DENVER – Despite significant fiscal constraints and federal uncertainty, Colorado’s legislators delivered progress for children and families who need it most in the 2026 legislative session, including a landmark update to the state’s public benefits system; sustained funding for public education; and improvements to the state’s child care system.
“This was not an easy session,” said Heather Tritten, President and CEO of the Colorado Children’s Campaign. “But our policymakers showed up for kids in important ways. They maintained public education funding in a tight budget year. They made essential, long overdue changes to make sure our safety net is meeting children’s needs. And they supported bills that will improve access to child care and support health coverage for kids.”
The Colorado Children’s Campaign released its 2026 Legislative & Budget Impacts publication today. Key wins for children include:
- Economic Security: A landmark overhaul of the public benefits system (HB26-1429) will make programs like SNAP, TANF, Medicaid, and child care assistance work better for the families who rely on them.
- K-12 Education: Students with disabilities gained stronger state-level protections (SB26-125) at a moment when federal oversight has weakened. A new youth mental health funding stream (HB26-1418) will expand access to prevention, crisis response, and peer support—without added pressure on the state budget. And for the first time, state law defines the “Opportunity Gap,” grounding future education policy in a shared commitment to equity (SB26-170).
- Early Childhood: The Child Care Contribution Tax Credit was extended for an unprecedented 10 years (HB26-1004), preserving upwards of $80 million annually for providers. And new legislation streamlined local early childhood infrastructure, consolidating overlapping organizations to cut bureaucracy and put more resources directly into services for kids (SB26-019).
- Health: Colorado preserved coverage for more than 270,000 undocumented children and pregnant adults through the Cover All Coloradans program, even as the budget required difficult tradeoffs. Lawmakers also stabilized private insurance markets through the Health Insurance Affordability Enterprise (SB26-178): and strengthened vaccine access to protect children from preventable disease (SB26-032).
This year also included several missed opportunities for kids, including a comprehensive package of tax reforms that would have closed loopholes and allowed the state to invest in families’ economic stability (HB26-1221 and HB26-1222) and a bill that would have created the state’s first-ever independent state fund for child care for families with low incomes (SB26-180).
The Colorado Children’s Campaign will continue to monitor implementation of the measures that passed and advocate for the long-term, sustainable investments Colorado’s children deserve.
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Media contact: Jackie Zubrzycki, Vice President of Communications
Email: Jackie@ColoradoKids.org
About the Colorado Children’s Campaign
The Colorado Children’s Campaign is a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to improving the lives of Colorado’s children through research, policy development, and advocacy. Since 1985, the Campaign has worked to ensure every Colorado child has the opportunity to grow up healthy, educated, and economically secure. Learn more at coloradokids.org.