NEWS Wednesday, February 04, 2026
JBC is served a slice of humble pie
Plus: Our takeaways from the Bennet-Weiser debate. Where One Main Street Colorado gets its money.
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The Joint Budget Committee meets at the Colorado Capitol complex in Denver on Jan. 6. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)
The root causes of Colorado’s roughly $850 million state budget shortfall will be the source of intense debate in the legislature this year, with Democrats pointing to the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and Republicans alleging mismanagement on the part of the majority.
The GOP often blames Democrats for how they handled billions in one-time federal funding that flowed into Colorado during COVID, arguing that too much of that money was used to fund programs and services with ongoing costs.
"A lot of programs were supposed to be one-time funded, and we continued the funding," state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, a Brighton Republican who sits on the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee, said last week at The Colorado Sun’s legislative session preview event. "We got ourselves into this mess. We’re gonna have to get ourselves out of this mess."
Nonpartisan staff for the Joint Budget Committee tried to take up the thorny issue this week, and seemed to lend some credence to Republicans’ argument — albeit with caveats.
"That is definitely a part of the problem," JBC staffer Amanda Bickel said of how much one-time federal money was used to cover ongoing costs. "I think it’s in some ways as much a symptom as a cause."
First off, JBC staff say most of the one-time federal money was spent on one-time expenses.
"However, the availability of this revenue may have helped mask the underlying status of the general fund," Bickel wrote in a memo to lawmakers. "The one-time funds made it easier for both the executive branch and members of the legislature to address longstanding fiscal concerns, such as covering increasing Medicaid costs, undoing the K-12 budget stabilization factor and modifying the K-12 funding formula, increasing funding for mental health services and higher education, and launching new initiatives like universal pre-kindergarten, without immediately facing the restrictions in general fund revenue."
Bickel said the amount of "one-time money sloshing around in the budget" gave the General Assembly the opportunity to tackle those issues whereas before they had to keep punting on them.
"It’s not one single expansion," she said of the spending that couldn’t be maintained. "It’s a whole lot of things that you felt more able to do because it looked like there was more money than there was."
At the height of the one-time federal funds, in fiscal year 2022-23, JBC staff estimates the legislature was spending $829 million in excess of its ongoing available revenue. That was down to $247 million for the fiscal year that ended June 30.
Here’s the key line from the report generated by JBC staff: "If all one-time revenue had been spent on one-time activities and the state had otherwise managed to keep spending commitments within available revenue, ongoing general fund revenue and spending should have come back into alignment. It did not."
"THE RIGHT THING TO DO"
Toward the end of her presentation, Bickel provided a list of spending decisions she said were part of the death by 1,000 cuts that led to the state’s long-term budget shortfall, referred to as the structural deficit. It included line items on Medicaid, preschool, higher education and property taxes.
"I’m sorry. This feels like I’m goring everybody’s ox," Bickel said. "It’s a painful list, but it is, I think, the roots of the problem — or a lot of the roots of the problem."
"I think a lot of these decisions were the right thing to do," replied state Sen. Jeff Bridges, a Greenwood Village Democrat on the JBC. "But they have dramatically, and sort of piece by piece, increased our overall budget obligations."
Bridges pointed out that while Democrats did create some programs and services with the one-time funds, they mostly expanded existing budget line items.
State Sen. Emily Sirota, a Denver Democrat and chair of the JBC, defended the decisions as "largely increases to ensure that people providing state services are able to continue providing them."
"Which things shouldn’t we have done? Should we not have paid off the (budget stabilization) factor? Or tried to provide for our community providers who are saying they don’t earn enough to continue providing state services?"
State Sen. Judy Amabile, a Boulder Democrat, said the legislature used the one-time funding to invest in big projects that they wouldn’t have been able to otherwise, like new and upgraded facilities. Yes, they have ongoing costs, but "I think that was really well spent money."
At the end of Bickel’s presentation, you could almost taste the humble pie the JBC was eating. It was bitter and it was even a bit bipartisan.
