Below is the full text of the State of the State address delivered by Gov. Jared Polis at the Colorado State Capitol on Jan. 15, 2026, as it was prepared for delivery.
Your Excellencies Madam Speaker and President Coleman, and Minority Leaders Caldwell and Simpson, thank you, welcome to my final State of the State address. I am truly humbled to be here as your Honorable Governor. It has been such an honor to be your Governor.
To my family, who have been on this journey since day one. Thank you, Marlon, for your unwavering support and for your inspiring work as Colorado’s First Gentleman on animal protection, recycling and composting, voter participation, and LGBTQ rights, and for being an incredible father to our children. I know you’re relieved that we are nearing the end. To my mom and dad, who have been here every step of the way. My sister and brother, who are amazing. To my kids, you should be in school!
To my friend and partner on this long journey, my Lieutenant Governor, Dianne Primavera. Thank you for all you do every single day to serve our state. Your strong moral compass, passion and strength have been an inspiration to our administration and helped us to navigate so many hard issues. Our state is better because of your service.
To my chiefs of staff, Lisa, Rick, Alec, David, thank you for steering the ship with joy, fortitude, and steadfast dedication to our fellow Coloradans.
And to my senior staff, cabinet, and our incredible team across state government who have contributed to my administration, thank you. It is with your expertise and commitment to service that we’ve achieved even bigger and bolder than we could have imagined.
Seven years ago, I stepped up to the plate as your Governor: baseball aficionado, gamer, tech geek, a head mostly full of hair, ever-hopeful Rockies fan, well, hopeful back then. At the time, I certainly couldn’t have predicted all that we would face as a state and a nation.
There’s all that we planned and worked for to put Colorado ahead of the curve. Shared achievements like: Delivering on the promise of free kindergarten and preschool, saving families thousands and giving our youngest learners a strong start.
Building out low-cost clean energy for more Coloradans to save money on energy bills, protecting our air and water, and creating good-paying jobs.
Making it easier and more affordable – even free in many cases – to get the skills needed to get a good job.
Breaking down barriers to housing for Coloradans at every budget.
Getting rid of the Budget Stabilization Factor and fully funding our schools.
Cutting income taxes three times and property taxes five times while supercharging the earned income and child tax credits. Establishing the Family Affordability Tax Credit, which helped cut child poverty rates by nearly 41%. Today, Colorado boasts the lowest childhood poverty rate in the nation.
Generating more than $470 million each year in new funding for our roads, bridges, and transit – with the vast majority of that funding going to roads and bridges.
There’s the “pinch me” moments, when we seized opportunity and we called our shot to deliver monumental achievements for Colorado.
Becoming the new home of the world-renowned Sundance Film Festival.
Keeping the Broncos in Denver with the revitalization of Burnham Yard.
Standing atop Fishers Peak, Colorado’s 42nd state park.
Bringing the MLB All-Star game to Colorado, boosting our economy as the world recovered from the pandemic.
Receiving Colorado’s first COVID vaccine shipment, marking a historic scientific achievement and the return to life lived together.
Celebrating President Biden’s designation of Camp Hale as a national monument, an effort I helped begin more than 15 years ago during my time in Congress. First Pup Gia, who is also here with us today, accompanied me to that signing. The Denver Post front page picture celebrating the new monument featured Gia front and center!
Earning national recognition as the epicenter of quantum computing technology.
And then, there’s the curveballs that come with the job. The unforeseen events that altered and shaped the trajectory of our state forever.
COVID was unlike anything we’d ever faced before. While the world plunged into uncertainty, we came together to support our brave and dedicated doctors, nurses, and frontline workers, and charted a path forward to chart hospital capacity.
At the height of the pandemic, we held three press conferences a week to help explain to Coloradans frankly what we knew – and what we didn’t know, too. Leading with data and science, we shared the most up-to-date information to empower Coloradans to make informed decisions, weigh their risks, and choose how to best protect themselves and their families.
And when Washington told states to figure it out for themselves, we all stepped up for Colorado. We quickly expanded life-saving tests, PPE, and when they were finally available, thanks to President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed, vaccines too. and pushed hard to be one of the first states to safely get our schools and economy back up and running.
With the expertise of our Department of Public Health and Environment Director Dr. Jill Ryan and her team, and my then Chief of Staff Lisa Kaufmann, Colorado led the country in wastewater testing, and made it easier and quicker for Coloradans to get a COVID test. I am proud we had among the quickest vaccine uptakes of any state.
In the middle of it all, we came together to deliver on the promises we made long before the pandemic hit. Democrats, Republicans, and my Administration all worked together to keep Coloradans safe while at the same time, passing free preschool and historic transportation funding. When we work together, we do big things.
And because 2020 was the year that kept on giving, we also faced the three largest wildfires in the history of our state. The next year, we faced the Marshall Fire, the most destructive fire in Colorado history. I want to recognize and thank Department of Public Safety Director Stan Hilkey, Director of the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention & Control Mike Morgan, Director of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Kevin Klein, Chief of theColorado State Patrol Matt Packard, Colorado National Guard Adjunct General (and now-acting CPW director - thank you for coming out of retirement) Laura Clellan, and the many, many more Coloradans involved for their steady, skilled leadership through Colorado’s most trying times.
We witnessed horrific mass shootings at the STEM School in Highlands Ranch, Club Q in Colorado Springs, King Soopers in Boulder, and most recently at Evergreen High School. We endured a horrific antisemitic attack on Pearl Street Mall in Boulder. And grief has also struck right here in our State Capitol, with the sudden and tragic passings of our colleagues Senator Faith Winter and Minority Leader Hugh McKean.
To honor their legacy and all we’ve lost, the work continues. As Faith would say, we will “lift as we rise.”
For all of us here, we’re going to bat for Colorado’s future, to leave our great state even better than we found it.
Seven years ago, some thought our bold goals were far-fetched.
