During the 2025 Colorado legislative session, Democrats and Republicans formed unexpected pairs as their interests aligned, including lawmakers who had served together for years without sponsoring a bill.

Here’s a look at some of the work the unlikely pairs did:

Rep. Shannon Bird, D-Westminster, and Speaker Pro Tem Andrew Boesenecker, D-Fort Collins

The bill: House Bill 1272 seeks changes to the state’s “construction defects” laws and creates more opportunity to middle-market housing, primarily condos and townhomes. While they’re both Democrats, Bird has been one of the House’s more moderate members and last year ran the 2024 construction defects version that failed to win approval; Boesenecker is more aligned on affordable housing issues with the progressive side of the Democratic caucus.

After the 2024 session, they found a way to work together on the construction defects issue, which homebuilders have blamed for raising the costs of condos by as much as $40,000 per unit. Gov. Jared Polis signed the bill into law on May 12.

Boesenecker has served in the House since the 2021 session. Bird’s first House session was in 2019.

Reps. Rebekah Stewart, D-Lakewood, and Max Brooks, R-Castle Rock

The bills: House Bill 1003 and Senate Bill 87.

HB 1003 deals with the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing on Medicaid and waivers for children with complex health issues. Stewart was asked to run the bill because of her background in music. Wanting bills to be receive bipartisan support, Stewart signed onto the measure as a co-sponsor. 

As Stewart and Brooks started talking, they found they had in common prior experience on city councils. But Brooks’ background also included advocacy for the disability community. 

The bill would boost Medicaid services for 2,500 kids with lifelong illnesses and disabilities and didn’t have a fiscal note, so its chances of passage in a tight budget year increased. It passed unanimously in both the House and Senate, and Gov. Jared Polis signed it on March 31, making it Brooks’ first bill signed into law.

Their first collaboration went so well that Stewart thought Brooks would be a good partner on the second bill, Senate Bill 87. That measure would ensure kids with Individualized Educational Programs and 504s, both of which deal with special services for kids with disabilities, can use that documentation in college to start the accommodation process. It won a 23-12 party-line vote in the Senate and a 58-5 vote in the House. Gov. Polis signed it on April 18.

Rep. Matthew Martinez, D-Monte Vista, and Assistant House Majority Leader Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver.

The bill: House Bill 1023 attempts to resolve a decades-long fight in the San Luis Valley between the residents of Costilla County and a Texas billionaire who has fenced off thousands of acres of his property near Culebra Peak, an area locals refer to as La Sierra and to which they maintained to have historical rights.

Martinez said he approached Bacon, an attorney, because of her extensive legal background. He explained to her the background of the case, the land grant issues, and historical rights. But Martinez said Bacon did some digging on her own and found it a unique problem and one “that makes Colorado Colorado.” When the bill came up for second reading in the House, Martinez spoke on the history and Bacon discussed the legal side.

Martinez said he got questions from the House Democratic staff about including Bacon as a partner, given that it’s an agriculture bill. Even they thought the pairing was interesting. Like the other odd couples, the duo had never carried a bill together. Martinez is in his third session, and Bacon is in her fifth.

Polis has not signed the bill, but Martinez said he believes the governor will approve it and he is hoping for a ceremony in the San Luis Valley.

Reps. Alex Valdez, D-Denver, and Sen. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs.

The bill: House Bill 1040, which adds nuclear energy to the state’s list of clean energy resources.

Valdez has been active in the solar energy space for years, including as founder in 2010 of EcoMark, one of Colorado’s largest solar companies, which recently filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, citing COVID and supply chain issues.

What’s surprising about this pairing is that Valdez has been anti-nuclear and has admitted it for years. On the other hand, Liston has advocated for nuclear energy for several years, sponsoring similar bills in both the 2023 and 2024 sessions.

Valdez said his epiphany occurred last February after he joined a nuclear group through the National Conference of State Legislatures. Through another group, he also learned about France’s nuclear energy. The country is notably almost entirely powered by nuclear energy, and it sells energy to Germany, he said.

Valdez noted that his legislative agenda has focused mainly on approaching energy from a “climate change” perspective. With the Trump administration moving to dismantle Biden’s focus on climate and funding for such programs potentially drying up, the Democrat said, “What are we going to do to stay clean?” France, he said, got to where Colorado wants to be — with complete “clean” energy — in 1985.

Like the other pairings, the two have never carried a bill together. Valdez has served in the House since 2019. Liston could set a 21st-century record for the number of years (20) of legislative service, should he complete his second Senate term in 2028. He has served a dozen years in the House, from 2005 to 2012 and 2017 to 2020, and in the Senate since 2021.

The governor signed the bill on March 31.