The Center Square) – Here is a round-up of the top 10 political, economic and cultural stories that made the headlines in Colorado in 2025.
Sanctuary City controversy
Denver and its officials felt the wrath of the Trump administration for its immigration policies, which congressional Republicans said made it a so-called “sanctuary city.”
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston testified before Congress in March and faced accusations that the city spent millions on providing services to illegal immigrants, while blocking federal officials from conducting deportations.
Throughout 2025, the city faced numerous instances of the federal government attempting to cut funding. City officials argued this was retaliation over its immigration policies and sued in multiple different lawsuits to maintain the funding.
2025 elections
On Election Day in November, Colorado voters overwhelmingly supported two statewide ballot measures that will increase funding to subsidized school meal programs.
Proposition LL, which will allow the state to maintain current tax deduction limits for individuals earning $300,000 or more annually, passed with 64% of the vote.
Proposition MM will allow Colorado to increase income taxes by $95 million annually to pay for school meal programs. It passed with 58% of the vote and will fund free school meals for all Colorado school children, regardless of household income.
In addition to the two statewide measures, Colorado voters also considered nearly 100 local measures across 30 counties. Those measures totaled over $1 billion in bonds or tax increases, and many of them passed.
Denver had five measures that made up the $950 million Vibrant Denver bond package. All five of those passed and will fund more than 200 repairs, improvements and upgrades throughout the city.
Ethics complaints
A scandal rocked the state Legislature in the fall, when a government watchdog group filed ethics complaints against more than a dozen Democratic legislators in Colorado.
Common Cause alleged the legislators had $25,000 in luxury resort expenses paid for by a special interest group.
Aly Belknap, the executive director of Colorado Common Cause, spoke with The Center Square in an exclusive interview regarding the complaints.
“A lot of dark money flows through all kinds of C4’s — while we find these transactions to be unethical, it’s not typically unlawful,” Belknap explained. “What happened here is different. It is a brazen disregard for accepting gifts as a legislator.”
Colorado’s federal losses
The Centennial State suffered its first major federal shift in September, when President Donald Trump announced plans to move the U.S. Space Command Headquarters from Colorado to Alabama.
Nearly two months later, the state filed a lawsuit against the administration for that decision. At that time, Attorney General Phil Weiser said the move was “unconstitutional and unlawful.”
Weiser is seeking a court order prohibiting the Trump administration from following through on moving the command’s permanent headquarters, which former President Joe Biden declared should be in Colorado in 2023.
When Trump made the announcement, he did not specify why he made that decision, besides stating that Alabama “fought harder for it than anybody else.”
Then, earlier this month, the Trump administration said it also plans to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which is also based in Colorado.
Both the center and the command, either directly or indirectly, provide thousands of jobs to the state’s workforce.
Budget woes
Both the state and Denver, its capital city, faced budget issues in 2025.
In November, Polis signed an executive order extending budget cuts to address an $800 million gap in Colorado’s funding. The executive order extended two others from earlier this year that suspended certain spending to address what the state has labeled an “unexpected and unnecessary shortfall” due to One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Congress passed July 1.
Because of the act’s federal spending cuts, the law reduced state revenue by over $1.2 billion, eliminated the state’s surplus and put Colorado’s budget $800 million out of balance for fiscal year 2025-2026.
To address that shortfall, Colorado took steps to eliminate spending and maintain the statutory reserve requirements directed by statute. In total, those spending reductions remain $265.7 million.
The new executive order ends Feb. 28, 2026. By that time, the state anticipates having a new plan for budget reductions and supplemental budget requests.
Denver also faced budget woes, as its spending grew faster than its revenue.
In August, the city laid off 169 employees as part of a larger effort to balance the 2026 budget. The layoffs represented 2% of the city’s workforce, while a total of 928 positions were eliminated from the city’s general fund through layoffs, transfers to different departments, a hiring freeze and the elimination of vacant positions.
Jon Ewing, a marketing and communications specialist for Denver, told The Center Square the city is acutely aware of the budgetary issues and is making the necessary changes.
