Colorado calls special session to address cuts due to "big, beautiful bill"

State of play: The special session starting Aug. 21 comes three months after the regular term ended, but state lawmakers face a completely new fiscal outlook with the passage of H.R. 1, dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

• The session will take at least three days — the minimum required to pass a bill in Colorado — but will likely last longer.

By the numbers: Colorado's current budget is $783 million short, according to a revised estimate from the governor's budget chief.

• Polis announced a hiring freeze on Wednesday effective Sept. 1 through the end of the year to save at least $3 million in state expenditures.

The intrigue: Even before the federal bill, lawmakers faced a spending pinch this year — one so deep that they cut roughly $30 million set aside for potential special sessions.

The other side: Republican lawmakers expressed frustration that it took the governor so long to fix the budget. "I'm just bamboozled with what's going on," Rep. Rick Taggart (R-Grand Junction) said at a budget hearing earlier this week.

Zoom in: The AI legislation is set to take effect next February, but it faces plenty of critics who want to rework privacy protections to avoid burdening technology companies.