Underneath the pomp and circumstance of this morning’s opening ceremonies, the 100 lawmakers who took their seats at the state Capitol face a daunting task — how to keep the state’s economy moving forward in the midst of a challenging budget situation.

Meanwhile, an election will follow at the tail end of the year, with 65 seats in the House and 20 seats in the Senate up for grabs. Nine lawmakers are looking for elected office outside of the Colorado General Assembly. 

What’s on the agenda for the next 120 days?

A lot of familiar subjects.

Union-backed legislation on mandatory fees is back for another round after Gov. Jared Polis vetoed the bill last year. The proposal appears to be nearly identical to the bill the governor rejected last year. Already, the governor said he’s frustrated and surprised to learn the proposal is coming back.

And all eyes are on the governor, who is in the final year of his second term in office. Speculation abounds over whether the governor would be freer to veto measures, knowing he’s not coming back, and if lawmakers would challenge Polis more so than they had in the past.

In any case, major proposals are on the agenda.

The issue of artificial intelligence and “algorithmic discrimination” in employment, education, health care, finance and other areas is expected to see one more round. The law signed in 2024 will go into effect in June as is, unless lawmakers figure out how to make it more palatable to developers, small businesses and venture capitalists, who complained it goes too far.

The business community has long pushed for rolling back what some described as an excessive regulatory environment — or at least pausing to see if they’re working before adopting new ones. A year ago, Colorado earned a 6th-place ranking among the most regulated states in the nation. 

While sunset reviews — assessments of existing law for departments and programs that come up for renewal every few years — tend not to generate a lot of attention, one is likely to buck that trend: The Public Utilities Commission is up for renewal this year.

The PUC regulates 178 fixed utilities and 379 transportation carriers, as well as safety jurisdiction over 1,810 transportation carriers and 109 liquid petroleum, natural gas and propane pipeline operators.

In its recommendation for renewal, the Colorado Office of Policy, Research and Regulatory Reform said the legislature should modernize some PUC statutes, as well as authorize the commission to develop facial recognition requirements for transportation-network companies (Lyft and Uber, for example) to include a criminal penalty for driver impersonation.

That’s a followup to a Polis-vetoed bill in 2025 that would have required more stringent safety regulations for those companies. The bill was co-sponsored by Rep. Jenny Willford, D-Northglenn, who alleged she had been sexually assaulted by a person impersonating a Lyft driver. She’s suing the company. While he vetoed the bill, Polis pledged to work with the sponsors on improving rider safety.

That’s not to mention a host of issues in the energy sector, notably power shutoffs — meant to protect lines from high winds and sanctioned by the PUC — that left tens of thousands of residents and businesses without power.

The biggest issue is likely going to be the state’s spending plan. Lawmakers still have to decide whether to accept some of the cuts proposed by the governor to shore up the 2025-26 budget. They will then have to deal with an $850 million shortfall in the 2026-27 budget. 

Budget writers have noted that they’ve raided everywhere to complete the 2025-26 budget. The spending plan that begins on July 1 will likely see cuts. 

At a Tuesday legislative preview sponsored by the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, Senate President James Coleman, D-Denver, said, “This year our budget solutions have to be about cuts.”

“Colorado families, unfortunately, will feel the impact,” he said.  

The shortfall in the current year budget was driven by Medicaid overspending and the impact of the federal H.R. 1 budget bill, according to state analysts. Polis proposed cuts to Medicaid provider rates, an unpopular decision with some of the members of the Joint Budget Committee who have worked for years to increase payments to cover the gap between what Medicaid pays and how much services cost.

Medicaid is now the largest item in the state budget, drawing about a third of the state’s general fund dollars. A new report from the Colorado Hospital Association noted that for every dollar in Medicaid costs, Medicaid pays about 67 cents. 

Affordability, the watchword for the past couple of sessions, is still the watchword this year. It’s a broad subject that includes housing, healthcare, transportation, energy and workforce development.

The 2026 session ends on Wednesday, May 13.