"The issue was we knew we were supposed to be doing ongoing general fund cuts and we didn’t," Kirkmeyer finally chimed in. "We can all try to put it however we want, but that’s how it is. We didn’t do it all by ourselves as a JBC. We had help from the rest of those other 94 people (in the legislature)."
REPUBLICANS WANT BUREAUCRATIC CUTS. BUT WHERE?
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House Minority Leader Jarvis Caldwell, R-Colorado Springs, speaks about his caucus' priorities during a news conference Wednesday at the Colorado Capitol in Denver. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)
Republicans argue that the legislature should balance the budget by first taking a hard look at the state’s bureaucratic expansion under Democratic control of the Capitol.
"The problem is not that we don't have enough money," House Minority Leader Jarvis Caldwell, R-Colorado Springs, said at a news conference Wednesday. "The problem is we're mismanaging how we’re spending it. We’re adding thousands and thousands of new state employees."
The Unaffiliated asked Caldwell if the solution was to lay off those new state workers.
"I’m not saying lay off all 6,000," he said, citing his estimates of the increase in state workers under Democratic control over the past seven years. "But I think we’re going to have to restructure — at a minimum — because we can’t afford that. If not, we’re going to have to raise spending."
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WHAT TO WATCH IN THE WEEK AHEAD
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- The State of the Tribes address is set for 10:30 a.m. today in the House.
- The legislature is off Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
- The Joint Budget Committee meets throughout the week starting Tuesday as it continues its work crafting the state budget for the next fiscal year.
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DO THE MATH
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| $9,765 |
The amount of money paid by Elaine Baxter for records from Democratic state lawmakers. |
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The Office of Legislative Legal Services received a cashier’s check for $9,765 in late December from a person identifying themself as Elaine Baxter as payment for open records she requested from Democratic Sens. Janice Marchman of Loveland and Mike Weissman of Aurora, as well as Reps. Brianna Titone of Arvada, Bob Marshall of Highlands Ranch, Meg Froelich of Englewood and Lorena Garcia of Adams County, according to emails between Baxter and the office obtained by The Colorado Sun.
If Baxter’s name sounds familiar, that’s because we wrote back in November how she requested records from at least 14 Democratic lawmakers.
Baxter hasn’t responded to emails from The Sun. Her requests appear to be part of an effort to prove there was coordination between the Democratic lawmakers and Colorado Common Cause, the organization that filed ethics complaints against Opportunity Caucus Democrats who attended a retreat at a hotel in Vail in October with lobbyists. The requests also appear to be trying to prove that some of the lawmakers who received the open records requests, who are not members of the Opportunity Caucus, have attended events at hotels in the past.
Baxter sought lawmakers’ messages containing the words and phrases including "Opportunity Caucus," "One Main Street" and messages between the lawmakers and Colorado Common Cause Executive Director Aly Belknap.
From Marchman, Baxter requested any messages and information related to the annual meeting of the Council of State Governments held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, last year. Marchman is a top representative from Colorado for the Council of State Governments, alongside Republican state Rep. Matt Soper.
ONE MAIN STREET TIES TO GOP AND OIL AND GAS
Speaking of dark money, recent tax filings shed some light on who funds One Main Street Colorado, a political nonprofit that doesn’t disclose its donors and has spent heavily in Democratic primaries to help more moderate candidates beat their more liberal opponents. One Main Street is also a funder of the Opportunity Caucus.
The filings show connections between One Main Street, the oil and gas industry and conservative political groups.
One Main Street reported $2,789,481 in revenue in 2024 and reported paying its Executive Director Andrew Short $149,000.
Coloradans for Progress, a political nonprofit, gave One Main Street $1 million in 2024, representing more than a third of its revenue. Coloradans for Progress received $2.2 million from Chevron and $1.13 million from Coloradans for Responsible Energy Development, a nonprofit oil and gas trade organization, in 2024.
