Bipartisan Compromise Enables Wolf Reintroduction to Proceed, While Rerouting Funding for Health Care Costs

Colorado lawmakers begin debating moves to limit corporate tax breaks as Senate passes several bills

Colorado’s special legislative session resumed Friday as lawmakers work to address a nearly $800 million budget shortfall caused by impacts from the recent federal tax bill. This story will be updated throughout the day. 11:15 a.m. update: The Senate gave formal approval Friday morning to a bill diverting some general fund money from wolf reintroduction to a state health insurance fund — marking the sole bipartisan agreement in what has so far b…

Bipartisan compromise enables wolf reintroduction to proceed, while rerouting funding for health care costs

A bill proposes transferring $250K to help Coloradans pay for health insurance instead of more wolves. In a compromise, Colorado can still acquire more wolves.

Lawmakers back off plan to pause Colorado’s wolf reintroduction program

A wolf runs across snow-covered terrain in British Columbia, Canada, in January 2025, with the shadow of a helicopter cast above. (Ryan Jones/CPW)Colorado lawmakers gave initial approval Thursday to a bill to redirect a small amount of state money from gray wolf restoration efforts to a health insurance affordability fund, but stopped short of requiring Colorado Parks and Wildlife to pause the capture and release of new wolves this winter. With …

Colorado lawmakers advance bill to redirect some wolf funding but kill effort to pause further reintroduction

A panel of Colorado lawmakers on Thursday advanced a bill that would redirect some funding from the state’s wolf reintroduction program to health insurance subsidies but stripped it of a provision that would’ve paused new wolf drops.  Senate Bill 5 was introduced by a bipartisan coalition of Western Slope lawmakers as part of the special legislative session that began on Thursday. Lawmakers are meeting mainly to respond to the impacts of the swe…

Western Slope lawmakers ditch plan to pause wolf reintroduction, but reach deal with governor to redirect some funding

Senate Bill 5 would move about $250,000 in funding earmarked for wolf reintroduction into a fund aimed at driving down health care costs. Colorado Parks and Wildlife will have to find the funding elsewhere to continue its reintroduction plans — which doesn’t appear to be a problem for the agency.

Western Slope lawmakers want to pause wolf reintroduction, redirect funding amid Colorado’s $1 billion budget hole

The savings would be relatively meager — wolf reintroduction cost Colorado taxpayers $3.5 million last year — but the Democrat leading the measure says it’s about priorities as the legislature contends with a steep drop in state tax revenue.