There are just six days left in Colorado’s 2025 legislative session and lawmakers, ever the procrastinators, have a lot left on their plate.
Here are the top things we’re watching as the clock ticks down to Wednesday at 11:59 p.m., when it’s all over.
LABOR PEACE ACT
It’s been nearly a month since there was last legislative action on Senate Bill 5, which would abolish a requirement in the Colorado Labor Peace Act that 75% of workers at a company sign off before unions can negotiate with businesses over union security. That’s when workers are forced to pay collective bargaining representation fees whether they are in a union or not.
The measure is a priority for unions and loathed by business interests. Gov. Jared Polis has signaled he won’t sign the measure if it eliminates the union security vote. (Unions can form with a simple majority of support.)
All sides have been furiously trying to negotiate a compromise, but there are political complications. Business leaders know Polis likely won’t sign the bill and unions believe the next governor would be more receptive. That means there’s not much reason for either side to give in.
The business community has offered to lower the 75% threshold, which has thus far been rejected. But anything short of eliminating the union security vote altogether would require a new bill. It takes a minimum of three days to pass a bill at the Capitol, so Monday is the last day a compromise measure could be introduced.
Right now, it looks like the House may just debate Senate Bill 5 as is. If the legislation passes, it would lead to a major showdown with Polis.
“We’re still at the (negotiating) table,” said state Rep. Javier Mabrey, a Denver Democrat and one of the lead sponsors of the measure. “But we’re running out of time. I would expect it to come up in the next couple days if we don’t have a deal.”
TABOR LAWSUIT
There was a lot of hoopla inside and outside of the Colorado Capitol when news broke that a group of Democrats were bringing a resolution that would direct the legislature’s lawyers to file a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. It may have been all for naught.
House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, and House Majority Leader Monica Duran, D-Wheat Ridge, wouldn’t commit to bringing the resolution up for a vote on the House floor.
“We just have to look at what the timing that we have available,” Duran told reporters this week. “We’ve got a lot … that we need to get to.”
State Rep. Lorena Garcia, an Adams County Democrat and a lead sponsor of the resolution, said she hasn’t been told definitively that it won’t get a vote. But if and when that happens, she said she’ll “totally” bring it back next year.
“Along with other things” attempting to dismantle TABOR, she said.
MAYBE IN GOD’S BACKYARD?
The governor’s big housing bill this year is the “Yes In God’s Backyard” measure, which would override local planning laws and allow religious institutions to build housing on their land whether it’s zoned for residential construction or not.
But House Bill 1169 is stalled in the Senate because the proponents lack enough votes to pass it. So, for now, it would be more appropriate to call it the “Maybe in God’s Backyard” bill.
“Still counting votes,” state Sen. Tony Exum, a Colorado Springs Democrat and a lead sponsor of the bill, told The Unaffiliated.
The holdup is local governments. They’re worried about giving up local zoning control. That has less to do with how the measure would affect land owned by religious institutions and is more about how the legislation would allow public schools and universities to bypass local zoning laws as well.
IMMIGRATION, TRANSGENDER RIGHTS, UBER, PRESCRIPTION DRUGS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Here are a few other things percolating in the legislature that could lead to big fights in the next few days:
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THE TABOR BILL THAT WASN’T
One bill that would have been a big deal at the end of this year’s legislative session but won’t be introduced would have asked voters in November to let the state keep 10% of TABOR refunds to pay for rural hospitals and transportation projects.
State Sen. Jeff Bridges, a Greenwood Village Democrat and chair of the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee, was behind the proposal. He said the aim was to make sure the state doesn’t have to cut more services. That becomes more urgent if Congress cuts Medicaid funding.
“This legislation could potentially be part of that answer,” Bridges said. “But it’s extraordinarily late in session and it’s fairly incendiary to the other side. We’re working on ways to address the larger challenge early next session.”
But Democratic leadership in the Senate blocked the bill from being introduced. Senate President James Coleman, D-Denver, said it boiled down to there being not enough time and too much to do.
“I think it could be a big fight on the floor and I want to make sure that we have time to get all of our policies done,” Coleman said.
Coleman conceded that the idea had been presented to him earlier in the session, but he hadn’t followed up with the sponsors until recently — when, in his eyes, there wasn’t enough time left.
Part of the delay was the competing TABOR measures being considered by Democrats, Bridges said.
WHAT TO WATCH IN THE WEEK AHEAD
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Don’t miss our free post-legislative session event May 15 in-person at the University of Denver.
Speakers include Gov. Jared Polis; Senate President James Coleman, D-Denver; House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon; state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton; and state Rep. Emily Sirota, D-Denver.
Find details and register to attend here.
THE NARRATIVE
JBC keeps one college tuition promise, backs off another
The push to create the Colorado State Promise — a statewide guarantee of free college tuition for low-income students — is on hold for now, after the Joint Budget Committee last month opted against a bill to establish the program.
But the JBC this week quietly cobbled together some money to keep in place what could become an even larger tuition assistance program — a refundable tax credit for middle-income families.
