Gov. Jared Polis is bold and his policies are bolder than bold. That’s the paraphrase of his State of the State speech to open the 2026 General Assembly and start off his last year in office.

His sweeping review of his many accomplishments took some swipes at media who doubted his home-run-hitting prowess. He noted the Colorado Sun put up his campaign promises from his first run for governor to track his progress and then stopped posting in following years.

“Now I appreciate their help holding us accountable for our bold goals. Although, I did notice they stopped keeping track because it’s not as exciting when we keep delivering on our promises. But for me, it’s always been about delivering real results, not headlines.” Politicians are not generally known for their modesty, but maybe the governor expressed some in those words.

As usual in his State of the State speeches, the governor was not shy about listing his many accomplishments which include, according to his appraisal, outstanding kindergarten expansion, massive improvements in housing, reducing high taxes, keeping the Broncos in Denver, and the Sundance Film Festival. He enthused he got rid of the public school budget stabilization factor and found $470 million per year for transportation.

From the low-level person’s point of view, probably his greatest accomplishment occurred early in his term with his work on managing the COVID crisis. It’s easy to forget now how devastating the pandemic was, with effects continuing on public education and a more expensive Colorado landscape. He marshalled resources and countered conflicting messages and actions from Washington to carry the state through.

A review of his other initiatives shows work left on the playing field, as the governor would say. Young children are benefitting from his kindergarten expansion. He left undone serious reform to school finance and needed money for the public school system.

COVID left children in school the year of the crisis at a disadvantage. The chaos of moving from in-school to virtual schooling had a negative impact on base learning. Though many middle-class children have recovered, low-income minorities continue to experience the impact.

Logical consequences mean these children need more resources. Our current school financing formulas and state funding do not rise to the necessary levels. This underfunding is a decades-long issue, starting at the Great Recession in 2008-09. More than a generation of children have experienced insufficient public funding no amount of innovation and school choice can remediate. The governor has not stepped up to sponsor tax reform to bring more money to schools.

The legislature and governor can say they have resolved the budget stabilization challenge, but that’s been too little, too late. Public school dollars are under threat again with the severe cuts expected in the 2026-2027 General Fund. Looking back, some advances in the state have come at the expense of our public schools and students who received not enough money so other parts of the budget could get more.

Our core health care problems remain unresolved. Legislators and the governor put up the Colorado Plan which provides insurance for residents. But with cuts from the federal government and the state budget, insurance expense will rise beyond affordability for too many.

Some parts of the health care system have thrived financially, including large metro hospital systems. Rural hospitals and rural health care lives on thin margins and large distances traveled for care.

Too often, long waits for general medical care create patients who descend into medical crises. Emergency rooms are hard-pressed as these delays push patients to hospitals and higher health care delivery expense.

It took three years of effort, but a cohort of volunteers committed to some form of privately delivered but publicly funded health care finally got legislation passed to study how and whether to deliver such a program to Coloradans. They’ve raised more than $700,000 in private funds for the Colorado School of Public Health to evaluate the concept.

It will take some time for the work to be accomplished, but this comprehensive analysis of health care delivery may offer some solutions to our current convoluted and expensive health care delivery platform.

Housing and related homelessness continue as deep problems for the state. The governor cited his ADU legislation as an improvement, along with apartments with fewer fire exit stairs and more residences near transit hubs. A deep problem affects younger adults and families who cannot afford homes. The American dream of a house with two kids and a yard has dissolved into young adults with no children and an apartment shared with two or three others to cover the rent. Fortunately, a bigamy bill in this General Assembly will take that crime off the table for individuals co-habiting.

Home prices at $500,000 to start make a heavy lift. That impact ripples into public schools with fewer children attending causing school closings and resource consolidation. That impact affects neighborhoods and housing prices. Every dot connects to another dot. The public should pose these challenges to governor candidates. They are big problems requiring innovation and courage. Let’s find out who’s up for them.

Paula Noonan owns Colorado Capitol Watch, the state’s premier legislature tracking platform.