In a tight-budget year, the work of interim committees — those off-session groups that look at transportation, agriculture, water, healthcare, wildfires, pensions, and anything else lawmakers want to look at — is on the chopping block.

And this year, no committee is considered sacrosanct.

A bill introduced Thursday by the legislative leadership from both parties and both chambers wipes out just about all interim committees this year, including some year-round groups.

It’s expected to save about $396,000 in the 2026-27 budget, according to legislative council staff.

It would prohibit meetings, field trips, and legislative recommendations and reports from the year-round Capital Development Committee, which plays a pretty major role in determining what building projects and maintenance get funded in the state budget.

Also on the chopping block for 2026 are any works by nine interim and year-round committees, including pensions, behavioral health disorders in the criminal and juvenile justice systems, sales and use tax simplification, and the health insurance exchange oversight committee.

Of the group, the behavioral health committee and the committee on sales and use tax are among the most active. But like many other interim committees, neither met during the 2025 interim for budget reasons.

The Colorado General Assembly has 11 standing interim committees, and lawmakers will usually add a few more when there’s an issue they want to spend more time on.

Interim committees — and certain year-round panels — meet during the summer and fall for deeper dives into issues they oversee. Some committees travel around the state to visit sites that pertain to their work.

Virtually all of them hold hearings and receive presentations on issues that constituents and stakeholder groups want them to consider. That work can turn into legislation for the following year’s session.

Of the 11 standing interim committees, two have been more or less sacrosanct: the water resources and agriculture review group and the transportation legislative review committee.

While the transportation and ag committees are prohibited from meeting, they’re not prohibited from making legislative recommendations, although one cannot be done without the other.

The leadership’s bill also repeals a couple of committees that have outlived their usefulness — groups dealing with legislative emergency preparedness and response, and the statewide health care review committee. The latter was never authorized to recommend legislation; the former hasn’t met since 2022.

Even in bad budget years, some of these panels would still conduct their work. This year, however, is different. Additionally, lawmakers who want specialized interim committees this summer are out of luck, as the bill makes it clear such requests will not be considered.

There are few interim committees that appear to be left standing for now, although if they met, it would be on lawmakers’ own dime, as the bill prohibits the legislature from paying per diem or travel expenses for the interim committees still allowed to meet.

The bill also doesn’t touch the Joint Budget Committee, as well as the legislative audit, joint technology, and the legislative council or executive committee of the legislative council.

For the 2026 session, about nine bills came out of four interim committees, which is down considerably from previous years. Several interim committees got shelved last year, too.

Senate Minority Leader Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa, indicated he isn’t happy about letting the water and ag committee go, given the record-low snowpack.

House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, said she has the same reservations about missing the water and agriculture committee, but noted the bill doesn’t take effect until July 1, so some could still meet before the end of the fiscal year.