The two ideas — a four-year promise program for low-income students, and income tax credits to cover the first two years of college for middle-income households — have been progressing in tandem for years at the statehouse.
The promise program — the brainchild of JBC staff analyst Amanda Bickel — was an attempt to solve what lawmakers say is primarily a marketing problem. Most low-income students can already attend public colleges for free in Colorado thanks to federal Pell Grants, state financial aid and other scholarship funds. Trouble is, many families don’t realize it. And because they overestimate the cost of attendance, a number of potential students likely rule out college as a possibility before they even try.
Since every four-year college in the state already offers tuition guarantees in one form or another, the JBC hoped to consolidate them all under one statewide promise and market it across Colorado.
At the same time, JBC members say, middle income students whose families make a little too much for Pell Grants often have the hardest time of anyone actually paying for college. So last year, lawmakers created a refundable income tax credit to reimburse families making less than $90,000 for up to two years of tuition at an in-state school. It kicked in Jan. 1.
Over the past two weeks, the JBC considered hitting pause on both programs after college administrators lobbied heavily to get them to hold off.
“They are staring down massive funding cuts — not just in terms of Pell Grants and that kind of thing, but across the board,” Sen. Judy Amabile, a Boulder Democrat who serves on the JBC, said at a hearing in April. “I feel like they should be worried.”
At the colleges’ insistence, the JBC ultimately backed off its proposal to create a unified promise program. University leaders said it would limit their financial flexibility at a time when the Trump administration has withheld funding for research and Congress is considering cuts to student aid.
But the JBC opted to keep the income tax credit in place — even as early projections show it could cost nearly twice as much as the $37 million lawmakers anticipated in its first full year. Instead, the six-member panel approved a bill adding $135,000 to the Department of Revenue’s budget to help administer it.
If the state’s financial situation worsens, add these tax credits to a number of others that could come under scrutiny next year.
Right now, tax credits come out of taxpayer refunds owed due to the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights spending cap. But if state revenue falls below the TABOR limit, these and other tax breaks could lead to cuts to public services. That helps explain why colleges are worried about a program that ostensibly sends more students their way.
“You would hate to be doing these tax credits if we were under the TABOR cap, and then you’d have less money for higher ed, for example,” Amabile said.
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THE POLITICAL TICKER
ELECTION 2026
Democrat Alex Kelloff of Old Snowmass announced this week that he’ll run to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd next year in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.
Kelloff has never held elected office. He’s the cofounder of Armada Skis and currently works at SDC Capital Partners as a partner and member of the private equity firm’s investment committee. He previously worked at Booz Allen Hamilton; Jeffries, the investment bank; and Coopers & Lybrand Consulting.
The 3rd District spans Colorado’s Western Slope into Pueblo and southeastern Colorado. It leans in Republicans’ favor.
Still, the National Republican Congressional Committee is taking Kelloff seriously, releasing a statement Thursday calling him an “Aspen liberal who is completely out of touch with western Colorado.”
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THREE QUESTIONS
Frank Lombardi, the chief Senate sergeant, is retiring after 45-plus years working for the state
If you spend any time in the Colorado Capitol, you know — or at least have heard — Chief Senate Sergeant Frank Lombardi.
You may know him by his luscious salt-and-pepper locks or bitchin’ mustache. You’ve probably heard him bellow “CALL OF THE SENATE!” or “DIVISION!” Or, if you’re Jesse Paul, you’ve been chased around the Senate chambers by Frank because you don’t follow the rules.
Well, after 45-plus years, Lombardi, now 69, is hanging up his maroon blazer and retiring — for real this time.
He first retired a dozen or so years ago after 32 years working at Capitol Complex State Building Management. But his “retirement” was switching to working as a Senate sergeant, and for the past seven years or so he’s been the top dog.
Frank says he’s been a sergeant for at least 13 years and possibly as many as 15 years.
“Maybe I have worked longer for the Senate,” he said. “I’m not sure.”
We did a quick interview with Lombardi — he’s not one for the limelight — as he enters his final days at the Capitol.
The following has been edited for clarity and length.
The Unaffiliated: How did you become a sergeant?
Chief Senate Sergeant Frank Lombardi: When I worked for Capitol Complex, I managed these buildings — and this is one of the buildings I managed. I knew the Senate secretary at the time, who was Karen Goldman. Karen hired me. I retired when I was 52. 53? No, wait, 54. There was no real break between my retirement and when I started as a sergeant. It might have been months.
Unaffiliated: What’s your favorite part of being a sergeant?
Lombardi: The people. I got to meet a lot of people. The legislators themselves, but not only that. The lobbyists. Journalists. It’s just the camaraderie. That’s what brings me back — it’s just the people and the relationships.
Unaffiliated: Obviously, you’ve seen a lot of stuff at the Capitol. What’s your advice to lawmakers or other folks who come in and out of the building?
Lombardi: Beware of prosperity.
Editor’s note: Live long and prosper, Frank. In a good way! Check out Colorado Politics in the coming days for Marianne Goodland’s decibel measurement of Frank’s booming voice.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
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