Colorado’s legislative session is over, now the fallout begins.
Gov. Jared Polis speaks during a press conference with Colorado Democrats following the end of the spring 2025 legislative session Thursday, May 8, 2025.
CBS News
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Lawmakers sent some 400 bills to Gov. Jared Polis’ desk, and he’s already announced he’s vetoing one of them.
The bill, sponsored by Democrats, would change the state’s Labor Peace Act to make it easier for unions to collect dues from non-union members. The governor said he wouldn’t sign the bill without buy-in from both labor and business.
As Polis decides the fate of hundreds of bills, he’s also warning lawmakers he might call a special session.
“We are watching what Congress does,” Polis said during a press conference Thursday.
Polis says, if congressional Republicans follow through on proposed spending cuts, he will likely reconvene the legislature to deal with impacts to programs such as Medicaid, which covers about one in five Coloradans.
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“If we come back into a special session, it will clearly be on the Polis administration and the tax-and-spend Democrats in the legislature,” said state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer (Col-R), who sits on the Joint Budget Committee.
Kirkmeyer says Democrats need to prioritize spending. While theTaxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) caps how much the state can spend, Democrats have hinted at a ballot measure to raise the cap after an effort by some members to dismantle TABOR altogether stalled in the Colorado House of Representatives.
“Thirty-one Democrat members of the House, 13 Democrat members of the Senate coming after TABOR, preview of coming attractions,” state Sen. Paul Lundeen (Col-R) said during a press conference.
Republicans warned Democratic bills expanding protections for undocumented immigrants and transgender individuals could also cost the state federal funding.
The governor worked to amend the bills and has not said if he will sign them.
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Colorado Speaker of the House Julie McCluskie (Col-D) defended them.
“I think our response in the legislative session was about protecting people’s civil rights — whether that was a newly arrived individual from another country, or it was a person from our LGBTQ community,” McCluskie said during a press conference.
The U.S. Department of Justice sued Colorado last week over immigration policies and Colorado Attorney General’s office has filed 18 lawsuits against the Trump administration.
Polis says he will work with the administration where possible. His priorities, Polis says, haven’t changed. The first bill he signed post-session creates regional building codes for manufactured housing.
“Our challenges in Colorado around making housing more affordable, making our communities safer haven’t changed,” Polis said. “And who’s in the White House doesn’t affect the steps we need to take here.”
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In addition to federal spending cuts, some lawmakers are concerned an artificial intelligence law could also prompt a special session. Polis and the Attorney General asked the legislature to delay implementation of the law, which takes effect in February, but an eleventh-hour effort to do that failed.
In addition to the union bill, the governor has also expressed concerns about a bill regulating rideshare companies. He hasn’t said if he will sign the bill, but Uber has threatened to leave the state if he does.
Shaun Boyd
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Shaun Boyd is the Political Reporter at CBS News Colorado. Read her latest reports or check out her bio and send her an email.
Colorado’s best ski deal? Maybe one that costs nothing at all. At Steamboat Springs’ Howelsen Hill, “Sunday Funday is taken to an entirely new level,” reads the city webpage for Ski Free Sundays. Yes, on Sundays throughout the season, visitors need only to walk into the ticket office to grab a pass at no charge. […]
While Colorado ranks near the middle of U.S. states for carbon emissions per capita, it still produces enough CO2 per person to rival countries on the World Bank’s list of top emitters internationally.
In 2023, Colorado produced 13.9 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per capita. If it had been ranked by the World Bank during the same year, Colorado would have placed 14th among the more than 200 countries on the list, just behind Canada, at 14.1, and just ahead of the U.S. as a whole, at 13.7.
Among U.S. states, Colorado ranked 26th in carbon emissions per capita. Wyoming had the highest per capita emissions in the country, at 92.9 metric tons, while Maryland had the lowest, at 7.8.
Most of Colorado’s emissions come from energy production and consumption, primarily natural gas and oil production and electric power production and consumption.
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The Colorado Sun partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.
Sources
References:
Colorado State Energy Profile, U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed in December 2025. Source link
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2023 Colorado Statewide Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, pg. 128, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, November 2024. Source link
Senate Bill 24-230 Oil and Gas Production Fees, Colorado General Assembly, accessed in December, 2025. Source link
Senate Bill 23-016 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Measures, Colorado General Assembly, accessed in December 2025. Source link
Carbon dioxide emissions, World Bank Group, 2024, accessed in December 2025. Source link
Energy-related CO2 emission data tables, U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed in December 2025. Source link
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Type of Story: Fact-Check
Checks a specific statement or set of statements asserted as fact.
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Cassis Tingley is a Denver-based freelance journalist. She’s spent the last three years covering topics ranging from political organizing and death doulas in the Denver community to academic freedom and administrative accountability at the…
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Just a few short days after landing tight end Houston Thomas from the NCAA transfer portal, Mike Elko and the Texas A&M Aggies have now added reinforcements on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage.
Former Colorado Buffaloes safety Tawfiq Byard has officially announced his move from the Big 12 to the SEC, just a handful of days after entering the portal himself.
After A&M safety Bryce Anderson’s recent announcement of his own portal entry, Byard could be just the replacement that Elko and new defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill need in the “Wrecking Crew’s” defensive backfield.
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A&M Lands Safety Tawfiq Byard From Colorado
Byard will now play football for his third school in his college career, having also spent some of his playing days with the South Florida Bulls before making the move to Boulder to play for NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes.
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Colorado Buffaloes defensive back Tawfiq Byard (7) reacts in the first quarter against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
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Byard’s sophomore campaign in 2025 was much more telling than that of his previous efforts with the Bulls, appearing in all 12 games for the Buffs while starting in eight of those games.
The defensive back would lead the Colorado defense with 85 tackles and was tied for 26th in the nation in the solo tackles category, with 57, and his eight tackles for loss were the third-most by a safety in the history of the program.
His performance, which also included two forced fumbles, an interception, and 0.5 sacks, earned him an honorable mention on the All-Big 12 team.
For a Texas A&M team that has struggled with injuries in recent years, including one to Anderson, a head injury during the win over Notre Dame, Byard’s durability is exactly what Texas A&M needs on defense, and his efficiency will help tie together what should be a younger A&M secondary in the 2026 season.
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During his pair of years in South Florida, Byard appeared in 16 games while starting 10, all of which came in his redshirted freshman season, where he finished with 54 tackles (34 solo), eight tackles for loss, two sacks, one interception, and a fumble recovery before transferring to Colorado.
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The Buffaloes had a rough ride of a season in their first without quarterback Shedeur Sanders and former Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, with only a 3-9 record (1-8 conference) to show for in 2025, their lone conference win coming against a ranked Iowa State Cyclones team.
With the defensive backfield back in decent order, the Aggies now look ahead to a grinding offseason before starting their third season under head coach Mike Elko with a hosting of the Missouri State Bears at Kyle Field on September 5.