Colorado’s counties came away from the 2026 legislative session with four signed bills and a tighter budget outlook than the year before — but without a state parks grant program they had pushed for — when commissioners gathered June 1–3 in Summit County for the annual Colorado Counties, Inc. Foundation Summer Conference.
CCI tracked 130 bills during the session, which produced 449 passed bills out of 626 introduced. Four CCI priorities cleared the Governor’s desk: SB26-061 allows counties without a local newspaper to publish legal notices in non-periodical publications, ending a gap that has complicated rural counties for years. HB26-1238 designates emergency medical services as essential services, a designation counties have sought to stabilize funding and staffing. HB26-1239 expanded county enforcement authority. SB26-101 addressed landfill methane emission regulations for local governments.
Child welfare funding advanced through HB26-1075, which passed and awaited the Governor’s signature at conference time. HB26-1233 on property tax proceedings for nonresidential property was sent to the Governor as well. CCI lobbyist Dylan Peper reported that harmful provisions were stripped from SB26-116 on property tax modifications before it passed.
The session’s sharpest loss for counties was SB26-030, a local access state parks grant program that was postponed indefinitely. Legislators also removed a provision from HB26-1326 that would have expanded appeals under the Public Utilities Commission — a partial win CCI had fought for on renewable energy siting. On outdoor recreation, language inserted into HB26-1008 acknowledged that the rapid growth in visitor demand is straining local governments’ ability to maintain access and services.
The fiscal outlook counties carried home from Keystone offered little comfort for budget planners. Legislative Council Staff Principal Economist Elizabeth Ramey projected U.S. GDP growth of 2.2 percent in 2026, slowing to 1.7 percent in 2027. Colorado’s nonfarm employment grew just 0.2 percent year-over-year through April — barely above the national rate. Federal government employment fell 10.5 percent statewide, the steepest sector decline on record, while health care posted the strongest gains at 5.2 percent.
Consumer sentiment hit 44.8 in May — well below the historical average — as household savings rates dropped to 2.6 percent against a norm of 5.7 percent. Denver-area inflation ran at 4.2 percent headline through March, with energy costs up 13.2 percent and housing up 4.7 percent. Credit card delinquencies continued rising. Ramey projected a continued but slowing expansion, with downside risks including weak household finances, an AI market correction, and sustained Middle East conflict disrupting oil supply.
On water, Colorado River Commissioner Becky Mitchell told attendees that post-2026 negotiations over Lake Powell and Mead operations remain unresolved. The 2007 interim guidelines governing both reservoirs expire this year, and Mitchell warned that without consensus among basin states, the Bureau of Reclamation will choose a preferred alternative on its own. Colorado’s Upper Basin framework calls for a generous release curve at Powell, contributions from upstream storage units, and strict administration of water rights.
Colorado Water Conservation Board Director Lauren Ris presented the state’s 2023 Water Plan, which identified a 740,000 acre-feet per year supply gap. The CWCB’s No & Low Regrets planning process — designed to identify strategies that hold up across a range of climate and development scenarios — is underway, with storage and water plan scenarios the current focus through June. Ris reported that 531 projects have received Water Plan Grant Program funding across 57 of Colorado’s 64 counties, and per capita water use is down 5 percent since 2015.
CCI’s 2027 priority-setting process opens with a September 4 deadline for member proposals.
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