I’ve got the receipts, I mean headlines, doubting if I’d be able to get it all done.
From 2019: Will Polis Get Full-Day Kindergarten, Or Will Colorado Give Another Flaky Promise?
One year later, headlines read: Colorado’s Free, Full-Day Kindergarten Boosted Enrollment By Nearly 25%.
In my first year, the intrepid reporters at the Colorado Sun published a tracker of my campaign promises. 9News even wrote a song about it! Now, I appreciate their help holding us accountable for our bold goals. Although, I did notice they stopped keeping track because it’s not as exciting when we keep delivering on our promises.
But for me, it’s always been about delivering real results, not headlines.
To me, politics is simple: you say what you’re going to do, and then you do it.
We posted a transparent dashboard to share month-by-month updates with Coloradans on our progress delivering wildly important goals – what we call WIGs – for each agency. We are bringing ease and convenience to government services with mobile DMV offerings and the myColorado app, used by nearly 2 million Coloradans.
And when it comes to turning my bold agenda into a better daily life for Coloradans, we haven’t always succeeded on our first try. But we’ve always stepped back up to the plate – because that’s what we do in Colorado.
The Moment We’re In We are in this work to make life better, more affordable, safer for all Coloradans.
Meanwhile, over the past 12 months, it seems Washington is in it to break it all down. To make life harder and less affordable. To make Americans feel more fearful, more belligerent, more vulnerable.
In the last month alone, the Trump administration has threatened over $1 billion in funding for Colorado, and is making life more expensive and more difficult across our state.
Mean cuts target short-term support for the most basic and essential needs for Colorado families and threaten child care support that Colorado families and child care centers rely on.
The President denied two major disaster relief requests for the Lee and Elk fires and devastating flooding in Western Colorado, hurting Coloradans and our recovery efforts, and went on to veto Lauren Boebert, Michael Bennet, and John Hickenlooper’s unanimous, bipartisan bill to finally complete the pipeline providing clean water to rural Colorado, a project first promised under JFK. All while threatening to dismantle NCAR, a global leader in weather and global sciences, and a crown jewel of American scientific achievement.
That’s before you get to the devastating impacts HR 1 had on our state, gutting our state budget by $1 billion overnight, eliminating Coloradans’ TABOR refunds, and slashing Medicaid and SNAP.
All the while, tariff taxes on Coloradans are driving up costs on everything from groceries to medicine. Trump’s tariffs alone are expected to cost Coloradans on average $1,700 for a single year. Tariffs hurt all of us, and make it unaffordable to live.
Since day one, we’ve worked together to save Coloradans money. To strengthen international trade and make our state the best place to start and grow a business.
Four years ago, I stood here and sang about finding 50 ways to save Coloradans money, and we went on to deliver over 100. We’re saving the average Colorado family of four over $600 dollars a year on income and property taxes, and last year Colorado taxpayers saved nearly $2.5 billion.
Just as we came together during the special session to close corporate tax loopholes, I am hopeful that we can come together again to cut the income tax rate.
We are fighting - hard – to protect every federal dollar owed to Colorado. In partnership with Attorney General Weiser, the state has successfully defended nearly $900 million.
But there’s over $1 billion more lost or at risk from illegal Trump administration cuts.
Washington Republicans – once the self-proclaimed party of states’ rights and small government – today are too often the party of socialism, overreach, and intrusion into people’s daily lives in ways wholly out of the scope of government. Picking corporate winners and losers, co-opting capitalism with cronyism. It often feels like Big Government is in our wallets, our doctor’s offices, in our homes, bullying businesses of all sizes.
This is not the Colorado Way.
Driving up costs with tariff taxes is not the Colorado Way.
Ripping away critical food and health access is not the Colorado Way.
Tearing families apart with a costly and cruel immigration agenda is not the Colorado Way.
Today, nearly 75% of people held in immigration detention centers have no criminal history. In America in 2026, a culture of fear and chaos means families debate going to work or sending their kids to school out of fear they won't come home. The words on the Statue of Liberty beckoning those who come to “breathe free” ring hollow against the cruel realities we are facing today.
This is not who we are.
Since day one, I’ve worked to build a Colorado for All.
It’s a mission that reflects our shared commitment to a compassionate, kind Colorado for everyone, and one that I hope and trust will continue well beyond my administration.
In the words of Aurora Smoky Hill High School graduate Bowen Yang, “the only way forward is to be joyous and to celebrate each other.”
At a time when Washington is peddling the illusion that America somehow isn’t for everyone - that somehow there’s only room for some – some people, some beliefs, some love, some prayer – I want to make it clear:
In our Colorado for All, there is room – and opportunity – for all of us.
In our Colorado for All, we welcome immigrants and refugees who seek to build a better life here, who strengthen our economy and enrich our communities under the shelter of our democracy.
In our Colorado for All, an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.
In our Colorado for All, we safeguard our fundamental freedoms, protecting the right to be who you are, marry who you love, and choose when or if to start a family.
There is space in our great big hexahectaenneacontakaiheptagonal state for all of us. We are a state of adventure seekers chasing mountain peaks and fresh powder, of wide-eyed entrepreneurs, artists, devout Coloradans of faith, poets, vegans, soccer moms and ultimate frisbee dads, hunters and union workers, farmers and ranchers, and yes, immigrants and refugees.
We respect our differences, and we are stronger and better off because of our rich diversity.
In our Colorado for All, hope and kindness are part of our DNA.
The legacy of Jane Goodall, who had a special place in her heart for Colorado, lives on, as we take inspiration from her words, “hope does not deny evil, but is a response to it.”
Hateful and divisive rhetoric rarely stops at just words. We are seeing online vitriol spill over into horrific violence, including right here on our doorstep.
Enough is enough.
We refuse to sit idly by as a culture of targeting our fellow human beings festers in this country that we love.
In words and actions, we must reject the politics of division and the poison of blind hatred by doubling down on respect, kindness, compassion, and truly learn to disagree better.