Jon Anderson at 6501 Belleview Ave., Suite 375, in Denver was listed as the principal officer for Coloradans for Progress in 2024. That’s the same address as the West Group, a Republican law firm, where Anderson is a partner. Several conservative groups are registered there, including Advance Colorado, Coloradans for Responsible Energy Development and Western Way Action.
Coloradans for Progress also reported giving money to the conservative political nonprofit Colorado Dawn ($50,000) and the Colorado Oil and Gas Association ($400,000) in 2024.
One Main Street also received $25,000 from a political nonprofit called Our Community Our Future in 2024, which has Anderson listed as its principal officer under a different Denver address. Our Community Our Future also donated to Colorado Dawn’s Independent Election Committee ($23,500), a conservative political nonprofit called Defend Colorado ($40,000) and Build America’s Future, a dark-money group that has been supported by Elon Musk ($882,500).
Our Community Our Future received $10,000 from Coloradans for Progress in 2024.
Short, the executive director of One Main Street, declined to provide The Sun a list of the group’s donors. As a nonprofit, One Main Street does not legally have to disclose its donors.
"We don’t do donor or ideological purity tests," Short said in a written statement. "Our only litmus test is whether the work we fund is delivering results for the middle class."
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Want to reach Colorado political influencers and support quality local journalism? The Sun can help get your message attention through a sponsorship of The Unaffiliated, the must-read politics and policy newsletter in Colorado. Contact Sylvia Harmon at underwriting@coloradosun.com for more information.
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THE POLITICAL TICKER
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CAMPAIGN FINANCE
Republican Doug Lamborn may have retired from Congress and turned his federal campaign account into a political action committee, but he is still paying a business registered to his wife, Jean, for campaign consulting.
The Promoting American Values PAC, formerly known as the Lamborn for Congress committee, paid Triple Star Services $7,500 in October and November. That was out of $8,242.50 in total spending by the PAC last quarter.
Lamborn consistently paidhis wife or her businesses — including Triple Star Services — out of his campaign account during his tenure in Congress.
Thanks to former Sun correspondent Sandra Fish for her help on this ticker item and for pointing out the tax filings showing where One Main Street Colorado is getting its money.
BALLOT MEASURES
Protect Kids Colorado — the group behind three ballot measures that would ban gender-affirming surgeries for children, prohibit transgender girls from participating in girls sports and increase penalties for child sex trafficking — reported to the Colorado Secretary of State Office that it has collected more than 75% of the voter signatures needed to get the initiatives before voters in November.
Protect Kids Colorado must collect about 125,000 voter signatures for each measure to get them on the November 2026 ballot.
The measures are:
- Initiative 108, which would make child sex trafficking punishable by life in prison without the possibility of parole. Signatures are due Feb. 16.
- Initiative 109, which would prohibit transgender kids from participating in gendered sports that do not align with their biological sex. It would also apply to collegiate sports in Colorado. Signatures are due Feb. 20.
- Initiative 110, which would prohibit surgery on a child for the purpose of altering their biological sex characteristics and also prohibit the use of state or federal funds, Medicaid reimbursement or insurance coverage to pay for that type of surgery. Signatures are due Feb. 20.
ELECTION 2026
Former state Sen. Angela Giron is running to be a Pueblo County commissioner representing District 3.
The Democrat filed paperwork with the state to launch her bid on Sunday. The district is currently represented by Republican Zach Swearingen.
Giron was recalled from the state Senate in 2013 over her support of gun control measures.
VACANCY APPOINTMENTS
Democrat Kenny Nguyen was selected Monday by a Democratic vacancy committee in House District 33 to serve out the term of William Lindstedt, who was chosen by another vacancy committee to replace the late state Sen. Faith Winter, D-Broomfield.
Nguyen beat out Heidi Henkel, a fellow member of the Broomfield City Council, for the job by a one-vote margin. Nguyen received 16 votes while Henkel received 15 votes. One person on the vacancy committee abstained.
