Gov. Jared Polis was sworn into his second term Tuesday, riding praise from his first-term accomplishments and making promises to continue cutting costs for Coloradans.
Polis, a Democrat from Boulder, decisively won re-election in November. He painted a cheerfully determined picture of the four years to come and focused on accomplishments from his first term: putting into state law the right to an abortion; free full-day kindergarten; free preschool for part of the week; caps on health care costs through drug pricing and changes to the individual insurance market, among others.
He listed his priorities for the next four years in broad strokes: lower taxes, lower transportation costs, lower medical bills, lower business fees, and lower housing costs. He also reiterated his ongoing goal of Colorado transitioning to 100% renewable energy by 2040.
“Throughout my first term, we’ve crossed some big items off of our to-do list, but that doesn’t mean the list in front of us today is any shorter,” Polis said.
He also cited 2026’s upcoming 150th anniversary of Colorado becoming a state as an inflection point for the state to ask: Who do we want to be?