DENVER — Colorado lawmakers continued their special session on Friday, advancing bills to limit corporate tax breaks as they work to address a $783 million budget gap.
They also advanced non-budget-related bills, including a measure to shore up funding for the SNAP food program.
- Read our recap from Day 1 of the special legislative session below
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State lawmakers return to CO Capitol for special session to address budget gap
The Colorado House gave preliminary approval to HB25B-1001 on Friday, which would limit tax breaks for wealthy business owners. It also gave preliminary approval to HB25B-1002, which aims to crack down on corporations that try to avoid paying state taxes.
"This bill closes the loopholes that let corporations dodge Colorado taxes by shifting profits overseas or by claiming special federal deductions that don't benefit our state,” said State Rep. Yara Zokaie, one of the sponsors of HB25B-1002.
Getting rid of corporate tax breaks is one part of the Democrats' plan to address the budget gap. They also want to dip into the state savings accounts and make spending cuts, potentially up to $300 million. They would leave it up to the governor to determine which specific services to cut.
2025 special session bills authorized by sponsor for pre-release
House Bills
- Artificial Intelligence Systems (25B-0004)
- Sale of Tax Credits (25B-0005)
- Insurance Premium Tax Rate for Home Offices (25B-0006)
- Eliminate State Sales Tax Vendor Fee (25B-0007)
- Corporate Income Tax Foreign Jurisdictions (25B-0008)
- Qualified Bus Income Deduction Add-Back (25B-0009)
- Prescription Drug Benefit Information Transparency (25B-0011)
- Consumer Protections for AI Interactions (25B-0013)
- Continuity of Care for Impacted Communities (25B-0018)
- Improve Affordability Private Health Insurance (25B-0021)
- Health Ins Affordability Enter Board Appointment (25B-0023)
- Voter Approval for State Vendor Fee Reductions (25B-0024)
- Prohibit Certain Cash Fund Use Against Fed Action (25B-0025)
- Additions to Definition Federal Taxable Income (25B-0028)
- Health Insurance Affordability Fund Allocation (25B-0033)
- Spending Reduction Procedures (25B-0034)
- Transfer of Money in Refinance Discretionary Account (25B-0036)
- Health Providers Practice Scope Preventive Care (25B-0037)
- Limit Subsidies Health Ins Affordability Enterprise (25B-0042)
- Retention of Vendors Fees for Collecting Sales Tax (25B-0043)
Senate Bills
- State-Only Funding for Certain Entities (25B-0001)
- Healthy School Meals For All (25B-0002)
- Processes to Reduce Spending During Shortfall (25B-0003)
- Reallocate DNR Wolf Funding to Health Ins Enterprise (25B-0010)
- Tech-Neutral Anti-Discrimination Clarification Act (25B-0012)
- Increase Transparency for Algorithmic Systems (25B-0017)
- Voter Approval Additions to Federal Taxable Income (25B-0031)
- Tax Credit for Health Savings Accounts (25B-0032)
Meanwhile, in the Colorado Senate, lawmakers debated SB25B-003, a bill aimed at shoring up funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in Colorado. It’s in response to President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Act (H.R.1), which shifted more of the costs for administering SNAP from the federal government to the states. It also eliminated funding for a SNAP program that provides nutritional education to families.
SB25B-003 would amend Proposition MM, which has already been referred to November’s ballot. The new language would ask voters to allow leftover money from the Healthy School Meals for All program to be used for SNAP.
“We are expanding it to ask the Colorado voters to fully fund the Healthy School Meals Program, as well as allow us to backfill the cuts that H.R. 1 made to SNAP and reinvest in those programs here,” said State Sen. Katie Wallace, D-Arvada, who sponsored the bill along with State Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, D-Commerce City.
Denver7 spoke with Wallace and Michaelson Jenet after their bill passed the Senate on Friday.
“When H.R.1 passed, we saw significant cuts to the amount of money we would be receiving from the federal government for the SNAP program, which means up to 300,000 families in Colorado would lose their SNAP,” said. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, who also serves as president pro tempore of the Colorado Senate. “In a country and in a state as wealthy as ours, families should not have to suffer and go without when we have the means to pay for it."
Republicans accused Democrats of misrepresenting what H.R.1 actually does.
"We need to start getting our facts correct,” said State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton.
Kirkmeyer said H.R.1 cut $6 million from SNAP education funding and $50 million from implementation fees. She said these cuts will not affect recipients.
"The statement that was made to begin with, that said H.R. 1 cut funding to SNAP recipients, was incorrect,” Kirkmeyer said. “Benefits are still the same."
In response, Michaelson Jenet said Republicans were living in a different reality.
“It seems to me like the Republicans have a view of H.R.1 that is completely different than the reality we are facing,” said Michaelson Jenet. “We are in a really difficult place when we're dealing with two different realities. And which reality is real?”
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H.R.1 penalizes states with high SNAP payment error rates, requiring them to pick up more of the costs. Critics say shifting costs to the states could lead some of them to cut SNAP benefits.
According to the USDA, Colorado’s error rate in 2024 was 9.97%, which is above the 6% federal threshold. Kirkmeyer said Colorado’s Department of Human Services should address the error rate.
“They've known about the error rate issue for a while. We have time to try and fix that error rate,” Kirkmeyer said. “In fact, if we fix it and we get down below 6% then we don't have to match as much.”
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Republicans say 'big, beautiful bill' will address CO's high SNAP payment error
SB25B-003 passed the Senate by a vote of 23 to 12. It now goes to the House for consideration.
The special session will continue over the weekend.
