The special legislative meeting in Colorado took place Tuesday, and lawmakers continued to work to address the nearly $800 million budget shortage caused by the impact of the recent federal tax bill.
This story will be updated throughout the day.
Updated 6:06pm: The final story of the special session brings together where things stand.
Colorado legislatures have filled a third of the budget gap by cutting tax cuts. There’s something to come next.
Updated 4:15pm: The Colorado House was postponed a while ago and concluded a six-day special session called by the governor to address the state’s $783 million budget shortfall. The measures passed by Congress do not rule out all of that gaps, leaving a mass left for Gov. Jared Police to fill by cutting spending and immersing in the state’s reserves. In a new story, we’ll soon go into more detail.
The House spent the final moments of the session on a resolution denounced former Rep. Ryan Armagost for taking photos of his Democratic colleagues and posting them in a private Republican chat last spring.
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Colorado House blames current Former lawmakers for taking and sharing photos of their colleagues for rid lol
Updated 2:30pm: Colorado’s first artificial intelligence regulations delays are headed to Gov. Jared Police’s desk after measures cleared both chambers. Senate Bill 4 originally sought to create new rules regarding the use of AI, such as jobs and rental applications, if AI tools lead to bias against people.
These negotiations collapsed on the last day of the special session, resulting in a simple delay in the rules that will come into effect in February. Under the new bill expected to be signed by the police, the rules will not come into effect until the end of June.
Updated 12:56pm: As the House voted its final vote, Gov. Jared Police’s office announced it had signed the first two bills passed during the special session.
Senate Bill 3 amends existing voting measures that seek to raise funds for the state’s school lunch program by taxing wealthy residents. In the new version, excess funds raised by voting measures will go to funding food aid, which is facing funding cuts under the federal budget bill.
Voting Act estimates taxes only increase for Coloradan, which earns more than $300,000 a year.
Here’s why the Colorado Legislature is currently meeting at a special session and what is at stake:
Police also signed Senate Bill 2. This allows state Medicaid programs to cover services at clinics such as Planned Parenthood. The federal tax bill temporarily blocked federal Medicaid reimbursements to healthcare providers providing abortion services.
“Once again and again, and most recently last November, Colorado voters have overwhelmingly said they would support and defend their rights in reproductive health care,” Sen. Lindsay Dorgerty, Democrat of Alvada, said in a statement when the bill passed the Senate. “In a hostile national landscape, this law is another step we must take to protect Coloradan’s rights to safe, accessible and affordable healthcare.”
Updated 12:31pm: Return to the quiet Capitol building as it could be the sixth and final day of the special session. State lawmakers are expected to give final approval to a small number of bills still on the docket.
Congress has already passed the majority of the bills that Democratic leaders have announced to raise about $250 million. They are set up today to pass on those last resorts, all of which are placed on police desks.
Once these votes are complete, the House will consider a resolution denounce former Rep. Ryan Armagost. He resigned last week after Democrat leaders announced they were about to blame him for taking photos and sharing photos of Democrat lawmakers.
On Monday night, the House gave the first approval to the ghost of the Congressional Artificial Intelligence Bill, accompanied by sound dissent.
After a day of enthusiastic lobbying and transaction violations, Senate Bill 4 was stripped of its entire content, including a provision that AI developers could be held liable if technology discriminates against people when AI is used in consequential decisions such as job applications or bank lending. It included other provisions that were passed in 2024 that would adjust the regulations in the state.
“Someone tell me, what is the incentive for Big Tech to ensure that their products aren’t doing these things? Are I doing no harm? I don’t know… She was referring to how Grok, an AI chatbot from X’s Elon Musk, started comparing it to Adolf Hitler earlier this summer.
As it stands, SB-4 is currently only delaying the state’s current AI regulations from taking effect. They were due to take effect in February. The bill simply delays the implementation of existing rules until June 30th. This means lawmakers will be tasked with overhauling them in the coming months.
Supporters of the bill said Monday that they reached SB-4 deals with several groups, but that AI and tech companies opposed the deal and helped blow it away because they didn’t want to be legally liable for their use of AI.
Rep. Briana Chiton, the first supporter of the bill, of Alvada, took her name off after it was put in full force.
“This is really serious,” continued Shirota. “What’s going to happen now? We’re probably in this loop of just pushing away and pushing away. If we pass this deadline extension, I think we’ll go back to the session in January or disappear in a different way when we reach May?
After moving the SB-4 forward from the House Budget Committee, the House passed it by audio vote Monday night. Currently, there is another vote in the House today, and a final agreement with the Senate is required before moving to Police.
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Original issue: August 26, 2025, 12:45pm MDT