These are the values that also guide our solidarity with those around the world fighting for freedom as we speak, in Iran and Venezuela, and in solidarity with the brave Ukrainian people in their continued fight against Russian aggression.
In my first State of the State address, I shared a story of a conversation Marlon and I had with our kids. Our then-6 year-old wanted to know the difference between the various political parties. And at the end, he went over to his four year old sister and asked, “What political party are you in?” And without missing a beat, she answered, “the Happy Birthday Party.”
Colorado’s kids are wise in ways that we could all use a little more of.
This year, we will celebrate our state’s 150th birthday, and our country’s 250th. Let’s come together and honor these historic milestones, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as the Happy Birthday Party.
And we head into our special birthday tackling our shared challenges. Coloradans – of all political stripes, in every part of our state – tell us that the high cost of housing makes it harder to live in the Colorado we love.
In "Field of Dreams,” starring Colorado Rancher Kevin Costner, the wind whispers, “if you build it, he will come.” Or, as we say, if you build it, opportunity will come.
For too long, we’ve run up against roadblocks – from outdated laws to piles of paperwork – that slow or stop new housing, new transit, and new clean energy from even being built.
It reminds me of the words of Taylor Swift and, maybe Kevin Bommer too - “I’ll sue you if you step on my lawn.”
Not us - we say, let us build!
We’ve empowered Coloradans with the freedom to build an ADU on their property, and let homeowners – not the government – make decisions about how much parking is needed, thanks to the bipartisan work of Senators Amabile, Hinrichsen, Exum, Mullica, and Representative Weinberg.
The benefits are even greater than we could have imagined, just ask Speaker Pro Tem Boesenecker whose mother-in-law now lives in an ADU in his own backyard!
We’ve unlocked more housing near transit, opened the door to single – or smart – stair homes, and broken down barriers to lower-cost modular housing, tackled by Speaker Pro Tem Boesenecker, and Woodrow, alongside Senators Ball and Bridges.
And at long last, we tackled construction defects liability to build more condos, unlocking the promise of homeownership for more Coloradans thanks to the work of President Coleman and Senator Roberts.
We put our skin in the game: speeding up contracting times through the Department of Local Affairs, with the department now turning around contracts for new housing in 33 days, down from 61 days a year before. Under Maria De Cambra’s leadership in partnership with the Housing Consortium, we launched the innovative housing hub to make it easier to apply for affordable rental housing tax credits.
We stood up the Educator First Housing initiative to help 3,000 teachers buy their first home thanks to the work of Senators Amabile and Frizell and Representative Lukens.
Through Proposition 123, we’ve built over 10,000 new homes across the state, including in rural communities who are building state-supported affordable housing for the first time.
And there’s more to be done.
As Colorado-born Ji-Young Yoo, the voice of the iconic Zoey in KPop Demon Hunters says, "I do have one idea... Actually, 57, but let's start with my favorite." I share Zoey’s enthusiasm when I think of the 57 – or maybe even more – ways we can unlock more housing at lower cost.
This year, we want to ensure local governments have the resources they need to build and improve bus and train stations, and to pair these investments with more housing near transit. I want to thank Speaker McCluskie, Representative Woodrow, and Senators Roberts and Exum for taking this on.
The Housing Opportunities Made Easier, or HOME Act, will open the door to more housing by partnering with higher education, nonprofits, transit agencies, school districts, and housing authorities to build on underutilized land. With Speaker Pro Tem Boesenecker, Representative Mabrey and Senators Exum and Gonzales leading the way, these steps are expected to significantly cut down on building times for new housing.
Coloradans are eager to be a part of the housing solution. For example, in Edwards, the Eagle County School District opened up Miller Flats Apartments with 37 homes for district employees conveniently located near schools, parks, and transit.
We’ve given homeowners the freedom to do more with their property. It’s only the start. By making it easier to subdivide and sell your property, we can boost the supply of affordable starter homes and help Coloradans to stay in their homes.
Together, we’ve worked hard to make the senior homestead exemption flexible and portable, help seniors downsize and free up homes for young families. We can and must make good on our promise to seniors by funding the senior homestead exemption this year.
Doing so will require finding $200 million dollars in one time funding this year. Converting Pinnacol is the way to shore up our workers compensation system to better protect workers, ensure Pinnacol can compete and thrive in today and tomorrow’s marketplace, provide some relief with the budget shortfall, and make good on our bipartisan promise to seniors.
Once you have a home you can afford, keeping up with the costs that come with it is the next challenge. That starts with homeowners insurance which costs too much.
This year we must bring homeowners insurance rates down. Costs continue to skyrocket, up 91% or an average of $2,000 since 2019, and Coloradans in wildfire prone areas are having a harder time even finding insurance.
There are tools at our fingertips that can help bring down homeowners insurance rates.
While we might not tackle the entire challenge overnight, it’s long past time we start, with steps like making hail resistant roofs more affordable, and reducing fire risks, we can drive down claims and lower premiums. Thank you Speaker McCluskie, Representative Brown, Senators Amabile and Snyder, for taking on this urgent issue.
The more we do here to bring down costs, the more opportunity opens up for Coloradans in the ways that matter most – where we live, and how we spend our time and money.
Five months into my time as Governor, an 8.5 million pound boulder fell smack dab in the middle of Highway 145 just outside of Dolores, Colorado, leaving an eight foot trench in the middle of the road.
When I learned that it would cost the state $200,000 more to get rid of the rock than to reroute the highway I found another way.
I'm a rock tumbling enthusiast, much to Marlon’s chagrin – for those who aren’t familiar, check it out! But there was no way to tumble this particular rock. And so, heeding the wise words of the Beatles, we "let it be.”
This is the same common-sense I’ve used to make it easier, safer, and more affordable to get around our state, whether you choose to do so by car, bike, foot, bus, or train.
