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Boulder County adopts 2026 state legislative and budget priorities to guide advocacy
Summary
County staff presented and the Board approved a package of 2026 state legislative and budget priorities emphasizing democracy, energy-efficiency financing, environmental justice, safety-net technology improvements, and housing funding mechanisms; staff will return with updated budget asks after reviewing the governor's proposal.
Boulder County officials on Nov. 4 approved a set of 2026 state legislative and budget priorities that county staff said will guide advocacy and lobbying through the upcoming session.
Mark Rosen of the commissioners' policy team and Cindy Copeland told the Board the principles build on prior work and were drafted with input from departments, community partners and members of the county’s state legislative delegation. Rosen said the priorities reflect outcomes from the 2025 regular and special sessions and capture new needs for the coming year.
The priorities package includes a new fourth principle, described by staff as “democracy,” which Rosen said signals county support for state measures that protect voting rights, LGBTQ+ rights and reproductive rights. Staff also highlighted expected 2026 legislation to expand county language access and competency system reforms.
On environment and sustainability, staff emphasized proposals to enable bill-repayment financing that would allow energy efficiency, electrification and renewable upgrades without upfront costs for homeowners and businesses. On housing, the county flagged proposals that could generate funding for affordable and workforce housing through taxes or fees on housing held for investment and through vacant-home taxes. On financial stewardship, staff recommended measures to enhance counties’ fiscal autonomy, for example by allowing counties to collect excise taxes on products or services if approved by voters.
Rosen also described the county’s state budget engagement: staff are reviewing the governor’s recently released proposal and will use the supplemental and long-bill processes through March to press county priorities. The Board approved the priorities package by voice vote.
The county plans to host its state legislative delegation at a November 19 legislative breakfast and said staff will return with additional state budget priorities after a full review of the governor’s budget.
