Session has ended! We have so enjoyed representing the Colorado State Fire Chiefs at the Capitol again this year.

The 2026 legislative session was an extremely active and consequential one for the Colorado State Fire Chiefs. Throughout the session, we partnered with you to influence policy across a wide range of issues impacting fire service personnel, local government finance, wildfire resiliency, emergency response operations, and the long-term sustainability of public safety systems across Colorado.

This year required a combination of offense, defense, and technical expertise. In some cases, CSFC was proactively advancing policy concepts and shaping legislation. In others, the organization worked to protect local budgets, operational authority, and emergency response systems from proposals that could have had serious unintended consequences for departments across the state.

We continued to work hard to ensure decision makers view CSFC as a trusted, practical, and solutions-oriented voice at the Capitol. With your partnership, we worked closely with legislators, stakeholders, and the administration to ensure fire service perspectives were centered in major policy conversations.

CSFC supported several important measures this year designed to provide resources and support for firefighters, emergency personnel, and Colorado communities.

Those efforts included legislation creating affordable housing opportunities for first responders through CHFA, strengthening and protecting the Firefighter Behavioral Health Trust, improving roadway safety protections for emergency responders, advancing updates to the Fire and Police Pension Association's death and disability plan, and helping establish a long-term framework for a more sustainable homeowner’s insurance market in Colorado’s Wildland Urban Interface.

CSFC was also heavily engaged in broader state budget and infrastructure discussions impacting emergency response systems. The organization helped support legislation creating long-term sustainability for 911 and 988 services statewide and successfully worked behind the scenes to mitigate a potentially devastating reduction to firefighter behavioral health trust funding through amendments to a state budget orbital bill.

A major focus this session was also protecting local government and fire district funding. CSFC worked successfully to preserve important state backfill revenue streams and helped defeat another statewide property tax reduction proposal that would have significantly impacted local government and fire district budgets across Colorado.

While these defensive efforts often receive less public attention than new legislation, they were critically important in protecting operational capacity and local resources at a time when emergency service demands continue to increase statewide. In this spirit, we also helped secure funding for a study examining the financial health and wellbeing of Colorado fire protection districts and departments as part of a larger effort aimed at exploring viable revenue options at the local and state level.

The organization also worked extensively on operational and implementation concerns tied to several high-profile bills. This included CSFC's opposition to the so-called “surveillance bills,” which emerged from broader national conversations on immigration and monitoring technology. While recognizing both the political and policy complexity of those discussions, CSFC remained focused on the practical operational impacts these proposals would have had on emergency response agencies and their ability to provide services safely and effectively.

CSFC also worked alongside several partners to oppose legislation that would have undermined the Wildfire Resiliency Code Board. While the organization remains committed to collaborative implementation discussions where concerns exist, CSFC believed the proposal was misguided in both structure and intent.

One of the more difficult issues of the year came during the final days, when surprise legislation related to firefighter illness and workers’ compensation benefits was introduced with only two weeks left in the session.

CSFC has historically worked closely with CPFF, the bill proponents, and other partners on firefighter health and benefits issues. However, CSFC ultimately opposed this legislation due to serious concerns with the impacts it would have on the long-term integrity of Colorado’s unique cancer trust model, the creation of substantial financial liabilities for local governments and agencies, and the lack of meaningful stakeholder engagement prior to introduction that would have allowed us to identify the scope of the issue the legislation sought to address and ensure that the proposed solution did not create new, detrimental, and unintended impacts.

In addition to legislative engagement, CSFC spent substantial time this year exploring long-term sustainable funding solutions for fire protection and emergency response services statewide.

The organization worked with legislators, outside consultants, and stakeholders on several potential concepts, including statewide and local funding mechanisms tied to fire protection and emergency response sustainability. While those proposals ultimately did not move forward this session, the conversations laid important groundwork for future discussions on long-term funding stability for fire districts across Colorado.

As always, CSFC continues to demonstrate thoughtful, proactive leadership grounded in public safety, operational expertise, fiscal responsibility, and practical coalition building. The organization’s standing and political capital with legislators, agencies, and stakeholders remain exceptionally strong.

Be sure to review our full 2026 Legislative Report and 2026 Budget Report for more insights and perspective on the 2026 legislative session. This year is an election year, and we have put together a 2026 election candidate database. These are all linked here and can also be found in your Client Resources folder.

We look forward to continuing our work together over the interim as we refine 2027 priorities and continue advancing policies that strengthen Colorado’s fire service and protect our communities statewide.

All our best,