Today, getting around takes up too much of Coloradans’ budgets and time, and puts out too much pollution. We’re showing that there’s a better way forward for Coloradans, one with more choices and greater convenience.
We’ve re-paved 2,500 miles of roads in the past five years alone. Under the leadership of CDOT director Shoshana Lew, we’ve tackled long-neglected projects including Floyd Hill, to finally get drivers over Floyd Hill safely and quickly, taking away the scary drive that too many of us can relate to going to or from our incredible Rocky Mountains.
When I took office in 2019, there were 18,000 electric vehicles driving around Colorado, our energy office director Will Toor was one of those early adopters! Today, Will no longer feels lonely, with more than 204,000 electric cars on Colorado’s roads. We’re #1 nationally for percentage of electric vehicle sales, and by embracing these clean, quiet, fun to drive cars, we’ve cut emissions by nearly 600,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year. Folks: we got all of this done because of policy.
Working with Senator Weissman, we want to make it even more affordable to get an electric vehicle by directing savings to lower-cost electric vehicles.
The lion's share of additional transportation funding we’ve secured has gone to roads and bridges. But we know we can't just build our way out of the congestion that is robbing too many Coloradans of our free time and money.
That is why we’ve also supercharged state support for transit.
We are blazing a trail on cost-efficient passenger rail, and we’re doing it in record time. With a new lease and access agreement to begin Mountain Passenger Rail service through the Moffat Tunnel, we are turning the promise of daily, year-round service from Denver to Craig into a reality with the first routes from Denver to Granby kicking off about a year from now.
Looking to the Front Range, we are on the precipice of delivering a joint service partnership from Denver to Fort Collins, working closely with CDOT, RTD, and local governments to get Front Range Passenger Rail across the finish line.
I want to thank Lisa Kaufmann for her amazing work on passenger rail, and before that she thought being Chief of Staff was a hard job!
The success of Bustang, Snowstang, Pegasus, and Outrider show that Coloradans have a big appetite for reliable, affordable bus transit options. In the past five years alone, Bustang ridership has increased fivefold to reach nearly 2.3 million riders to date.
Bustang now runs 20 routes, with lower fares and exciting partnerships with iconic Colorado events, like the X Games. And we are pursuing long- term sustainable funding so Bustang can continue to grow, providing even better service to even more Coloradans now and in the future.
We’ve made major progress. But the reality is, until we have a world-class metro area transit agency with RTD, we simply cannot meet our climate or affordability goals. This begins with governance changes, increased accountability and transparency, and a stronger partnership between the cities it serves and the transit agency. I want to thank Senators Ball and Jodeh,
Representative Froelich, and the late Senator Winter along with Maria Garcia Berry and the accountability committee for putting together a thoughtful and effective approach for how we can realize a world-class transit agency.
Now, letting our Broncos leave Denver would have been like getting an invite to Taylor Swift’s 's wedding and saying no -- Which is to say, not an option, And by the way, Taylor -- I'm an excellent officiant, just ask Allie Kimmel.
In all seriousness, the revitalization of Burnham Yard, one of our state’s most historic properties, lays the groundwork for an amazing hub with multimodal transit, shops, restaurants, and entertainment, and of course, the A-F-C-West Champion Denver Broncos. We look forward to beating the Bills this Saturday, and – hopefully – hosting a Super Bowl parade in February.
We are looking at every piece of the puzzle to make it safer and more affordable to get where you need to go. Today, high auto insurance rates – the 5th highest nationally – lead to far too many uninsured drivers, making our roads less safe for all and further driving up rates.
That’s why I launched the Roadmap to Reduce Auto Insurance Premiums, an action plan to improve road safety and lower auto insurance costs.
And by more than doubling the number of wildlife crossings statewide to more than 70, including the world’s largest in Greenland – no, not that Greenland, Greenland, Colorado, leave the other Greenland alone! – we’re reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions by 90%.
We’re putting the days of too much time spent in traffic, too much money to get around, and too much pollution in the rearview mirror, pushing past the way it is to achieve the way it can be.
Twenty-six years ago, I was driving around the state in an old school bus campaigning for the State Board of Education, demanding more investment in Colorado schools to ensure every student could get a high quality education and thrive.
My passion for education is what drew me into public service after starting my career as an entrepreneur, and is what continues to drive my work as Governor.
There are so many ways we can build a bright future for Colorado and almost all of them begin with education. Education is about opportunity and hope.
Colorado students today get a strong start with free preschool and free full day kindergarten, thanks to Representative Sirota and Senator Bridges.
Students head into fully funded schools thanks to our work with the JBC. Indicators of class size are down by one student today from when I first took office – and average teacher pay is up over $13,000 dollars per year.
If you visit a Colorado classroom today, as I did this week in Colorado Springs, you might notice something special about Colorado’s first and third graders. These classes include the first group of Colorado students to go to free preschool and free full day kindergarten.
I’ve met a lot of them in our schools and usually their first question is ‘who are YOU?!,’ sometimes followed by, “I want to be governor when I grow up!”
When I started out as Governor, going to kindergarten for a full day of school, and going to preschool at all was treated like a bonus, not a necessity.
But the data speaks so clearly otherwise.
High-quality early education prevents achievement gaps, and helps with reading, math, and long term success in school, all while saving families $6,300 a year on preschool and $500 a month on full day kindergarten.
Colorado families eagerly raised their hands to sign up for preschool and kindergarten, catapulting Colorado from 27th nationally for preschool enrollment to third under the leadership of Dr. Lisa Roy.
And today, 98% of kindergarteners take advantage of free-full day kindergarten.
We’ve dedicated historic funding to Colorado classrooms, increasing funding per student from just over $8,000 in 2019 to nearly $12,000 today, and finally with the leadership of Speaker
McCluskie, Assistant Minority Leader Bacon, and the Joint Budget Committee, tackled the beast – the Budget Stabilization Factor that for more than a decade hamstrung our schools with too little funding.
