Happy Colorado Day! On August 1st, 1876, Colorado became the 38th state in the United States. So, we are one year shy of “the big one”—our 150th birthday in 2026. Here’s a time-capsule-esque conversation about where Colorado stands in its 149th year… and a look forward at all that Colorado is focusing on to strengthen our communities so that they’re places more people can afford to live, raise families, build businesses, and feel connected to one another.

August will be a hot month: Not only will it be steamy temperature-wise, the climate around the State Capitol and throughout the City of Denver is setting up to be unpleasant and difficult.

Special legislative session expected mid-August to address $1 billion shortfall: It’s looking like either on or sometime after August 18, the legislature will reconvene at the State Capitol to agree on ways to cut $1 billion in spending for the current fiscal year. The budget re-do is needed primarily due to the federal budget that was recently passed.

• Alton Dillard, media consultant and political analyst, is hoping the special session will focus on solutions instead of finger-pointing: “Democrats blame Congressional Republicans for getting the Big Beautiful Bill through. And then you’ve got the other folks saying, ‘If the Democrats in the legislature were better fiscal stewards, we wouldn’t be in this situation.’”
• Adam Burg, Senior Policy Advisor at Foster Graham Milstein & Calisher law firm, discusses potential state solutions for this fiscal bind, mentioning that the state can reduce reserves, make straight cuts that shift responsibility to local governments, or present ballot measures to raise revenue locally: “But the complicated thing is when we’re looking at tax code, which is largely statutory, the state does have some ability to make change. But we also have the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), which means they can only do so much and are confined by the rules at play. So, it’s going to be a very painful special session.”
• Kristi Burton Brown, Executive Vice President at Advance Colorado, highlights TABOR’s support: “70% of Coloradans consistently support TABOR, which means it’s Democrats, Unaffiliated, and Republicans alike… they want our legislature to live within their means. When you look at a $1.2 billion shortfall, if you look at the size of the entire budget, it’s a $44 billion budget… that’s 3% of the budget we’re asking you to cut as a legislature. How many families across Colorado have had to cut 3% from their budgets because of inflation? And yet, you see leaders in the legislature complaining that this is just impossible.”

Also on August 18, a fraction of City of Denver employees to lose their jobs: It’s not known how many people will lose their positions. But Mayor Mike Johnston announced this week that employees will be notified on Monday the 18th via email if they are part of the cost-cutting layoffs.

• Adam Burg says hundreds of positions could be at risk: “We know the city already had about 9,000 employees take mandatory furloughs, saving about $10 million. But we’re talking about that $250 million budget hole, and I cannot imagine a world where they make that up simply through layoffs. So, it means there’s going to have to be other constraints or factors at play.”
• Patty Calhoun, Westword Editor, acknowledges the dizzying push for new projects alongside budget cuts, pointing out the disconnect when the city seems able to fund development projects but not sustain its workforce: “You have to hope some of those projects—and several of them are very good—will bring in more tax revenues. So, Denver will do better, but it’s still going to take a long time till we see those coffers fill up again.”

Two different development projects: transparency & heated exchanges vs. decisions made with no community engagement: The two different scenarios: The Town of Palmer Lake released all of what the retailer Buc-ee’s is promising to do in order to acquire land and build a massive travel center and convenience store in El Paso County. North of there, in Denver, there’s another large parcel of land which is home to a historic rail yard. Burnham Yard is being eyed as a possible site for a new Broncos stadium. But those behind this evolving real estate deal are not as transparent. Last weekend, some historic buildings were demolished with no advance warning.

• Adam Burg points out the owner of the Denver property did not break any rules: “They had every right to tear them down, but the things we’re talking about are the Women’s Locker Room, which was built during World War Two for women entering industrial work. Also… the Roundhouse Foreman’s Office, which was historically used by Black workers during segregation, a steel car shop, a coat shop, and the testing laboratory, which represent early 20th-century rail infrastructure. And I think… we need to have landmarks like this that we preserve to remind us of Denver’s roots.”
• Kristi Burton Brown: “I think when you have big developers or big companies coming in and changing everything, there’s a huge difference in whether or not you wrap the community into it and say, ‘Hey, these plans are going forward,’… and that is kind of what Buc-ee’s is doing in Palmer Lake. But I think the hesitancy of the community should be valued by developers when they come in. And you should say, ‘We actually want people to like what we’re doing, not make them feel like they’re forced to accept it.’ When you widen the disconnect between people and the government, that’s really never helpful in today’s society.”
• Patty Calhoun reflects on what awaits with the site at Barnum Yards: “You can see many ways a stadium could have been built… incorporating these buildings. I don’t know if anyone’s ever been down there, but I have and it’s a fascinating area, plenty of space to use those buildings. But now they can’t, because they’re gone. And let’s remember, this was not Buc-ee’s that knocked down those buildings. It was the Colorado Department of Transportation… that is a state agency. They didn’t do anything illegal, but they were sneaky.”
• Alton Dillard agrees that while the demolitions were feasible, “they really don’t set up a lot of goodwill.”

