2 million General Fund). However, PERA estimated that reducing these payments for one year could eventually cost as much as $180 million. Thankfully, the JBC unanimously voted to deny the request. The JBC also unanimously voted to approve the direct distribution to PERA next year.
The week ended on Friday with both Democrats and Republicans coming together for Military Appreciation Day. The House unanimously passed resolutions honoring POWs/MIAs, Gold Star Families, African American veterans, Latina and Latino veterans, Native American veterans, female veterans, and veterans from the Vietnam War, World War II, Korean War, Persian Gulf War, and 9/11. The Senate is expected to pass the same resolutions today.
This week is Supplementals Week in the House when the House will consider mid-year budget adjustments recommended by the JBC. So far, there have been 263 bills introduced โ 179 in the House and 84 in the Senate. Only 93 more days until the General Assembly is required to adjourn sine die.
Bill Skewes
Lobbyist