At the same time, we’ve worked to protect school funding and the services Coloradans rely on from a rainy day or recession. When I took office, the state’s budget reserves were at 7.25% and today, we're in the double digits with 13% in the bank. While our reserves took a minor dip after President Trump and Congress torched our budget last year, we’re on track to get our reserves back up to 15% in the coming years.
In Colorado, we’re doing our part to help our talented, hardworking educators do what they do best: shaping the next generation of learners and leaders.
Each of us can remember a teacher, or likely several, who helped us become who we are today.
I want to thank all of the teachers here today, and across Colorado, for your incredible contributions to our state now and into the future.
A good education gives students a head start right out of the box, and high-quality skills and workforce development help Coloradans cross home plate to a good job.
Last year, Colorado high school students enrolled in a record 146,000 courses through our Community College System, earning college credit before graduating and saving over $71 million in tuition costs.
Today we are joined by Mariah, a Nursing student at CSU Pueblo. Thanks to concurrent enrollment opportunities, Mariah earned two credentials and completed the first three years of her Bachelor’s, while still in high school at Swallows Charter Academy in Pueblo. And today, Mariah is working in an ICU in Colorado Springs while completing her studies. Welcome, Mariah!
Through the bipartisan National Governors Association, my Chair Initiative: Let’s Get Ready: Educating All Americans for Success, kickstarted a long-overdue national conversation about how we better connect the skills students get in school with those that lead to a good job.
Now, we are putting the lessons learned from Let’s Get Ready into practice. Alongside six other states, led by both Democratic and Republican governors, we are tracking student readiness in real-time with a new dashboard to more accurately and quickly evaluate if students are ready for and successful at what comes next.
We’re saving Coloradans money with free and low-cost training opportunities, and making the first two years of college free for many Coloradans, thanks to the bipartisan work of Speaker McCluskie, Representatives Taggart, Senators Kirkmeyer and Mullica.
As one of the largest employers in the state, we’re leading by example by hiring for the right skills instead of the right degree, putting an end to the days where good candidates were turned away just because they don’t have a college degree.
Our workforce investments are bold, innovative, and nation leading. And while there’s a lot to be proud of, it’s not enough.
People change jobs more frequently nowadays.
And yet, our job training system is not working for every Coloradan. It’s a maze of more than 20 divisions, offices, and units across seven state departments. The 110 programs available have different eligibility requirements, applications, and outcome measures. I will now read the names of all 110 workforce programs. There will be a quiz at the end.
But seriously, if even I can’t name them all, how can we expect everyday Coloradans trying to get ahead to figure out how to navigate this maze?
Transformative results require bold action. That is why we are calling for a unified department to serve as a one-stop-shop for Coloradans to access high-quality skills, training, apprenticeships, and education. This bipartisan effort led by Speaker McCluskie, Representative Taggart, and Senators Bridges and Frizell is truly poised to unlock opportunity and prosperity for all Coloradans.
Helping Coloradans get job-ready is another way we are making Colorado the best place to work and do business. Today, we are proudly home to a robust business-friendly ecosystem, ranked the top state for female entrepreneurs three years in a row, and fourth best business environment overall by US News and World Report. With Eve Lieberman at the helm of our Office of Economic Development and International Trade, companies continue to thrive in Colorado. Businesses like Boom Supersonic, a $1.5 billion dollar company that started in a Denver basement and is now building a supersonic passenger jet that could get from Denver to London in just over five hours.
My own career is one that in its earliest days was shaped by the promise of emerging technology – at the time, internet 1.0 – when I launched an internet service provider from my college dorm room. This experience taught me a lot about how technology is a tool that can and must be used to maximize opportunity and innovation.
Along those same lines, AI has tremendous potential – but I assure you, did not write this speech! We must act thoughtfully to embrace innovation while empowering consumers.
Today, we are called upon to ensure Colorado remains a leading state for artificial intelligence for both businesses and consumers. Now is the time to get this done in a way that drives innovation and protects Coloradans.
In my time as Governor, one of the greatest honors has been serving alongside the talented men and women who work for state government. We are so fortunate to have such passionate, dedicated Coloradans working across the state, taking on the most difficult challenges we face, and bringing creativity and a commitment to service to their work every single day.
Today, I am honored to be joined by Fidela Jacquez, one of our longest serving state employees whose nearly 50 years in service to Coloradans across the Departments of Public Safety, Transportation, and Revenue, and mentorship of her fellow state employees, has and will continue to make a huge impact on our state now and into the future.
Our efforts to support Colorado’s hardworking and dedicated state employees is further strengthened by our work with Colorado WINS, led by Hilary Glasgow. Thank you Hilary and your team, including President Diane Byrne here with us today, for your passionate advocacy on behalf of our workforce, and for our partnership throughout my governorship.
Since day one, I’ve taken on special interests and tackled challenges that critics said could never be solved.
When it comes to health care, I would measure our accomplishments against any state in the nation.
Under the leadership of Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera and our Office of Saving People Money on Health Care, we’ve tallied nearly three billion dollars in savings for Coloradans even as national costs went up tens of billions of dollars more.
We partnered with bipartisan legislators including Patrick Neville and Pueblo’s own Daneya Esgar on our nation-leading hospital price transparency law. We passed the landmark Colorado Option and bipartisan reinsurance alongside Speaker McCluskie, Senators Jodeh, Rich, and Roberts. We brought Republicans and Democrats together to put an end to surprise billing.
We’ve made six behavioral health care sessions free for Coloradans under 18 with Senator Michaelson Jenet. Thanks to the efforts of Senators Gonzales and Weissman, Representatives Froelich and Zokaie, we built in needed protections to assure Coloradans that if they are in need of emergency care and their doctor recommends an abortion to save their life, they will not be turned away.
