A procedural battle at the Colorado Capitol boiled over on Wednesday night, when a House Republican demanded the 661‑page state budget be read aloud in full — a move that delayed the advance of the proposed $46.8 billion spending plan.

Colorado legislators are constitutionally required to adopt a balanced budget each year. For next year’s budget, they are grappling with $1.5 billion deficit in general fund dollars, compelling them to cut spending and reexamine programs, particularly in Medicaid, the major factor driving the deficit.

In addition to the state’s Medicaid woes, Democrats have blamed Congress for Colorado’s fiscal woes, arguing the federal budget changed the revenue equation and caused the state budget to go unbalanced. Republicans, meanwhile, said the state’s fiscal problems resulted from Democrats’ decisions, including refusing to reduce spending even when they knew the state is facing major deficits ahead.

For years, House Republicans hinted they might use the procedural maneuver, yet they never followed through. That changed on Wednesday.

Debate on House Bill 1410, the $46.8 billion state budget for 2026‑27, began around 9:30 a.m. By 7:30 p.m., lawmakers had made it through only half of the 73 proposed amendments, approving just three.

House Assistant Minority Leader Ty Winter, R‑Trinidad, introduced an amendment to shift about $700,000 from the public defenders division to bolster funding for crime‑victim services.

Rep. Brandi Bradley, R‑Roxborough Park, spoke in support of the amendment, reading prepared remarks about the need to ensure victims are heard before sharing her own experience as a victim. The House has passed several measures aimed at supporting victims, and lawmakers often underscore that commitment during floor debate.

“Words are not enough. We must set an example as a body,” she said.

Bradley said she has seen “failures of due process” firsthand — a reference to the ethics complaint she filed against fellow Republican Rep. Ron Weinberg. That complaint led House leadership to issue Weinberg a letter of admonishment and push for sexual‑harassment prevention training.

“I do not think we can move forward in good faith protecting victims outside this building until we show the courage and integrity necessary to protect those within it,” she said.

Bradley argued that the ethics process is broken and that she has been harmed by it. She then requested that the budget bill — all 661 pages of it — be read at length.

The request pushed House Majority Leader Monica Duran, D-Wheat Ridge, to immediately ask that the bill be laid over until Thursday.

The chamber then turned to the 64 “orbitals,” the bills that adjust state law to keep the budget balanced. Lawmakers completed work on nine of them, and Republicans asked for seven of those to be read at length.

That was enough for Duran, who then asked that the rest of the calendar, the long bill, and the remaining orbitals be postponed until Thursday.

What happens next is uncertain. Bradley’s motion to have the bill read at length is still active, a process expected to take at least a full day. That would push the final budget vote to Friday. They could also demand full readings of the remaining orbital bills, further slowing the process.

Duran has another option available to her. The state Republican Party assembly is Saturday in Pueblo, and if Democrats choose to keep the House working that day, it would make it difficult for Republicans to attend. That includes Rep. Scott Bottoms, R‑Colorado Springs, one of roughly 20 declared candidates for governor, as delegates will decide on Saturday who makes the ballot.

While the budget debate came to an abrupt halt on Wednesday night, some changes were made throughout the day.

An amendment from Winter and Rep. Chad Clifford, D‑Centennial, redirected $1.5 million in general funds from a Department of Corrections superintendent program and from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s disease control and public health response division. The money would instead go to the Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority within the Department of Public Safety.

The auto theft authority was stripped of $7.7 million in general fund support in the 2026-27 budget, but was given permission to spend $1 million in cash funds.

The disease control and public health response division ensures the state is prepared to respond quickly to public health emergencies. The division was created in 2021, a combination of previously existing divisions within the state’s health department.

Nationally, Colorado was rated first in auto theft in 2023. Auto thefts doubled between 2019 and 2022, reaching a high of more than 41,000 in 2022. Those thefts began to decline in 2023 and have steadily dropped for the last three years.

Under pressure from several quarters, legislators changed the laws in 2023 to make thefts of all motor vehicles, regardless of value, a Class 5 felony.

Clifford noted that the authority aligns with the funds provided by local governments and that police officers have been hired to address the auto theft issue.

“We talk about reducing crime,” and a “yes” vote would reflect that, said Winter.

The Department of Corrections was also part of the topic on a successful amendment from House Assistant Majority Leader Rep. Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver. The amendment didn’t move money, but it directed the department to consider contracting for nursing homes to facilitate the release of inmates eligible for compassionate release.

The amendment also included a direction to the Department of Human Services to contract with an external facility for individuals who need competency restoration and for those unlikely to be restored to competency.

Bacon explained that she’s seeking line-item space but no funding. There are 63 people who have been approved for special needs parole but cannot be released because there is nowhere for them to go, she said, and it’s more expensive to care for those inmates in prison.

Republicans zeroed in on the governor’s and lieutenant governor’s budgets, introducing nine amendments to reduce funding, sometimes by millions of dollars.

The one amendment that succeeded came from Rep. Rebecca Keltie, R-Colorado Springs, to transfer $74,654 in cash from the governor’s mansion maintenance fund to the Colorado state veterans trust fund.

The mansion fund gets its money from rentals.