In her opening speech of the 2025 Colorado legislative session, re-elected Colorado House Speaker Julie McCluskie (D-Dillon) cast the state’s budget challenges as a defining issue for the 120-day lawmaking term. 

The state is currently facing a $750 million budget shortfall due in part to escalating Medicaid costs, dried-up federal funding for COVID-19 relief and a constitutionally mandated cap on revenue. 

The budget deficit, however, could be even greater as lawmakers look to approve a new $350 million one-time fund for law enforcement after state voters approved Proposition 130 in November. 

“We need to trim nearly $1 billion from our state budget in a way that ensures strong safety net services for the most vulnerable among us,” McCluskie said in remarks on the House floor on Wednesday. “As a result, there may be some unpopular decisions ahead — choices that put truly deserving efforts and priorities in competition with each other for funding.” 

McCluskie pledged to shield new funding for K-12 education from cuts. She has also signaled that any bills introduced in the House this year that carry a price tag could be dead on arrival. 

Other priorities include passing reforms around construction defect liability in a bid to make it easier for developers to build housing. McCluskie also listed taking on rent-setting algorithms and incentivizing modular home development as part of House Democrats’ affordable housing agenda. 

The House Speaker called for pro-labor legislation to eliminate wage theft and “strengthen worker’s voices,” efforts that could be met with resistance from Gov. Jared Polis who has vetoed similar proposals in the past. 

McCluskie said Democrats were prepared to take action in response to the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump and took aim at some of his most hardline campaign pledges. 

“Coloradans do not support mass deportations,” McCluskie said, framing the proposal as one that would devastate communities and local economies. 

McCluskie did not mention specific policies the legislature may try to pass in response to a Trump White House, but said Colorado will remain “a safe haven from attacks on reproductive rights, voting rights, workers’ rights, LGBTQ rights, personal liberty and civil rights.”

In a speech following McCluskie’s, El Paso County Republican and House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese said her caucus supports deporting “illegal immigrants who are violent criminals” adding, “I think this should be a bipartisan issue.” 

Other priorities for House Republicans will include defending the 1992 voter-approved Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, which limits how much revenue the state can take in, from potential changes, Pugliese said.

On affordable housing, Pugliese said the state has played a role in making Colorado less affordable and called out fees and regulations passed by lawmakers that she said have increased the cost of housing. She also mentioned advocating for and defending parental decision-making when it comes to their children’s education and health care. 

Opening day proceedings were briefly stalled in the House after six Republicans objected to certifying the results of November’s state elections, alleging that the accidental leak of voting system passwords by the Secretary of State’s Office cast doubt on the results. 

Every House Democrat and the majority of Republicans later voted to certify the results. 

Wednesday saw the formal re-election of McCluskie as House speaker after she secured the nomination from Democrats in November. She is the first woman from the Western Slope to serve in the position, which she has held for the past two years. 

The day also saw the introduction of the first bills of the 2025 session, including ones that could become among the most controversial measures. 

Senate Bill 3 would ban the purchase, sale and manufacture of semiautomatic guns with detachable ammunition magazines, representing yet another attempt by some Democratic lawmakers to limit the use of high-powered firearms after other efforts failed. 

Senate Bill 5 would make it easier to unionize by removing the need for a second workplace election before workers can negotiate dues from all employees. The governor has expressed skepticism about the proposal. 

The 120-day lawmaking term will last through May 7.