With the leadership of Division of Insurance Commissioner Mike Conway, we created a first-in-the-nation group that is finally capping the cost of the most expensive drugs and we know we’re on the right track, because we’ve already been sued twice by big pharma. Years before the federal government, alongside Senator Roberts we capped the price of insulin. Despite all this – and more – we’re not where we need to be.
High-powered and well-funded corporate interests have proven to be deeply entrenched in our politics. It’s like the Avengers fighting Thanos. We are up against big hospitals, pharma, and insurance, alongside a federal government often eager to cozy up to these special interests.
Colorado’s application to import lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada – thanks to the leadership of Kim Bimestefer and Senator Rodriguez – languishes in Washington, first under President Biden and now under President Trump and RFK Jr.
The reality is, the incentives are simply FUBAR. Americans are getting screwed on health care.
Today, hospitals rake in billions of dollars in profits, and actually get away with charging $5,000 for an ice pack, $600 for a bandaid, while insurance companies and pharma raise prices on consumers. I was perhaps a bit naive to think I’d be able to pull together a coalition to fight back against such absurd charges.
Too often, we fight over incremental progress, and when we stand up for systemic change, we are met with the might of the medical industrial complex and their highly effective scare tactics. I saw this firsthand when I was in Congress working to pass the Affordable Care Act, and I’ve seen it time and time again as Governor.
It’s truly mind-boggling that every other industrialized Western country in the world has figured out a way to provide universal health care at a baseline for everyone. Japan spends less than half of what America spends on health care, and their average lifespan is six years longer.
Let me be clear. Our dedicated doctors, nurses, and providers work around the clock to give Coloradans great care. Our essential safety-net hospitals – especially in rural communities – are filling the gap while fighting tooth and nail to keep their doors open, made all the more difficult with the federal government taking a sledgehammer to Medicaid.
Fixing the broken cycle is not about spending more. We’re already doing that and it ain’t working.
The federal government today makes up about half of health care payers through Medicare and Medicaid – it’s long past time the feds start negotiating with prescription drug companies and hospitals and actually drive down costs.
Instead, premiums are skyrocketing across the country after Congress failed to extend the tax credits that millions of Americans rely on to keep health care affordable. In some ways, it’s one of those $600 bandaids, but has at least prevented major increases in insurance premiums.
In Colorado, we’re doing the best with what we have by maximizing efficiency and refusing to let Medicaid, the payer we do have, fail.
The reality is that health care expenses are rising far faster than the rest of our budget. We must take action to bring Medicaid costs to a more sustainable level and protect access for the 1.2 million Coloradans who rely on Medicaid.
The numbers are stark - I almost brought my charts, but I’ll spare you. Ask a JBC member, we can’t afford to keep growing Medicaid at its current pace while still funding schools, roads, and public safety.
So let’s focus on spending less, covering more people, and getting better health outcomes.
As Babe Ruth famously said, “never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”
Let me be clear. We’ve been in the game and we’re giving it our all.
But when it comes to health care, special interests like big hospitals, big pharma, big insurance and Pharmacy Benefit Managers, are the umpires and have way too much influence to call the pitches the way they like.
We will continue fighting for Coloradans, but ultimately, we need Washington to step up and take real action on a real solution. Call it what you will – a social insurance model, multi-payer universal health care, Medicare for All, a single payer system with private insurance and care on top – no matter the jargon, the outcome is what matters: health care for everyone at lower costs.
It’s long past time Washington got on the side of hardworking Americans, and out of the pockets of special interests.
Just like our health, our safety is also critical to being able to lead a good life.
When I set the bold goal to make Colorado one of the ten safest states in the nation, we got right to work taking data-driven, common-sense steps to prevent crime in the first place, better equip law enforcement, and crack down on crime.
We’re seeing real progress. A new report from our Division of Criminal Justice shows that In the past year, violent crime is down over 13%. Property crime is down nearly 18%, representing nearly 14,000 fewer crimes. Through targeted investments and increased penalties, we’ve achieved a 61% decrease in auto theft in four years, including a 34% drop in the last year alone.
In a single year, we’ve seen a 95% decline in catalytic converter theft in Denver.
Thanks to the support of voters, we are boosting state support for local law enforcement through Proposition 130, which I proudly supported. This year, the first round of $15 million in funding will go to local law enforcement to boost recruitment, retention, and training.
We are endlessly grateful for the service, bravery, and dedication of Colorado’s law enforcement officers, veterans, and service members. I want to thank all those here with us today for serving our state and nation with pride, ensuring our safety and security.
Keeping Coloradans safe includes better preparing for, preventing, and responding to the year-round threat of wildfires. We’ve expanded Colorado’s arsenal of firefighting tools, including state-owned helicopters like the Firehawk and multi-mission aircraft, fire engines, crews, and contracted air tankers, to ensure we can act quickly and decisively whenever and wherever a fire breaks out.
Our National Guard servicemembers have been on the frontlines – on the ground and in the air – in the aftermath of Colorado’s devastating fires and floods. Always at the ready, they flew helicopters to drop water on the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires, provided real-time data on fire spread, and helped control traffic out of evacuation zones in the Marshall Fire.
These are the missions that matter for our communities. I want to recognize the bravery and commitment to service that exemplify our Colorado National Guard, and show our respect for their commitment to helping Coloradans through our hardest moments.
Looking ahead, there is more work to be done to ensure all Coloradans can thrive in safe communities.
While the Trump administration leaves states in the lurch, cancelling $29 million and threatening $19 million more in safety grants owed to Colorado, we are stepping up to do what we can to fill the gap, refusing to leave our safety to chance.
My balanced budget proposal includes support to monitor and protect Coloradans against rising threats of political violence and extremism, along with support for emergency preparedness, response, and recovery to ensure we are prepared to act quickly if disaster strikes. Once again, this is work that we would normally have federal partnership on, but Washington is threatening exactly this funding.
