ASHE IN AMERICA — OPINION
For three months, Colorado voters breathed a little easier, safe to exhale after the Colorado General Assembly gavelled out on May 7, 2025. It was short lived.
“Today, Governor Jared Polis called the General Assembly back into session to address the significant impacts of H.R. 1 to Colorado’s budget,” an August 6, 2025, press release from the Governor’s office states.
The press release goes on to quote prominent democrats, Planned Parenthood, and other publicly-funded NGO leaders on how the $1.2B “loss of revenue” is devastating for “the state.”
It’s all in the framing.
To quote Representative Ken deGraaf (R-HD22) from an August 7 X post, “Subsidies are not ‘revenue.’ The federal government is not a source of it. Taxpayers are the source of revenue. Jared is just sad that his unsustainable spending spree cannot be sustained. Perhaps the second $5 billion on the train-to-nowhere-fast should pause until we see how California’s works out.”
He is obviously correct. Colorado taxpayers are also federal taxpayers, and the pork-filled-bridge-to-nowhere scam is coming to an end. This is going to be hard for Colorado. Colorado loves its virtue-signally, social change-promising NGOs.
In an article from April 2024 International Rescue Mission titled, “Nonprofits matter — Colorado Nonprofit Sector Supports $62 Billion in Economic Activity,” the nonprofit analyzes Polis’ “Colorado Nonprofit Economic Impact Report,” and how “the nonprofit sector directly employs 182,000 people, supporting an additional 54,000 jobs through business-to-business activity and 26,000 jobs via household spending.”
Wait, what?
“In total, this accounts for 10% of all jobs in Colorado.”
Honestly, the non-profit sector should be the priority for closing the gap. Colorado politicians are unlikely to take that approach — you can rather expect to see new taxes and fees.
Another barrier to solving this particular problem is the cost of new legislation — and the legislators were so busy earlier this year that new laws, and their related costs, are plentiful. Again from Rep deGraaf on X:
“Rubberstampapalooza: Because 700 new bills in 100 days is not enough new legislation for Democrats, they have engaged in the crisis-manufacture so they can pretend to crisis-manage. The sycophants of state want nothing more than for the trough to be open year-round. The timing and scope of the executive order/proclamation undoubtedly comes on the heels of this extra, ordinary session to figure out how to tax/fee you more. This governance-theater will cost the state around $50k per day to go through their choreographed ‘Dance of the Socialists.’”
Just in August, a portfolio of new laws went into effect. Highlights include allowing the government to price fix in an “emergency” (HB25-1010), gun violence education materials (HB25-1270), free tribal access to state parks (HB25-1163), new criminal statutes that protect transit workers (HB25-1290), and a simpler path to abandoning your children (HB25-1185).
Oh, they also created a process (inexplicably) so potential gun owners can voluntarily block themselves from buying a gun (SB25-034). That creates a new registry and list management and all associated costs of implementation — and it’s entirely unnecessary. Just don’t buy a gun if you don’t want one, right?
Republicans in Colorado are critical of the Governor’s special session, with several quoted in a House Republican press release from August 6:
“Families and small businesses across Colorado are being crushed under the weight of government overreach, rising costs, and reckless spending,” said Representative Anthony Hartsook (R-HD44). “Instead of working with us to rein in waste and protect the most vulnerable, the Governor is using this special session to defend a broken system. House Republicans are committed to responsible budgeting that puts Colorado families first.”
House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese piled on, “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.”
It’s unlikely that Colorado Republicans can do anything other than complain. In the House, they’re outnumbered 43 to 22, and in the Senate 23 to 12. The special session will proceed and the democrat majority will do what it wants.
As a result, Colorado is back to holding its breath, hoping against reason and history that the special session won’t further strip their rights and steal the fruit of their labor.
Ashe in America is a writer and activist. Find all her work at linktree.com/asheinamerica.
