Lawmakers and other politicos who watched Thursday’s State of the State address from Gov. Jared Polis mostly reacted along party lines to his policy prescriptions on housing, transportation, public safety, education and taxation. 

But not always.

Democrats, for example, lauded some of his strategies on housing – but not so much the governor’s support for tax cuts. Republicans, meanwhile, liked what they heard on cutting taxes but were not thrilled with his other ideas.   

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a former state senator who attended the speech, his first since winning election last spring, he said he is “really excited about his focus on affordable housing statewide.” 

Johnston told Colorado Politics he also likes the governor’s ideas around passenger rail and proposed changes to make the Regional Transportation District “more efficient and reliable.”

Rep. Chad Clifford, D-Centennial, who was just sworn into office on Wednesday, was drawn to the governor’s comments on the portability of the senior homestead property tax exemption stood out.

“I’ve got neighbors in my neighborhood who can’t downsize,” he said. “It’s responsible to allow that inventory to go a new tax-paying citizen and if you’ve paid 30 years of property taxes in this state, you’ve paid enough.”

Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Fort Lupton, a former police officer, said he is interested in the public safety portion of the governor’s speech.

However, “talk is cheap,” Evans told Colorado Politics, and he disputed the governor’s claims about improvements in crime data.

Polis claimed that 2023 legislation targeted auto thefts had reduced those thefts by 21% year over year, including at Denver International Airport.

Evans noted that WalletHub recently rated Colorado dead last in the nation for residential and personal safety. When the governor talks about advancements in public safety, the data doesn’t bear it out, he said. 

Ten years ago, Colorado was 31st in the nation for total crime, while the  state is now 4th, he added. 

Evans said he appreciated Polis’ support for an income tax rate reduction but maintained that Democrats’ goal remains to be the repeal the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

Senate President Steve Fenberg of Boulder said the governor addressed the issues most Coloradans face – affordability, a modern transportation system, building more homes and improving the education system.

“The big accomplishment we hope to have this year is to pay off that IOU,” and begin to dream bigger, he said.

Fenberg addressed the disconnect between the governor and Democratic lawmakers on the issue of income tax rate reduction.

He said the state already has one of the lowest income taxes in the country.

“It doesn’t mean that it isn’t a conversation that everyone is willing to have, as part of a larger (discussion) on tax reform, but given that our taxes are quite low compared to peer states, we want to talk about affordability issues overall, and the crunch facing families is housing and healthcare costs,” he said.  

Rural lawmakers said the governor’s speech had little to offer for rural Colorado or agriculture. 

Rep. Ty Winter, R-Trinidad, said the governor spoke about rural Colorado but that his agenda is to “kill” energy producers through his “green energy” initiatives. Ranchers and farmers are dealing with major problems, they are losing royalty checks from energy producers and they are now having to deal with wolves eating their livestock.

“It’s a blatant disregard for rural Colorado,” Winter told Colorado Politics. 

Winter said the governor’s focus on taxes leaves out what actually would help farmers and ranchers – less taxes when they pass along their farms and ranches to the next generation.

Winter said he will work on a bill on this issue next year. He pointed out that some farmers and ranchers must sell 75% of their property to pay the taxes to keep the last 25% –  and that’s not good for rural Colorado.

“It would better serve” farmers and ranchers to reduce the tax burden than trying to teach people how to farm, an initiative Polis mentioned in speech.

For Sen. Byron Pelton, R-Sterling, tax cuts stood out as the best idea of the speech.

“I’ve love to see more of that talk. That’s instant relief in people’s pockets,” he said.  

What he can’t get behind, however, is how Polis talked about “non-lethal” management of wolves. At some point, he said, those non-lethal methods stop working.

“We need to protect our ranchers and farmers. That was a promise made when this was being put together and it needs to be kept,” he said.  

House Speaker Julie McCluskie said she is “thrilled” by the governor’s focus on affordability and education, one of the issues nearest to her heart. She also appreciates his focus on workforce development and free college credential pathways.

“We can ensure that every Coloradan can access additional skills and training,” she told Colorado Politics.

In his 2023 speech, Polis mentioned water 32 times, hinting it would be a major focus that year. It ultimately ended up with legislation creating a task force to look at drought issues. In last year’s opening-of-session ceremonies, McCluskie also spoke about water, and she co-sponsored the 2023 legislation.

On Thursday, the speaker said she believes the governor is as committed to the state’s water future as she is.

“We’ve had great success with our task force this summer,” she said, adding the group produced solid recommendations that will become legislation in 2024. 

“I am strongly committed to doing everything I can to lead on this issue,” she said.

Sen. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, quoted Winston Churchill on his takeaways from the speech.

“Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing after they’ve done everything else,” Gardner said. “You can always count on the governor to find the right solution and implement it half way, after he’s tried everything else.”

He said the governor, for example, deftly slid by a discussion of liability in construction. The state’s “construction defects” law has served as an impediment to investors and builders constructing multi-family housing, Gardner said – and granny flats aren’t a solution, either.

The governor’s proposals on land use planning are the right ones, but not at the state level and not forced upon local communities, he said. 

Mass transit and high speed rail, also part of Polis’ speech, are going to be expensive, and the governor has not said how to pay for it, the Republican said.

“We need to invest in highways and roads and bridges. The governor would like to trade my wait in gridlock for a longer wait for a train and another bus that’s less convenient,” he said.  

Meanwhile, Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, was dismayed by what she called the governor’s lack of attention to higher education funding.

“We need to fund post-secondary education and training to rebuild our workforce,” she said.

What is in budget proposals is to underfund the core minimum costs for higher education by $130 million, including for community colleges, and then force them to keep tuition low, she said, adding, “They can’t afford that and we can’t afford to have them go away.”

On property tax relief, which Polis also discussed, people will find that they won’t get property tax relief from the special session when they receive their tax bills in the spring, she said.

Attorney General Phil Weiser said he appreciates the governor’s comments on returning to civility.

“In Colorado, we know how to disagree better. What you saw here was civil engagement, respectful discourse, people listening to one another. That’s how public policy needs to be made. We have to hold onto that in Colorado,” Weiser said. 

From outside the Capitol, Kevin Bommer of the Colorado Municipal League took issue with Polis’ statement that “there is a real sense of hopelessness and despair” around the lack of affordable housing. 

“Over at @CO_Municipal, there is no ‘hopelessness and despair’ around housing. All optimism over here. With #coleg and @GovofCO partnership (not preemption!) we will build on the 200 local governments accessing Prop 123 dollars. Let’s do this!” he tweeted the social media platform X.

The state chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business also took issue with Polis’ lack of attention to regulatory relief for business.

“While briefly mentioning the needs of employers for employees with trained skills, the governor failed to mention any regulatory relief allowing for business owners to free up capital to hire additional workers. The governor wasn’t shy about announcing his favor for more government-run apprenticeship programs, which can be interpreted as more forced union membership for Colorado job-seekers,” said Tony Gagliardi, director of NFIB’s Colorado chapter.

“NFIB Colorado does compliment the governor on his recognition that the state’s income tax rate is too high. However, we cannot condone his suggestion that TABOR refunds should be used to lower property taxes, providing proof the real goal of Proposition HH was to begin the elimination of the TABOR amendment.“