Keeping Coloradans safe includes protecting the spaces we gather, learn, and pray. Today, over 73 non-profits including synagogues, mosques, and churches have made security upgrades with support from the Nonprofit Security grants. Our students deserve to learn free from fear.
Our Office of School Safety has supported 239 projects to boost safety and emergency response at 190 schools and districts across Colorado.
Together, under the leadership of Senator Sullivan and so many others – too many to name here – we’ve taken common-sense steps to reduce gun violence while protecting our second amendment rights. The nation-leading red flag law has been enforced over 478 times to protect Coloradans and our communities. Waiting periods, safe and responsible gun storage requirements, and cracking down on ghost guns, help keep all Coloradans safe. Colorado is proud to support responsible gun ownership, including with expanded background checks and making the theft of any firearm a felony. We are protecting the rights of Coloradans to own the gun of their choice while implementing new training for rapid fire and assault-style weapons through Colorado Parks and Wildlife later this year. By cracking down on gun trafficking and illegal firearm activity, we’ve gotten 183 illegal guns off the streets.
To truly keep Colorado safe, we must urgently address gaps in our system related to those who cannot stand trial but are charged with a crime, and ensure that individuals who pose a danger to themselves or others are not just released onto the streets. My supplemental budget request includes funding for the state to work alongside local governments and the judicial branch to pursue appropriate, secure placements and services, and I am asking the legislature to move quickly to get bipartisan legislation to my desk. Thank you to Speaker McCluskie, Minority Leader Caldwell, Senator Amabile, and Minority Leader Simpson for leading bipartisan action.
Delivering real results for Coloradans is as much about our values as it is about making life easier and more affordable. We are showing that it’s possible to cut pollution, lower costs, and spur innovation, following the demands of the market.
By cutting pollution, we are cleaning up our air in ways we can see and feel, helping to reduce bad air quality days, which are down from 65 days in 2021 to 30 days in 2025. My dad in particular appreciates that. During my time as Governor, the share of energy Colorado gets from low-cost clean sources has grown by nearly 75%, enough power nearly 3 million homes for a year.
I am excited about bright spots like Holy Cross Energy serving Eagle, Pitkin, Garfield, Mesa, and Gunnison Counties. At its peak last spring, Holy Cross generated 96% of its energy from low-cost clean sources.
Meanwhile, Washington DC, is tipping the scales toward expensive, out-of-date coal production that drives up costs, pollutes our air, and subjects all of us to volatile price swings in natural gas.
We saw this after the Texas winter storm which drove up energy bills for many Coloradans by nearly $20 a month for years.
In Colorado, we tackle climate challenges head on, instead of burying our heads in a pile of coal. I would say snow, but sadly snowpack this year is only 62% of average.
We’re charging forward on the plan to 100% clean energy to unlock the lowest cost clean energy for Coloradans. By 2030, more than 70% of Colorado’s electricity will come from wind and solar. But we need emerging technologies like geothermal or carbon capture to get us to 100%.
That is why we are taking action alongside Representatives Willford, Senators Weissman and Amabile to maintain the important goal of 100% clean energy while building in needed flexibility to adapt to the realities of federal headwinds.
Now is the time to double down on investment and innovation to build more of what’s needed to power our homes and businesses, including power lines and power plants.
Local governments play a key role in moving energy and transmission projects along, but there is room to grow to ensure permitting across the state is clear, fast, and consistent.
Long before my time as Governor, the oil and gas wars plagued our state. Colorado’s patchwork regulatory environment had few if any meaningful standards.
At best, Coloradans had to worry if oil and gas would be able to drill in their backyard and literally in their living rooms. For far too many Coloradans, this worry became a reality. Even today, the devastating Enterprise Pipeline gasoline spill still impacts Southern Ute Indian Tribe land, showing us the importance of safety.
In my first year as Governor, we passed the most robust regulatory framework for oil and gas in the country, moving drilling operations further from homes and schools. We drilled down to ensure that energy oversight is held to the highest standards, under the cutting-edge Energy and Carbon Management Commission, further supporting innovation in underground geothermal and carbon capture.
I want to thank ECMC Commissioner Jeff Robbins for being with us since day one, dedicating his passion, vision, and expertise to this incredible generationally-important work.
I also want to thank Erin Martinez who bravely shared her story after her home exploded from an undetected gas leak from drilling operations, tragically killing her husband and brother, and all those who paved the way to a safer future for Colorado.
The apocalyptic warnings that our gold-standard regulations would somehow shut down the oil and gas industry in Colorado have proven to be completely unfounded. Today, we have a thriving, robust industry that is electrifying and getting cleaner while adding more protections for health and safety, and is accountable to Coloradans.
We went on to bring responsible oil and gas companies and the environmental community together, preventing costly, divisive ballot measures and creating a new funding stream that moves our state from 42nd in transit funding to 23rd. This work was led by the late Senator Faith Winter, alongside Speaker McCluskie, Representatives Velasco, Willford, Froelich, Bacon and Senator Cutter.
Time and time again, we’ve worked together to tackle the complex challenges we face and chart a sustainable, affordable path forward for Colorado. From securing our water future, to protecting our wildlife and conserving our public lands, we are taking these lessons with us to prepare for and build resilience to a hotter, drier climate.
Under the leadership of Dan Gibbs with the Department of Natural Resources, we are implementing the visionary Colorado Water Plan and directing over $127 million in new funding to support local water projects. We are seeing record interest in Water Plan Grants, which so far have supported 530 local projects.
Agriculture is on the front lines of drought, and we are helping the next generation of producers get the tools and training needed to adapt to a changing climate. From Water Plan Grants to the transformative work led by Ag Commissioner Kate Greenberg, who just gave birth to her first child earlier this week, we are helping farmers and ranchers to prepare for and build resilience in the face of a hotter, dryer climate.
Looking to the Colorado River, under the leadership of Commissioner Becky Mitchell, we are working to find consensus while protecting the water for Upper Basin states. There is no state better positioned to lead the way to a sustainable future for our namesake river.