Boulder attack and school shooting
The country was shocked when a terrorist attack was conducted June 1 in Boulder. The man charged with the crime is Mohamed Sabry Soliman, a 45-year-old Egyptian national who was in the U.S. illegally.
Soliman allegedly had long premeditated the attack at Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall, which killed one and injured more than a dozen. He allegedly set multiple people on fire during a pro-Israel event organized by Run for Their Lives, an organization that advocates for the return of Israeli hostages from Gaza.
Soliman faces more than 180 state charges, including first-degree murder, attempted murder and using explosive devices. He also faces federal charges of terrorism.
Following the attack, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials detained Soliman’s family, including his wife and five children. They faced deportation, but that order was blocked by a federal judge. They remain in ICE custody.
In September, Colorado was once again struck with violence. Authorities said 16-year-old Desmond Holly shot two fellow high school students at Evergreen High School. The school is nestled in the foothills about 30 miles west of Denver.
Holly died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound while the two victims survived their critical wounds, authorities reported.
Gun legislation
In 2025, multiple pieces of controversial gun legislation were passed. These included Senate Bill 25-003 and Proposition KK.
The bill, which Gov. Jared Polis signed into law April 10, bans the manufacture, sale or purchase of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns that take detachable magazines. It goes into effect in August 2026.
The law makes an exception for individuals who get a “firearms safety course eligibility card” from local law enforcement and then complete a state-approved firearm education course.
The Colorado State Shooting Association brought a lawsuit against the bill in August 2025.
Proposition KK put a 6.5% firearms and ammunition excise tax on firearm vendors. It took effect April 1, after passing with a narrow majority of voter approval in 2024.
The CSSA joined other groups like the National Rifle Association in suing against the proposition in June, arguing the tax is unconstitutional.
Gray wolves reintroduced
In the spring, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife reintroduced an additional 15 gray wolves back into the state. The wolves were transported from Canada as part of a partnership with British Columbia.
Colorado first began reintroducing the species to the state in December 2023, with 10 wolves from Oregon. The agency is required to reintroduce wolves after Colorado voters narrowly approved Proposition 114 in 2020.
The wolf reintroduction efforts were broadly opposed by ranchers and hunting organizations across the state.
Battle over TABOR
Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights, commonly known as TABOR, faced numerous challenges throughout the year.
This bill is unique to the state. Voters passed it in 1992 as an amendment to the Colorado Constitution.
It requires voter approval for all proposed tax increases. It also reins in state spending by limiting revenue growth to inflation plus the rate of population growth, all while mandating that any revenue surplus must be refunded to taxpayers.
Democrats have been pushing for its end since it was first passed. This year, they unsuccessfully sought to challenge its constitutionality in court, despite a report finding that it saved the state billions of dollars in unnecessary taxpayer spending.
The report, authored by the Common Sense Institute, found that TABOR has driven many economic benefits for Colorado.
“We believe that part of the significant economic growth that Colorado has had for the last at least 10, maybe 20 years has been due to the fact that the government is not supposed to be able to grow just as fast as politicians might want to,” said Ross Kaminsky, a fellow at the institute and an author of the report. “TABOR keeps Colorado from becoming a fiscal basket case.”
Cost of living
Housing, homelessness and energy costs all topped Colorado’s headlines in 2025.
As homelessness increases, housing advocates are quickly pointing to the state’s housing shortage as an ever-growing “crisis.”
In September, a report from the State Demography Office found that it needs 106,000 housing units to address its housing needs.
Currently, Colorado is ranked the sixth-least-affordable state in the country for housing. Low-income residents are especially affected by this shortage.
Denver is feeling the brunt of the housing and homelessness issue. On top of that, a recent report found that household spending in Denver has outpaced income by nearly 30% since 2016.
Increasing taxes are only adding to that financial burden for Colorado households.
Since 2016, housing prices increased 46%, while total state, local, and federal tax liabilities rose 48%. That means the average household in Denver is now spending $51,001 on all taxes and fees.
Additionally, the state continues to aggressively pursue its clean energy initiatives, which includes the closure of all its coal-fueled electric plants. Currently Colorado has a clean energy goal of 100% clean electricity generation by 2040 — a goal that some are concerned will only continue to increase energy prices.
