In The Denver Post, Seth Klamann reports Democrats are bringing back the same pro-union bill Gov. Jared Polis vetoed last year, and they are doing it with an eye on who will replace him. The measure scraps Colorado’s unique second-election requirement that forces newly unionized workers to clear a 75 percent threshold before they can even start talking dues with employers. Supporters say the second vote only slows organizing. Business groups say it is a hard-won balance.
The 2026 version is largely unchanged. Every Democratic lawmaker voted to advance it last time. Polis’ office says he is frustrated the same bill is back without changes and urges labor and business to find a deal. Meanwhile, unions are turning up the heat on would-be governors Michael Bennet and Phil Weiser. Neither has pledged to kill the second election outright, though Bennet talks compromise and Weiser says he would update the law.
The Bullet Point Brief
- What the bill does: eliminates Colorado’s second union election, which now needs 75 percent to pass before dues talks can begin. That is not worker empowerment. That is a power grab.
- Who is pushing: every Democrat under the gold dome backed it last year. Same script, new session, zero fixes for household budgets.
- Polis’ posture: he vetoed it before and says bring him a deal. Translation: even the most conservative statewide official we have thinks this thing is off. That bar is low.
- Business view: the second vote is part of a negotiated balance that Colorado even pitched as a hybrid right-to-work feature when recruiting companies. Toss it and you tilt the field.
- 2026 politics: unions are pressing Bennet and Weiser to line up. Party brass says the bill will keep coming until signed. That sounds like a pledge, not policy.
My Bottom Line
It is terrifying to admit, but true. At this point the most conservative statewide elected official in Colorado is Jared Polis, and that is not saying much. Yet every single Democrat at the Capitol just lined up again for a piece of labor-union grift dressed up as worker protection. This legislation has nothing to do with making Colorado better or cheaper for families. It has everything to do with making Colorado unions fatter.
Here is the cycle. Pass a bill that juices union power. Unions cut bigger checks to the same politicians who enlarged their power. Rinse, repeat, tighten the one-party grip on a state the rest of us barely recognize. If you were looking for affordability, it is not in this bill. If you were looking for accountability, that was vetoed last session.
Suburban normies, this one is on you. If Highlands Ranch and Broomfield keep rewarding the people who make life pricier while pretending it is for the workers, we will get more of the same. The bill is not about paychecks at your kitchen table. It is about paydays in campaign accounts at the Capitol. Wake up and vote like it.
Source: The Denver Post