In light of the pine beetle outbreak spreading in the Front Range and foothills, we are stepping up to mitigate the most harmful impacts and protect our communities, forests, and key water sources.
We are also stepping up to support our pollinators, the workhorses of our ecosystems who are responsible for one in three bites of food we eat. Together, we are building on our work to protect pollinators from threats faced from some pesticides, including with bills this year led by Senators Kipp and Wallace.
Our treasured public lands are part of the fabric of who we are in Colorado, full of fun and adventure, home to incredible wildlife, and key to our economy.
Elevating enjoyment and care of our great outdoors go hand in hand. We’ve expanded our state parks and wildlife areas by over 90,000 acres, advanced conservation for 270,000 federal acres like the Thompson Divide, and opened up access to over 1 million acres of state trust lands.
We’ve created more than $120 million in new annual funding for the care and conservation of our public lands, including with the Keep Colorado Wild pass that cut the price of a state parks pass by more than half to $29, and growing lottery funding for Colorado’s outdoors. The first-of-its-kind outdoors strategy sets the vision to best care for our great outdoors while putting every dollar to the best possible use.
The moving words of America the Beautiful have connected generations to Colorado’s “Purple Mountains Majesty,” inspired by the beauty of Pikes Peak, where I was earlier this week, we are ensuring that America’s Mountain remains as central to Colorado’s future as it has been to our nation’s past. Through Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s partnerships with Mayor Yemi, Colorado Springs Utilities, the US Forest Service, Great Outdoors Colorado, county and local leaders in the Outdoor Pikes Peak Initiative, and the Pikes Peak Outdoor Recreation Alliance, we are expanding opportunities – including new campgrounds, new trails, even better facilities maintenance – for Coloradans to enjoy and protect this hallowed place for generations to come.
As we look ahead to our state’s 150th birthday, what better way to honor Colorado’s proud history and build toward a bright future than by elevating the care and conservation of our most iconic wild spaces.
Our state’s milestone year is also a milestone for many of us who are embarking on our last year in this building.
I’ve truly enjoyed working with everyone here in this chamber, and those who came before. I want to recognize all of the legislators whose terms have matched up with mine – the class of 2026.
And I encourage all of you to take this year to lead on issues you know I will agree with you on perhaps more than the next governor, whether it’s school choice, eliminating puppy mills, technology innovation, supporting blockchain and crypto, or reducing the income tax, now’s your chance.
And on issues you know I disagree with you on, let’s work together to find agreement. Much to my staff’s chagrin, this year I demanded a special veto pen, after poor Jeff Bridges couldn’t even get a regular one from David when I vetoed his bill.
In the Lord of the Rings, Sam speaks to Frodo, saying “there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for.”
Colorado, there’s so much good, and we keep fighting for more.
There’s good we’ve achieved – more homes for every budget, more ways to get around easier without sitting in traffic, and more opportunities for students at every stage – and the good that we know is still possible, what we continue to fight for.
When I ran to serve as your Governor I promised to be bold - heck, I made a lot of promises, that together, we’ve turned into a reality for Colorado.
Free preschool. Free full day kindergarten. More housing. Less pollution.
We dream. We dare. We do.
I’ve been called many things – Colorado’s education governor, marijuana governor, tech bro governor, gay governor, socialist, fascist, communist, capitalist, libertarian. I’ll keep putting in the work and let others decide the labels, but at the end of the day, it’s always been about delivering real results that leave our state better than we found it. And it’s also about showing loving kindness for everyone and everything. I leave you with the advice to be kind and love your fellow human.
Through it all, what will always stick with me are the special moments during my time as Governor – visiting all 64 counties, picking and eating a fresh peach in Palisade, warm from the Colorado sun, the breathtaking view from atop the mesa at Fort Lewis College. Attending church on All Saints Day in Otero County trying with limited success to descend into the only active volcano in Colorado in Dotsero on a wire tied to a tree, taking our kids to see Tarantulas crawl near La Junta, picking Pueblo chiles, surprising seniors for lunch at the San Luis Senior Center. White knuckling it on the drive to the top of Pikes Peak.
Fulfilling a life goal by “playing” Red Rocks with Colorado South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker. And, of course, getting married at the Mary Rippon Theater at the University of Colorado Boulder, Marlon’s alma mater.
Speaking at the preschool graduation ceremony for the first class of universal free preschool.
Reading to the first class of full-day kindergarteners.
And of course the people. My cabinet, including those who have been here since the beginning, many of whom I’ve already mentioned, along with Joe Barela, Michelle Barnes, Patty Salazar, and Tony Gheradini. Our incredible executive team, Danielle, Kara, Allie, Mark, Conor, Jesse, our entire staff, and their families who have also dedicated so much.
Our spectacular Colorado is matched only by the heart and ingenuity of those who call our great state home.
Seven years ago, I joined you all in delivering my first State of the State address, and shared what an honor it is to be your Governor.
In the time since, forces beyond us have shaped our reality - a once in a century pandemic, widespread inflation, the biggest and most destructive fires in our state’s history, an unpredictable federal landscape, a massive wormhole connecting to the Abyss with an upside down version of Colorado and our only hope is a group of Dungeons & Dragons - playing teens.... Well, maybe not that.
But despite it all, we faced our challenges head on, never losing sight of our values and what makes us who we are. We stared down the abyss, destroyed our metaphorical Vecnas, and delivered big, bold progress for Colorado while rolling a natural 20 on landing Sundance, the All-Star Game, and the quantum accelerator.
In this time of great division, now more than ever we must come together as Coloradans, leading with kindness and respect to move our ONE team, our great state, forward.
The state of our state is strong. Resilient. Loving. Kind. Innovative. Free. And ever bright with the promise of a Colorado for All. So long, and thanks for all the fish.
God bless you all, God bless Colorado, and God bless the United States of America!
