The Colorado Sun is hosting two in-person events next week at the University of Denver that Unaffiliated readers won’t want to miss.
Our free legislative recap event will be held Thursday evening and features 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.
Then, Colorado SunFest is Friday. We’ll have national political commentator Mark McKinnon and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and folks from the Colorado Polling Institute. Find more details and purchase tickets here.
The Colorado legislature may have adjourned, but the lawmaking isn’t quite over.
Gov. Jared Polis has until June 6 to sign or veto bills passed during the 2025 legislative session that ended Wednesday. He can also let measures become law without his signature.
It’s going to be a tense month for the supporters and opponents of legislation that the governor has signaled he doesn’t like. And with the relationship between the governor and other Capitol Democrats more fraught than it has ever been during Polis’ seven years as governor, the drama is high.
It’s time for … Vetowatch.
“There’s like 400 bills,” Polis told reporters Thursday. “We are going to be looking at all of them.”
Here are some that could face the ax:
Welcome to The Unaffiliated, the politics and policy newsletter from The Colorado Sun. Each week, we take you inside the political arena to deliver news and insights on Colorado politics. Keep reading for even more exclusive news.
If you’re reading this newsletter but not signed up for it, here’s how to get it sent directly to your email inbox. Please send feedback and tips to jesse@coloradosun.com.
WHAT TO READ
The dust is still settling from the 2025 legislative session. Don’t miss these stories about what happened — and what’s next.
WHAT TO WATCH IN THE WEEK AHEAD
THE NARRATIVE
What Jared Polis wanted in exchange for signing the Labor Peace Act bill
Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday offered more insight into the final round of negotiations on the Labor Peace Act bill before the talks crumbled and the measure advanced without any changes.
For background: Senate Bill 5 would lift 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 after a majority of workers vote to unionize. The governor has vowed to veto the measure.
Speaking to reporters Thursday at a post-session news conference, Polis all but confirmed that he had been willing to sign the measure with some tweaks if unions and Democrats in the legislature agreed to reopen negotiations on the state’s tipped-minimum wage, a so-called charter school deserts measure and a proposal to privatize the state’s worker’s compensation insurer. The Denver Post was first to report on the attempted dealmaking.
“I don’t really comment on private negotiations,” he said, “but there have been reports out there, and I haven’t disputed that.”
Polis said he wasn’t happy with where the tipped-minium wage measure ended up. He’ll sign the measure, House BIll 1208, which would give local governments in parts of the state where the minimum wage is higher than the state’s minimum the option to increase the tipped-wage credit. But he preferred the original version of the legislation, which would have decreased restaurant worker base pay in parts of the state with a higher minimum wage than the state’s.
“I was also supportive of the bill in its original form, which I think would have more directly solved (the situation) for Denver specifically,” he said, a reference to how Denver’s City Council is unlikely to take action on the city’s tipped minimum wage even after House Bill 1208 becomes law.
As for charter schools, Polis said “obviously I’ve been supportive of all forms of public education, and that includes charter schools.” The proposal being floated in the legislature would have authorized the Colorado Charter School Institute to open new charter schools in communities with low-performing schools — possibly without approval from local school boards. A bill was never introduced, however.
As for privatizing Pinnacol Insurance, the state’s workers compensation insurance provider, Polis made his wishes known before the legislative session began. But a bill was never brought as lawmakers chafed at the idea.
ANALYSIS: The failed Senate Bill 5 negotiations were another example of how the governor simply didn’t get his way this year at the Colorado Capitol.
Want to reach Colorado political influencers and support quality local journalism? The Sun can help get your message attention through a sponsorship of The Unaffiliated, the must-read politics and policy newsletter in Colorado. Contact Sylvia Harmon at underwriting@coloradosun.com for more information.
YOU HEARD IT HERE
Polis was referring to the collapse of his land-use bill in 2023, which returned in 2024 and passed after being pared back.
Democratic legislative leaders standing behind Polis at a news conference nodded awkwardly when the governor made that remark.
THE POLITICAL TICKER
COLORADO LEGISLATURE
Two state lawmakers’ cars were vandalized outside of the Colorado Capitol on Wednesday morning.
A rock was thrown through the windshield of Democratic state Rep. Sean Camacho’s Rivian and an expletive was carved into the hood of Republican state Sen. Byron Pelton’s Ford Bronco. The Colorado State Patrol said the vehicles were parked about 30 yards away from each other. The vehicles appear to have been randomly vandalized.
The State Patrol says it is working with Denver police to identify and locate the person responsible. Their actions were recorded by Capitol surveillance cameras.
8TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans of Fort Lupton is one of the Republican members of Congress benefiting from a $7 million TV and digital ad campaign focused on Social Security, Medicare and the cost of prescription drugs.
The American Action Network, a conservative political nonprofit that doesn’t disclose its donors, is behind the campaign.
The group says the ads will highlight policies that “will preserve health care benefits, protect seniors and root out waste, fraud and abuse in government.”
ENDORSEMENTS
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold this week announced a new wave of endorsements for her campaign to be the state’s next attorney general.
Griswold is now backed by former U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, former Denver mayors Federico Peña and Michael Hancock, and former Colorado House Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst.
READ MORE
🔑 = source has article meter or paywall
THIS WEEK’S PODCAST: Democrats in the Colorado legislature buck Jared Polis
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Frank Lombardi, the retiring chief Senate sergeant at arms we featured in our last edition of The Unaffiliated, was honored Wednesday in the chamber for his decades of service to the state. He received a standing ovation from lawmakers and staff.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
🔑 = source has article meter or paywall
The Colorado Sun is part of The Trust Project. Read our policies.
Corrections & Clarifications
Notice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors. Request a correction by emailing corrections@coloradosun.com.