May 14, 2026 02:07 PM UTC

Winners and Losers of the 2026 Legislative Session

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• by: Colorado Pols

Here’s a look at our annual “Winners and Losers” from the Colorado legislative session. 

We’ll leave the more policy-focused analysis to others – including The Colorado Sun, which put together an exhaustive list of the “101 bills that passed and failed…that you need to know about.” 

WINNERS

Affordability

Democrats did an admirable job of focusing their efforts on economic issues important to all Coloradans, which is the exact opposite of what Republicans are doing at the federal level. Democrats lowered the cost of housing (HB26-1001, SB26-001, HB26-1065, and SB26-040); property insurance (SB26-155); health care (SB26-178, HB26-1002); electricity and energy (HB26-1326, HB26-1007, SB26-002, SB26-142); and childcare (HB26-1004). They did all of this while making painful budget cuts necessitated in part by a worsening economy being driven over a cliff by the Trump administration.

Persistence

Legislators only have 120 days a year to get a bill through both chambers and past the Governor; as such, significant pieces of legislation often need to be reintroduced multiple times before they finally become law. 

SB25-086 (Protections for Users of Social Media) was vetoed by Gov. Jared Polis last April, so sponsors (Sen. Lisa Frizell and Rep. Andrew Boesenecker) brought it back in January as SB26-011 (Search Warrants Provided to Covered Platforms). The gist of the legislation is that it requires social media companies to respond faster to search warrant requests from law enforcement. A modified version of the bill passed again through both chambers and this time Polis signed it into law. 

Republican Infighting

Stop us if you’ve heard this before: Republican lawmakers in Colorado spent most of their energy fighting with each other about one perceived slight after another. The session began with the likes of Rep. “Boxwine” Brandi Bradley (R-Littleton) complaining that House Minority Leader Jarvis Caldwell wasn’t taking strong enough action on her allegations of sexual harassment against Rep. Ron Weinberg (R-Loveland), which led her to demand that the House waste hours of everyone’s time in reading the entire “long bill” (the budget bill) out loud; this accomplished absolutely nothing other than to fuel Bradley’s seemingly-weekly social media diatribes about how she will not be silenced and intimidated, or whatever. Infighting also crossed chambers, with Rep. Scott “Rock” Bottoms (R-Colo. Springs) and Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer (R-Weld County) exchanging barbs related to their GOP Primary campaigns for Governor. 

Bradley ]pictured] closed things out by later dragging her colleagues into a kerfuffle about the firing of her legislative aide over a text message to another lawmaker that probably violated workplace expectation policies at the State Capitol. Bradley went predictably bananas about this, with she and her (now former) aide Schume Navarro claiming to be victims of some kind of ridiculous conspiracy. In his end-of-session press availability with reporters, Caldwell said that Bradley wasn’t a problem for him because she never showed up to caucus meetings or strategy sessions, choosing instead to go on every local right-wing radio station available so that she could air her grievances to an audience of 30 people.

Katie Stewart

Freshman Democratic Rep. Katie Stewart of Southwest Colorado had herself a solid few months. Stewart was the prime sponsor on a number of important bills, including SB26-040 (Affordable Home Ownership Program), which has already been signed into law by Gov. Polis. Stewart also shepherded SB26-138 (Reducing Administrative Burdens on Health Care); HB26-1432 (Health-Care Payment Programs); and HB26-1123 (Preventing Sexual Abuse in Jails). Stewart also sponsored HB26-1342, which might carry our favorite bill title of the session (“Negligently Luring Bears,” which is not the same thing as “Negligently Leering Bears”).  

Gun Violence Prevention

State Sen. Tom Sullivan (R-Centennial) notched more victories in his 14-year quest to reduce gun violence in Colorado – a mission born after his son, Alex, was killed in the 2012 Aurora Theater Shooting. Sullivan helped pass SB26-004 (Expand List of Petitioners for Protection Order); and HB26-1144 (Prohibit Three-Dimensional Printing Firearms & Components), both of which were signed into law by Gov. Polis. The common sense effort to ban so-called “ghost guns,” which are 3-D printed weapons that are hard to trace and allow users to avoid background checks, succeeded despite vocal opposition from groups like the “no compromise” gun nuts at Rocky Mountain Gun Owners (RMGO).

Jeff Bridges

The main story of the 2026 legislative session was the $1.5 billion in cuts that lawmakers were forced to make as part of their constitutionally-manded role to balance the state budget every year. OId problems (TABOR restrictions) combined with new problems (President Trump’s tariffs, the Iran War, and his disastrous handling of the economy) in forcing the Joint Budget Committee – of which Bridges is Vice Chair – into making excruciating decisions to slash funding for critical services such as Medicaid. While this put legislators from both parties in a terrible spot, the media attention on budget machinations turned out to be good timing for Bridges. The Democrat from Centennial is running for State Treasurer in 2026, so these public debates were a prime opportunity for Bridges to demonstrate his extensive knowledge of Colorado’s finances. 

