While legislative Democrats look to bolster collective bargaining rights for all workers, Colorado budget writers say they won’t rule out eliminating pay raises owed to state employees under the current union contract.
“Literally EVERYTHING is on the table,” Joint Budget Committee Chair Jeff Bridges, a Greenwood Village Democrat, told The Colorado Sun in a text message. “Even things that are extremely unlikely to happen.”
Next budget year, employees across-the-board are owed 2.5% raises, plus additional longevity-based pay bumps under the state’s new compensation plan. The contract with Colorado WINS, the employee union, also increases the minimum wage state workers by 2%, to $16.55 an hour from $16.22.
All told, the contractual pay increases would cost the state general fund about $60 million next year, according to JBC documents.
Every 1 percentage point cut to what the state spends on worker pay — either by eliminating positions or skipping raises — would save the general fund about $17 million, JBC staff told the committee last month.
The politics of such a move would be fraught. Not only would it force the union back to the negotiating table with Gov. Jared Polis’ administration, it could spark a rare revolt against the JBC by the legislature’s Democratic majority. The full legislature tends to defer to the budget panel on big decisions, but the labor movement’s allies in the legislature have been itching for a fight ever since the governor vetoed some of their priorities last year. (Notably, Polis has recommended funding the contractual raises in his annual budget request.)
While it may be unlikely that the Democratic-controlled JBC would break the promises the administration made to unions, the fact that budget writers won’t definitively rule it out is a sign of just how difficult this year’s budget balancing act is shaping up to be.
“I do think that it’s really an option on the table — and that’s problematic,” Hilary Glasgow, executive director of Colorado WINS, told The Sun. “We negotiated knowing we were going into a budget shortfall.”
JBC members figure they need to make about $1 billion in cuts to keep spending growth in line with the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights revenue cap, which is growing more slowly than major cost drivers like Medicaid.
For state workers, it’s not time to panic just yet. The JBC tends to put off the big decisions, including worker pay, until after the March revenue forecasts.
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“WE WILL SEE PEOPLE LEAVE”
Colorado’s new pay plan for state workers has been in place for less than a year, only taking effect July 1.
But it was already having a positive effect, Glasgow said. Some workers who left state employment after years of stagnant wages reapplied to government jobs when the longevity-based “step pay” system was implemented.
If the legislature won’t continue to fund it, Glasgow said, “our members will be unbelievably upset.”
Colorado only instituted collective bargaining for state workers in 2020, so there’s no clear road map for what would happen if the legislature refused to fund the terms of a union contract. At minimum, Glasgow says they would have to reopen negotiations. “However, I think what it does in actuality is that we will see people leave,” she said.
That could undermine years of efforts to improve worker pay and rebuild the state workforce.
“The state’s at a 20% vacancy rate,” Glasgow said. “They are not able to provide the services that we need because they can’t pay people.”
WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK
COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO: An assault weapons ban by any other name …
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THE BIG STORY
Even the JBC is pinching its internal pennies
You know it’s bad when the Joint Budget Committee is looking to trim even its own budget.
The six-member panel voted Monday to convert one of its administrative staff positions to a seasonal rolel to save about $30,000 and cut staff operating expenses by about $15,000 by trimming money available for professional development and out-of-state travel.
“The JBC Staff office runs very ‘lean’ in terms of operating costs,” JBC Staff wrote in a budget document. “As a result, there are limited opportunities to reduce operating expenses. However, staff recognizes the fiscal constraints and has targeted reductions that would better align resources with recent costs but still allow the office to fund core priorities.”
Big picture: The JBC Staff budget is still expected to increase next fiscal year by about $100,000 to $3.3 million to account for increased salaries and benefits for employees.
CHART OF THE WEEK
Government subscriptions to Politico Pro, a premium service of the national news outlet, came under fire last week from some on the right. President Donald Trump‘s administration vowed to cease the subscriptions.
That led kinda-retired Sandra Fish to download some spreadsheets to see if any of Colorado’s U.S. representatives have subscribed to Politico Pro through their congressional offices.
Only one did: Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Windsor, whose office paid $7,150 in January 2024 for access to Politico Pro. That made up nearly half of the more than $15,000 her office spent on subscriptions to various publications.
Nevertheless, the congresswoman took to social media to side with Trump and Elon Musk in their Politico warpath, saying on social media “no one trusts media funded by the deep state.”
Boebert’s office won’t be renewing the Politico Pro subscription, spokesman Drew Sexton said in a text message.
Colorado’s eight U.S. representatives spent a total of nearly $39,000 on news subscriptions during the last federal fiscal year, from Oct. 1, 2023, through Sept. 30.
Boebert’s office also spent $6,600 on a subscription to Bloomberg Government, another premium news service. Former U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, D-Thornton, paid $6,400 for Bloomberg Government, and spent the second highest amount on subscriptions among the delegation, at $9,100.
Former U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, spent $4,750 on a subscription to the National Journal.
The Denver Post received $3,800 for subscriptions from Colorado U.S. House members, while The Colorado Sun received $539.
Note: Neither of Colorado’s Democratic senators, John Hickenlooper or Michael Bennet, paid for Politico Pro either based on reports filed in the Senate. But those bulky PDF reports make it difficult to analyze all of the spending by the senators’ offices.
Here’s a link to the details of the publication subscriptions for Colorado’s eight U.S. House members in the most recent fiscal year.
Just so you know … Candidates can pay for a Colorado Sun subscription through their campaign accounts.
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THE POLITICAL TICKER
PERSONNEL FILE
Former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has joined Freestone Strategies, a Democratic political firm based in Denver, as a partner. The move represents a reentrance into the political sphere for Ritter, who has mostly sat on the sidelines in recent years.
Ritter served as governor from 2007 to 2011. Before that, he was Denver’s district attorney. Recently, Ritter was the director of the Center for the New Energy Economy, at Colorado State University.
Freestone says “Ritter was looking for a place from which he could continue to engage in the public debate and advocacy around climate and energy” after retiring from CSU. The former governor joins Jim Carpenter, Cody Wertz, Kyle Miller and Gaspar Perricone as partners in the firm.
ELECTION 2026
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser says he has raised more than $1 million for his 2026 gubernatorial bid since announcing his candidacy Jan. 2.
“We’re excited by the overwhelming support we’ve received from all corners of Colorado,” Weiser said in a written statement. “It means so much that our supporters stepped up so strongly in such a short time to help us build powerful momentum for the work ahead. This support enables us to mount a top tier campaign — one that engages Coloradans across our state and listens to communities.”
Weiser also announced new endorsements from prominent Democrats, including:
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COLORADO LEGISLATURE
Jan. 6 resolution splits Colorado Senate along party lines
A ceremonial resolution condemning President Donald Trump’s pardons of those convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol split the Colorado Senate along party lines Monday.
All 12 Republicans in the chamber voted against the Senate Joint Resolution 6, while all of the Democrats voted for it.
“Those pardons erode the rule of law and signal an acceptance of political violence, so long as the violence was committed by those who support President Trump,” the resolution said.
The lone Republican to speak in opposition to the resolution was Sen. Mark Baisley of Woodland Park, who is expected to run for governor in 2026.
“I find it shameful that resolutions would be used in a political manner,” he said, calling the measure “beneath the dignity of this legislative body.”
While the Senate debate on the resolution was quick and relatively tame, it likely won’t be that way in the House, where the measure heads next.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
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