DENVER–Governor Jared Polis recently proposed his more than $50 billion Colorado state budget, requesting a flood of money to education and public safety while acknowledging Medicaid spending has gotten out of hand.
The 2026-27 spending plan was presented to the Joint Budget Committee on Oct. 31, three days ahead of schedule. Polis’ total request stands at $50.7 billion, with $18.6 billion being General Fund (or discretionary) money.
The plan dedicates an additional $167 million to school finance, as well as reallocating remaining revenue from the Marijuana Tax Cash Fund to the education fund , while increasing universal pre-school funding by $14.3 million. The state will then issue $2 million for the evidence-based math accelerator program, $1.1 million for free textbooks, and $4.2 million for a one-time fund increase for disability grants.
Polis’ public safety plan pours $7.1 million into state emergency management and Homeland Security funds, along with $15 million towards implementation of Proposition 130, the 2024 ballot measure mandating the state provide $350 million to “recruitment, training, and retention” of local law enforcement.
Polis’ budget also issues $0.4 million to increase school security, $0.4 million for the Colorado Bureau of Investigations (CBI), and $0.4 million for monitoring domestic threats.
Nash Herman, fiscal policy analyst at the free-market Independence Institute* says this budget, while not surprising, will only enlarge state government.
“Legislators often feel incentivized to spend up to the limit as much as possible and rarely consider cutting government growth,” Herman told Complete Colorado. “The status quo assumption is that the government must always grow, which ultimately is detrimental to the state.”
Addressing healthcare, Polis notably says Medicaid spending has gone too far, as spending has increased by 8.8% per year for the last decade, double the 4.4% growth of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) growth cap.
“If Medicaid had grown at the same rate as the TABOR cap, there would have been $1.9 billion more General Fund available for other priorities in FY 2025-26,” Polis says in his full budget request.
Herman says Polis’ urgency is different than what we’ve seen before, and it could be good for Colorado if the governor backs up his words with action,
“The Governor often says things that we can get behind at the Independence Institute, and we welcome this shift toward greater fiscal responsibility,” said Herman. “Unfortunately, actions speak louder than words, and it is also hard to say how much the legislature will work with him since he won’t be the Governor for much longer.”
Polis’ budget allocates $297 million into the General Fund (5.6%) for Medicaid, significantly lower from the original $631 million (11.9%).
Governor Polis also continues his desire to privatize Pinnacol, Colorado’s workers’ compensation insurer. This would amount to a one-time payment to the state of $400 million from Pinnacol. The money would be used to balance the state budget, with specific spending on the Senior Homestead Exemption and state facility maintenance.
The Colorado legislature will convene in January to start the formal budget process with the Governor’s requests in hand.
