DENVER – Today, the FY 2025-26 state budget was passed in the Senate.
During an extended debate that stretched into the afternoon, the Senate Republicans fought for responsible spending and stood up for the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
Crafting this year’s legislative budget was particularly challenging due to a $1.2 billion budget deficit created by the Democrats’ excessive multi-year overspending.
In total, the Senate Republicans offered 47 impactful amendments to the budget, 6 of which were successfully adopted.
Below is a comprehensive list of every budget amendment offered by the Colorado Senate Republican Caucus during this year’s budget debate:
| Amendment: | Status | Republican Senator: | Description: |
| J.059 | Adopted by COW Amendment S.004 | Liston | Will reappropriate funds from prison inmate recreation and leisure programs to Colorado Springs’ National Cybersecurity Center |
| J.048 | Adopted | Frizell | Gives critically important funding to the Address Confidentiality Program, which protects the location of victims of assault. |
| J.067 | Adopted | B Pelton* | Critically restores for occupational, physical, and speech therapies in HCPF. |
| J.064 | Adopted by COW Amendment S.002 | Frizell | Makes a necessary trim to HPCF’s recovery audit contractor program. |
| J.071 | Adopted | Simpson* | Gives critical funds to the Primary Care Fund in HCPF. |
| J.066 | Adopted | Pelton R | Gives existing funds to the La Junta hospital maternity program |
| J.068 | Killed By Democrats | Pelton R | Would have given existing funds to the La Junta hospital maternity program. |
| J.017 | Killed By Democrats | Pelton R | Would cut unnecessary funding from the Division of Animal Welfare |
| J.002 | Killed By Democrats | Bright | Cuts funding for gender procedures for prison inmates. |
| J.001 | Killed By Democrats | Bright | Trimmed funding currently used to give prisoners unlimited phone use. |
| J.003 | Killed By Democrats | Frizell | Would have trimmed pay increases for prison inmates. |
| J.004 | Killed By Democrats | Lundeen | Would have reduced costly contract services in the Department of Corrections education subprogram, |
| J.039 | Killed By Democrats | Bright | Would have cut unnecessary funding to the ineffective “Office of Saving People Money on Health Care,” which has substantially failed at bringing down costs for Coloradans. |
| J.030 | Killed By Democrats | Pelton R | Would have trimmed funding from the unnecessary Office of Climate Preparedness. |
| J.037 | Killed By Democrats | Pelton R | Would have cut funding from the useless Streamlined SolarPermitting Program. |
| J.035 | Killed By Democrats | Pelton B | Eliminates the Lt. Governor’s completely unnecessary and excessive second salary. |
| J.029 | Killed By Democrats | Rich | Would have cut funding to the Colorado Promotion program, which has failed to deliver any substantial benefit to Colorado business. |
| J.041 | Killed By Democrats | Rich | Would have cut half of the funding for the Colorado Promotion program. |
| J.044 | Killed By Democrats | Rich | Would have cut 10% of the funding for the Colorado Promotion program. |
| J.028 | Killed By Democrats | Rich | Would have trimmed funding from the Council of Creative Industries, an unnecessary office. |
| J.007 | Killed By Democrats | Frizell | Would have cut mismanaged funding to the Governor’s Office of Information Technology Office. |
| J.015 | Killed By Democrats | Bright | Would have cut excessive and unnecessary funding for HCPF equity office. |
| J.061 | Killed By Democrats | Liston | Would have taken extra money from HCPF Returned Mail Processing and given it to the National Cybersecurity Center in Colorado Springs. |
| J.062 | Killed By Democrats | Pelton R | Would have cut excessive spending in DHE. |
| J.058 | Killed By Democrats | Liston | Would have reappropriated funds from the DHS and given them to the National Cybersecurity Center in Colorado Springs. |
| J.050 | Killed By Democrats | Liston | Would have transferred funds from the Environmental Justice Office to the National Cybersecurity Center in Colorado Springs. |
| J.005 | Killed By Democrats | Bright | Would have cut excessive and unnecessary funding DHS’s equity office. |
| J.026 | Killed By Democrats | Pelton B | Would have cut funding from the Public Defender’s Office currently used to pay lobbyists. |
| J.016 | Killed By Democrats | Pelton R | Cuts unnecessary funding from the ineffective Office of Just Transition. |
| J.036 | Killed By Democrats | Pelton B | Would have cut legislators’ salary increases. |
| J.006 | Killed By Democrats | Bright | Would have cut completely unnecessary funding to the Statewide Equity Office. |
| J.020 | Killed By Democrats | Frizell | Would have cut excessive funding to the Office of Health Equity |
| J.021 | Killed By Democrats | Frizell | Would have cut funding to the unnecessary Health Disparities and Community Grant Program. |
| J.010 | Killed By Democrats | Pelton R | Would have cut funding to unnecessary Environmental Justice ombudsperson. |
| J.008 | Killed By Democrats | Frizell | Would have cut funding to the unnecessary Office of Environmental Justice. |
| J.065 | Killed By Democrats | Carson | Would have reappropriated funds from the Emergency Stockpile Rotation Cash Fund and given it to the more useful controlled maintenance fund. |
| J.024 | Killed By Democrats | Bright | Would have cut funding that gives some, but not all, Colorado politicians police security. |
| J.009 | Killed By Democrats | Bright | Would have unnecessary funding from DORA’s unnecessary Equity Office. |
| J.031 | Killed By Democrats | Lundeen | Would have trimmed funding from the unnecessary Prescription Drug Affordability Review Board. |
| J.032 | Killed By Democrats | Lundeen | Would have inserted language prohibiting the Prescription Drug Affordability Review Board from using their funds to set an upper payment limit for rare disease or plasma drive treatment |
| J.051 | Killed By Democrats | Bright | Would have cut unnecessary funding from DOR’s unnecessary Equity Office. |
| J.047 | Killed By Democrats | Frizell | Would have cut funding from the firearms dealers division. |
| J.012 | Killed By Democrats | Pelton B | Trimmed excess funding from CDPHE. |
| J.013 | Killed By Democrats | Pelton B | Would have reduced CDPHE’s funding to pre-pandemic levels. |
| J.027 | Killed By Democrats | Lundeen | Would have cut excessive pay increases for state employees. |
| J.063 | Killed By Democrats | Lundeen | Would have reduced the state’s costly share of health benefits. |
| J.045 | Killed By Democrats | Lundeen | Would have cut the compensation increases for state employees. |
* = bipartisan amendment