Colorado lawmakers wrapped up the 2026 legislative session on Wednesday with Democrats highlighting what they described as policy wins in affordability, health care and public safety issues, while Republicans argued that the majority’s budget decisions worsened the state’s financial and business climate.

Lawmakers passed about 120 bills this legislative session amid federal funding cuts and a $1.2 billion budget deficit, leaving no wiggle room for other spending.

Despite this, House and Senate Democrats maintained they delivered real results for the people of Colorado.

“With extraordinary and generational drought, inflation, unlawful federal overreach, and a significant budget crisis all weighing on our minds, lawmakers came together and we accomplished some amazing work,” said House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, who also closed out her final session in the General Assembly on Wednesday.

Lawmakers tackled what McCluskie called “must-fix” issues, such as competency and artificial intelligence, as well as the caucus’s top priority for the session — making the state more affordable. That theme is among the consistent narrative framing pushed by Democrats and Republicans alike in the last several years.

“Our focus on affordability will produce results for years to come,” McCluskie said, noting legislation prohibiting price and wage setting based on “surveillance” data and making homes more resilient to hail, which plays a large role in the state’s skyrocketing homeowner’s insurance costs.

Senate President James Coleman said the Democratic-led legislature has worked hard since January to deliver results to families.

“This was a very difficult budget year. We faced a $1.2 billion deficit for the second year in a row, made worse by federal cuts that hit Colorado especially hard,” he said. “But unlike Washington, we know how to get things done in government, and every year we pass a balanced budget.”

Democrats have blamed the Trump administration for Colorado’s woes, while Republicans have countered that the state deficits were the result of overspending by the majority and the latter’s refusal to make hard decisions, even when the legislature knew the fiscal problems were coming.

Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R‑Brighton, who serves on the Joint Budget Committee, agreed that the state passed a balanced budget but disagreed with how the money was allocated.

“The problem with our budget is the same problem you’d have if you gave your kids your credit cards and they maxed them out,” she said. “In this case, the kids are the Democrats. They max out our credit cards and then make only the minimum payment.”

Kirkmeyer argued that Democrats should have “cut spending, cut programs, cut taxes, and cut regulations.”

“We still have businesses leaving this state,” she added. “More than 100 businesses signed a letter saying Colorado is unfriendly to them. We are not open for business in the State of Colorado.”

Republican Senate Minority Leader Cleave Simpson highlighted his caucus’s accomplishments, including legislation addressing the state’s competency crisis, as well as what he described as a broader shift in the Capitol.

“There’s a growing recognition — even across the aisle — that the status quo isn’t working,” he said. “Republicans and Democrats worked together more than many people realize. That doesn’t mean we agreed on everything; we absolutely did not. But it does mean there’s increasing awareness in this building that Colorado cannot continue with division, rising costs, public frustration, and one‑party policymaking without accountability.”

Colorado lawmakers closed out a year defined by the lack of fiscal flexibility, woes over Medicaid spending and a staccato of action on a host of issues, ranging from artificial regulation to a failed attempt to decriminalize prostitution.

The ongoing budget crisis has spanned multiple years. Lawmakers had already cut $1.2 billion from the 2025 budget, trimmed another $800 million during a special session, and made additional reductions this year.

Of the more than 600 bills introduced this year, those with a fiscal note were mostly rejected or revised to decrease estimated costs.

Reflecting on the difficult process of balancing the budget, Republican Rep. Rick Taggart summed up the sentiment in a few blunt words: “Nobody won in this budget.”

Medicaid has been a major driver of overspending in both the 2025–26 fiscal year and the upcoming state budget, largely due to higher-than-expected service use. The program, which provides health coverage for low‑income residents, is also facing allegations of waste, fraud, and abuse, and its leadership has been criticized for mismanagement.

As fraud investigations ramp up, the Joint Budget Committee had to make tough decisions on Medicaid. The committee also sponsored a bill in the 2026 session to establish a commission to review Medicaid spending.

Overall, the 2026 budget increased by $776 million, with an estimated $503 million from additional federal Medicaid funds.