Budget

The Joint Budget Committee rejected Gov. Jared Polis’ plan for the state to buy a prison and operate it itself.

Medicaid took the brunt of the final reductions, include a reimbursement rate cut for providers and a cap on Cover All Coloradans, which provides health care to immigrants who are children or pregnant.

Colorado's budget shortfall was $500 million higher than earlier projections.

Nonpartisan staffers told lawmakers this month that the way they spent billions of dollars in one-time federal funds given to Colorado during the COVID pandemic contributed to the state’s budget shortfall.

Each year the cycle continues, state lawmakers will have fewer ways to address the gap without cutting state programs and services. Skyrocketing Medicaid costs are primarily to blame.

Local governments across Colorado face budget deficits in 2026. Some are tapping their reserves to keep people fed as SNAP benefits lapse.

During the special session, the legislature passed a bill ceding the responsibility of cutting the budget to the governor’s office.

The savings would be relatively meager — wolf reintroduction cost Colorado taxpayers $3.5 million last year — but the Democrat leading the measure says it’s about priorities as the legislature contends with a steep drop in state tax revenue.

Nonprofits providing emergency shelter, mental health care and food security, including EFAA and All Roads, face reductions in their grant allocations amid a 2025 county budget deficit.

Today on Colorado Edition, we learn how Gov. Jared Polis plans to spend the state’s recently unveiled budget proposal. And we learn how some oil and gas companies in Colorado are able to skirt methane emission rules.