Proactive Budget Maneuvers

Republican donors in Colorado long ago gave up on trying to win elections with their kooky candidates, instead focusing their attention on passing ballot initiatives that mandate spending for specific issues – thus tying the hands of legislators trying to balance the budget every year. In 2026, Democratic lawmakers finally fought back with a late bill (HB26-1430 “Transportation Funding Adjustments”) that preemptively protects funding for education and health care in case a $700 million road funding mandate (Initiative 175) backed by a Colorado contractors group is approved by voters in November. Colorado’s “citizen initiative” process allows outside groups to spend millions of dollars to pass single-issue spending initiatives benefitting their supporters; over time, these individual initiatives create a Gordian Knot of mandates that legislators have to figure out later. The initiative process is being abused by these outside groups to the detriment of others. Lawmakers were wise to get ahead of this growing problem. 

Education Funding

Lawmakers approved a ballot measure that will ask voters in November to forego some TABOR refunds so that the state can keep more money for K-12 education. An independent study released in 2025 showed that Colorado has a $4 billion annual shortfall in education funding because of TABOR’s complicated revenue cap. Republicans countered with their traditional vacuous talking point about how Colorado should just ask the government waste fairy to find more money in an already-strained budget. Voters will get to decide if they agree.

Puppies and Kittens

Pet stores and third-party sellers can no longer offer dogs or cats for sale in our state. Coloradans can still find furry friends at shelters or via responsible breeders, but HB26-1011 should go a long way toward combatting unsafe and inhumane puppy mills. 

LOSERS

Labor Unions

Democrats once again passed the “Worker Protection Act” (HB26-1005), and once again Gov. Polis is expected to veto a measure opposed by business groups such as the Colorado Chamber of Commerce. The Worker Protection Act seeks to repeal a stupid 80-year-old law that only exists in Colorado, requiring organizers to hold TWO SEPARATE VOTES when attempting to form a new bargaining unit. Democrats will likely try again in 2027 with a new Governor [see: “Persistence” above], who will hopefully be less-inclined to listen to silly doomsday warnings from business leaders. 

Republican Candidates for Governor

Instead of focusing on fundraising, Rep. Scott “Rock” Bottoms (R-Colo. Springs) and Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer (R-Weld County) exchanged attacks throughout the legislative session related to their respective bids for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, but these internecine battles really only benefitted fellow candidate Victor Marx. Bottoms made more of a fool of himself than normal by barfing out one terrible take after another in a desperate attempt to generate earned media attention. Kirkmeyer, meanwhile, tied herself in knots by simultaneously supporting and opposing budget cuts crafted with her help as a member of the Joint Budget Committee. 

Forks and Ketchup Packets

This “losers” designation depends on your perspective – perhaps forks and ketchup packets should be considered “winners” because it extends their usefulness. Anyway, SB26-146 prohibits restaurants and food delivery services from including plastic silverware and condiment packets with take-out orders in an effort to reduce waste and litter. If you’re a collector of those weird sauces that come with your Chinese food delivery, you’ll have to ask for them specifically after Jan. 1, 2027.

Ryan Gonzalez

Republicans won’t have to listen to the inane rants of Rep. Bottoms in 2027 (he can’t seek re-election while he’s focused on not becoming governor), but Rep. Ryan Gonzalez (R-Greeley) spent the session preparing to take on that responsibility should he win re-election in November. Gonzalez said and did a lot of really dumb shit in the last couple of months, lowlighted by his inability to explain TABOR despite sponsoring a resolution intended to honor the 1992 ballot measure.  

Jarvis Caldwell

The role of House Minority Leader for Republicans might be the worst political job in Colorado (or at least in close competition with “State Republican Party Chair”). Monument Republican Jarvis Caldwell, who is literally a former militia member, was picked to replace the disastrous Rose Pugliese after the latter resigned last fall – despite the fact that Caldwell was first elected to the House of Representatives one year earlier. Less than a week after his promotion, the inexperienced Caldwell promptly walked into a brick wall with an ill-advised attempt to “stand up” to Democrats. Once the 2026 session began, he proved to be as inept as Pugliese at trying to herd the manic cats in a caucus overrun by the “Fab Five” of Bottoms, Bradley, Ken DeGraaf, Stephanie Luck, and Max Brooks. We can’t say that anyone could succeed at leading House Republicans in Colorado, but we now know for certain that Caldwell cannot.  

Nice Things

Lawmakers were forced to make significant cuts to Medicaid funding in order to manage a $1.5 billion budget deficit. Also axed: money for cost-of-living pay increases for state employees; funds for behavioral health and sex education services; subsidies and services for adoptions; and funding for a program that helps people stop using tobacco.

Colorado Republicans in General

We say it all the time: Colorado Republicans are not serious people interested in doing serious things. You can’t prove us wrong. Republicans continue to spend more energy on infighting and making horrific speeches, from Sen. Larry Liston bashing senior citizens to Rep. Stephanie Luck bemoaning – on National Women’s Day, no less – that the legislature never honors men. Luck also unsuccessfully proposed giving lobbyists greater security access and providing them with their own dedicated printer at the State Capitol. 

And that’s without even mentioning Bottoms’ bizarre claims that he had uncovered “pedophile rings” in the House, Senate, and the Governor’s office (or his shaming of lawmakers for not passing affordable housing legislation that he also opposed). Republicans also spent a lot of time during budget discussions whining that Democrats weren’t listening to their irrelevant proposals to cut a few hundred thousand dollars from a budget facing a $1.5 BILLION dollar hole. When