For the third year in a row, Governor Jared Polis is calling Colorado lawmakers back to the Capitol for a “special session,” because nothing says fiscal responsibility like “emergency budgeting” as a seasonal tradition. For Scott Sheet purposes, we’ll refer to this endeavor as the Special Session Show, because it will be largely performative, and Polis will direct.
According to The Denver Post, the session begins August 21 and will focus on closing a $783 million budget gap, which Dems will blame entirely on President Trump’s federal tax bill, signed last month. The hole accounts for more than 4.5% of the state’s general fund, a shortfall that state budget officials say is worse than what Colorado experienced during the 2008 financial crisis. Other than in 2008, there was too little revenue. Today, there is simply too much spending.
Polis has proposed a combination of spending cuts, new revenue grabs (ahem, taxes), and tapping into reserves. Here’s the Scott Sheet prediction: instead of trimming back the virtue signaling fat, like inflated Medicaid expansions or bloated subsidies, the fear is they’ll cut things you actually care about, like road maintenance, public safety, or infrastructure.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Special session set for Aug. 21: Governor Polis is dragging the legislature back for a third “emergency” session (Show) in as many years. Crisis or calendar event?
- Blame Trump, not spending: Dems immediately blamed the budget shortfall on Trump’s HR-1 tax law, conveniently ignoring Colorado’s pre-existing structural deficit.
- Spending freeze but no layoffs, yet: Polis implemented a hiring freeze to save $3–$7 million, but broader cuts still loom. No mention of cutting activist pet projects. The hiring freeze means nothing – since the Gov ascended to his throne, he has added over 5,000 employees to his executive branch alone. So you have enough court jesters already, Lord Polis.
- More taxes, fewer deductions: Proposed solutions include trimming corporate tax incentives, altering insurance tax cuts, and limiting access to deductions. Translation: higher costs for Coloradans.
- TABOR in the crosshairs (again): Watch for subtle pressure to erode or eliminate TABOR under the guise of “solving” this crisis Democrats manufactured.
My Bottom Line
As The Scott Sheet has predicted for weeks, “The Special Session Show” is about to hit the stage, and the script is clear. The Democrats will use Trump’s tax plan as the boogeyman for everything wrong in Colorado’s budget, while dodging accountability for a fiscal mess they’ve spent years creating.
Let’s be honest: this is not a revenue problem. This is a spending addiction. And instead of tackling the bloated bureaucracy, Polis and company will do what they always do: cut services Coloradans actually rely on, so you feel the pain. Why? Because if you’re suffering, you’re easier to manipulate. They’ll blame Trump, scream about loopholes, and casually float the idea of “reforming” TABOR… which, translated from political-ese, means gutting it.
Don’t be fooled. They’re not here to solve the problem. They’re here to weaponize it. Never let a crisis go to waste, right Saul Alinsky?
