Day 1 / 120 of the 2026 Colorado General Assembly

It was sad and disappointing to hear so much rhetoric in the speech by the Speaker of The House on the first day of session. The hypocrisy from acknowledging the political violence and assassinations of 2025 that included Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and Charlie Kirk, but then to verbally attack law enforcement and specifically immigration and customs enforcement was reprehensible. Mentioning “war” in the same paragraph is not lowering the political rhetoric.

Society needs law and order. The acidic comments from legislators that call federal officers “fascists” and advocate violence or war, and sometimes revolution is absolutely disgusting and wrong. The impunity that some people take with talk of violence must stop.

During the Minority Party’s press conference, several questions from the press revolved around the budget, Taxpayer Bill of Rights, and healthcare. It seems reasonable to me that if individuals, families, and small businesses must watch their budget and cut back when necessary, then so too should the government. Read about our values here:

The state government budget has grown almost 50 percent over the past seven years. But our roads are in worse shape. Our schools are on tight budgets. Healthcare costs continue to spiral out of control. No one’s paycheck or income has increased 50 percent. Regulations have become so numerous that Colorado is now the 6th most regulated state in the nation. The excessive government bureaucracy is crushing small businesses and families with burdensome taxes, fees, and never ending regulations.

In 2019 there were 58,969 state employees. In 2026, the number of employees grew to 67,271. That is government employee growth of over 8,300 employees in seven years. That is absolutely insane.

Colorado deserves better. As the Minority Party, we represent approximately 45% of the state. We fight to lower taxes and shrink government. Government should not be expanding at the expense of taxpayers and small businesses. This session, I will

continue to work on common sense legislation and fight against government expansion and overreach. I support parental rights and the rugged individualism that made our country strong.