Men’s health issues: The Insiders and I start talking every weekend about what might make good conversation starters on the next week’s show. This week, both Alton and Adam pushed hard for us to discuss men’s health issues in light of some news stories. CU Football Coach Deion Sanders announced he had battled and beaten bladder cancer during the off-season. Also this week, a report said men are the majority of callers (54%) to the 988 Colorado mental health hotline.

• Adam Burg admits he has called the hotline often: “I’m in recovery and there was a time in my life where I was glad to have it to call and be able to talk to someone. And if you don’t think the need is there, this is a good place to bring in some statistics. In Colorado, we face persistent high rates of alcohol addiction, binge drinking, and alcohol-related deaths compared to other states. I run into people every single day who need a line like 988 and they need mental health access—and they frankly just need support.”
• Kristi Burton Brown thanks Coach Prime for speaking so openly about his cancer fight: “My husband’s also a cancer survivor, and the type of cancer he had killed his grandfather. But because of medical advances, instead of 5% of men living with this kind of cancer, now 98% live—and my husband’s one of them. So anytime I see someone survive cancer, it is absolutely a moment to celebrate.”
• Alton Dillard is also grateful, for the same reason as Kristi’s husband: “I, too, am a cancer survivor. What I really admired about Coach Prime was his transparency about how un-fun some of these things can be.” He also shares the struggle his peers used to have in sharing personal medical situations: “When it comes to brain health, it is important as men to talk. In my friend circle over the past 20 years, we’ve had a suicide and a murder-suicide, and we just got together as guys and said, ‘We’ve got to do better about not only sharing our success, but sharing our failures and feeling that we’re in a safe space to do so.’” Thank you, Alton, for being so honest!

Significant moments in Colorado’s 149 years: I asked our Insiders to share significant moments from Colorado’s past that they believe others—especially all of our newer residents—should know:

• Kristi Burton Brown: 1893 & the Women’s Suffragist Movement in Colorado: “Colorado was the second state in the nation to give women the right to vote, well over two decades before the entire nation followed with a constitutional amendment. What’s particularly interesting is how we did it. It wasn’t our legislature—it was our people through the ballot initiative process. That really connects to today, because today the ballot initiative process is so key for Coloradans.”
• Patty Calhoun: 1864’s Sand Creek Massacre: “It really was the darkest day in territorial Colorado. This wasn’t taught in schools until the last few years. At the 150th anniversary, then-Governor John Hickenlooper stood up and apologized on behalf of all the living governors. But we’re still looking at an empty spot by the Capitol that’s supposed to have a statue erected for the Indigenous tribes. People should know about the Sand Creek Massacre and be prepared to talk about it as our state turns 150.”
• Alton Dillard: Lincoln Hills and Redlining (1920s–1970s): “For a state with a 4% Black population, a lot of people don’t know that there is a historical Black enclave that was formed in the 1920s called Lincoln Hills. Performers like Duke Ellington or Lena Horne couldn’t lodge in Denver, so they’d go up to Lincoln Hills after their shows. It now has National Historic Landmark designation, and there’s also a newly refreshed exhibit at History Colorado.”
• Adam Burg: Colorado’s Political Shift in the 2000s: “There’s a book from 2010 called The Blueprint, and it tells the story of how four prominent Democrats created a plan aimed at the 2006 and 2008 races to turn Colorado blue. It was very data-driven, with PACs and large funders driving political money. Look now, 20 years later, and you’ll see how Colorado became a reliably blue state.”

Birthdays are an awesome time to look back on all that has transpired. And, two days after Colorado Day is my birthday. This coming year will also be a big one for me, since it will mark 30 years since I moved to Colorado. To be honest, as a young journalist at 28, I never imagined Colorado would be my forever home. But I’m so proud to say I was led to the right place—and it’s an honor to talk about this state… the good and the bad… the hopes, dreams, and challenges… every week on Colorado Inside Out.