Gov. Jared Polis leaves the House chamber of the Colorado State Capitol building in Denver on Thursday. Polis delivered his State of the State address. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post/Pool)
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis delivered his annual State of the State address to the General Assembly on Thursday to lay out his 2025 policy priorities around housing, safety and government spending.
The 55-minute speech came a week and a half before Inauguration Day, when Republican President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.
“Our values and our way of life are not dependent on who is in the White House or Congress. I refuse to allow the disagreement, division and disorder in Washington, D.C., deter us in Colorado,” Polis, a Democrat with two more years in office, said. “Members of the Legislature, we can and will do better.”
Polis referred to the “Free State of Colorado” throughout the speech as he vowed to “protect and expand our freedoms, tempered by the knowledge that freedom demands personal responsibility and accountability,” and he celebrated Democratic wins from last November in the state.
“In the Free State of Colorado, we understand what government is — and is not — here to do. Government is not here to dictate who you love, who you marry or if, when and how you choose to start a family,” he said.
Colorado voters approved ballot measures to enshrine abortion access in the state Constitution and remove language, which was inoperative, that bans same-sex marriage from the document.
There was bipartisan applause over some lines in his speech, such as a shoutout to recent property tax rate cuts, a call to hold livestock thieves accountable, and an announcement of firefighting resources sent to help Southern California battle the wildfires that began this week.
Polis received mixed audience support, however, over his comments on immigration policy and potential directives that could come from the federal government.
“I hope that President-elect Trump and Congress work together quickly to secure the border, stop human trafficking and stop the illegal flow of guns and drugs,” he said.
That line got Republican applause and silence from many Democrats, who make up a majority in both the House and Senate.
“But, Colorado will not support efforts to deport American citizens, target those on pending legal status or break up families, creating orphans of American children whose parents are alive and who came to this country to build a better life for their families,” he continued.
Democrats applauded that. Trump plans to initiate mass deportation efforts of undocumented immigrants during his upcoming term and repeatedly used racist rhetoric to describe immigrants across the country, including those in Colorado.
Polis said he supports a legal path to American citizenship and the protection of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients who have lived in the country for most of their lives — he even had a ceremonial empty seat in the chamber gallery for a DACA recipient named Sofia, a pseudonym, who is fearful of deportation. At the same time, Polis said he also supports the deportation of criminal non-citizens.
“We welcome more federal help to detain and deport dangerous criminals,” he said. Speaking with reporters after the speech, Polis re-emphasized that Colorado “looks forward” to working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI and receiving more federal resources to increase Colorado’s field office capacity.
Nod to bipartisanship
On housing, Polis said he wants the Legislature to build upon the work from previous sessions to increase the supply of attainable housing, which was largely done through a series of zoning reforms. Housing was a persistent theme this year, though it did not dominate the address like it has in the past. He highlighted upcoming proposals to make it easier to build on land owned by places of worship, streamline the process to build modular housing and change stairwell requirements in multifamily housing.
“Rather than force developers to build massive, one-size-fits-all apartments that take up entire city blocks, let’s instead empower them to build apartments or homes that fit the neighborhood through smart stair reform,” he said.
A bill to allow single-stair buildings died last year.
Polis said he supports construction defect reform, a longstanding political issue that has resulted in policy stalemates in recent years. Advocates see defect reform as a path to more condominium construction, because it would reduce insurance costs by lessening litigation risk in new builds. Those on the other side of the debate, however, worry there would be fewer remedies for homeowners who discover defects.
“We need to allow more housing Coloradans want. This includes condos, which often start at a lower price point, providing more affordable homeownership, and with it, the foundation for wealth building,” he said.
Rep. Shannon Bird, a Westminster Democrat, and Senate President James Colemen, a Denver Democrat, are expected to run a defect reform bill, but it is possible that lawmakers will introduce multiple proposals.
In a nod to bipartisanship, Polis said he is open to cutting regulations and reducing “needless” bureaucracy. In December, he rescinded over 200 executive orders by literally cutting them in half with a saw during a press conference.
“I urge the Legislature, in partnership with the Colorado Chamber, Majority Leader (Robert) Rodriguez and Minority Leader (Paul) Lundeen to take a good look at Colorado’s laws and regulations and honestly question whether they are adequately balancing consumer protection, health and safety, while minimizing red tape and reducing costs for the private sector and for Coloradans,” he said.
Lundeen, a Monument Republican, said the mass executive order cancellation was “good political theater and a really good first step.”
“Now, let’s get in there and go find real regulatory reform that will give more relief to the people and small businesses of Colorado,” Lundeen said after the speech. “We will absolutely lean into that with him every opportunity we get.”
In addition to regulation pruning, Republicans are seeking to repeal various fees this year as a way to save Coloradans money. One bill already introduced looks to get rid of the statewide 10 cent retail bag fee.
And despite the Legislature facing an extraordinary budget gap this year, Polis did not dwell on the constraints or what they could mean for forthcoming legislation or proposed new programs, instead alluding to the “difficult work of making cuts while thinking creatively about how to avoid bad outcomes.”
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