Henkel and Nguyen were, and continue to be, running against each other in the Democratic primary in House District 33.
Democrat Lori Goldstein, who is president of the Adams 12 Five Star Schools Board of Education, was selected by a Democratic vacancy committee in House District 29 on Sunday to replace former state Rep. Shannon Bird in the legislature. Goldstein ran unopposed. There were 34 members of the vacancy committee who showed up to send her to the legislature.
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THE NARRATIVE
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Michael Bennet and Phil Weiser don’t want to touch the part of TABOR that lets voters weigh in on tax increases
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Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, left, and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet at a debate hosted by the Colorado Young Democrats in Denver on Saturday. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)
If voters want Colorado’s next governor to eliminate the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, they’re not going to like their options this year.
Both Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who are running against each other in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, say they want to keep the part of TABOR that lets voters decide whether their tax rates should be increased.
"People have the right to vote on their own taxes," Weiser said after a debate with Bennet over the weekend. "That's not going to change. I believe that's settled. That's not on the table for me."
"The one thing that clearly shouldn't be changed is the right for people to be able to vote on tax increases," Bennet said. "I think Colorado wants to keep that. I believe Colorado should keep that."
While both candidates seem open to changing TABOR’s other provisions, namely its cap on government growth and spending, they aren’t articulating a clear plan on how that should happen.
"There's a lot of disagreement about what to do about TABOR," Bennet said. "I believe that it will be essential for us to come to grips with it, and I look forward to that."
Weiser wants to pursue a "bottom-up approach, a grassroots approach" to changing TABOR — which means getting a lot of input before he puts together a plan.
The attorney general did call TABOR’s cap on government growth and spending "cockamamie" and seemed to show interest in moving toward a graduated income tax system, as liberal groups are pursuing at the ballot this year.
BENNET SHARPENS HIS SPEAR
The remarkable thing about the debate Saturday between Weiser and Bennet, which was hosted by the Colorado Young Democrats, was how Bennet went on the attack publicly for the first time in the primary.
Weiser lobbed battle-tested lines about how Bennet should stay in the Senate, how Bennet has supported some of President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees and how Bennet is backed by deep-pocketed donors from out of state.
Bennet fired back by appearing to claim that Weiser was doing the bare minimum to push back against Trump.
"There's literally nothing easier in the world than voting against a Trump nominee on the floor of the U.S. Senate — except for maybe joining someone else’s lawsuit that’s been filed against Donald Trump and saying that ‘I’m fighting, fighting, fighting Donald Trump,’" Bennet said.
Some other versions of the line deployed by Bennet:
- "I was the superintendent of schools — not filing lawsuits, not sitting in the back of an office — in the schools and classrooms of people in our state."
- "I don’t need a lecture from our attorney general about who’s fighting Donald Trump, about who’s willing to stand up for the families in this state. There is a difference between signing on to other people's lawsuits and then walking around suburban Colorado saying ‘I am fighting Trump with my 50 lawsuits.’ There’s a difference between being willing to take on a challenge like the civil rights challenge that exists today in our school systems in Colorado and across this country, as I did as superintendent."
Speaking with reporters after the debate, Bennet tried to downplay what sounded like an overt attack and said he was just trying to highlight how many lawsuits Weiser has filed directly versus the number he has signed onto.
BENNET ON HIS RECORD AS SUPERINDENT
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U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet at a debate hosted by the Colorado Young Democrats in Denver on Saturday. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)
Bennet was asked by someone in the audience if he would continue to support merit-based pay for teachers as governor as he did as superintendent of Denver Public Schools.
"I would not support the approach that I took before," he said, "but that is not the same thing as saying that I regret taking the approach that I took before. I will not apologize for the work that I did to try to lead reforms in the Denver Public Schools, because, among other things, we drove considerable achievement for the kids in Denver."
Bennet said if he’s elected governor "I guarantee you we will lead this nation in terms of the compensation of teachers in the United States of America."
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
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