Joint Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources and House Agriculture, Water & Natural Resources

Friday, January 23, 2026·4h 17m·▶ Watch / Listen

The joint Agriculture and Natural Resources committees convened for a full-day oversight hearing covering the FY27 budget requests for the Departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources, SMART Act presentations from both departments, and major policy briefings on Colorado River post-2026 negotiations, Republican River Basin groundwater curtailment economics, gray wolf compensation fund shortfalls, and animal disease threats including HPAI and New World Screwworm. No legislation was voted on; the hearing was entirely informational.

Key Actions

·JBC Briefing – Governor's FY27 Budget Request (Agriculture & DNR)No Vote

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Controversies

Governor involvement in CPW Director appointment

Senator Byron Pelton argued that the Parks and Wildlife Commission is 'a type one board' and that Governor Polis reviewing resumes and participating in the final interview process for the CPW Director constitutes 'political interference,' stating 'there is not supposed to be any political interference from any political office.' Director Gibbs countered that 'this is the same process we've had since I've been here' and that he 'technically have veto authority, because the language says consent,' with Governor Polis having seen 'some of the resumes.'

+ 4 more controversies

Notable Quotes

“Those that have given it up for free have not fared well. We have less ability to fight if we give it away for free. And so am I nervous? Am I afraid? Absolutely. That cannot change how I behave. And those North Stars that I talked about are the same North Star. My North Star is to protect every single Coloradan, every water user in Colorado. And I have to do it that way.”
Rebecca Mitchell, Colorado River Commissioner — Senator Dylan Roberts asked Mitchell whether recent federal administration actions — including frozen Shoshone water rights funding and denied disaster funding to Colorado counties — should change Colorado's negotiating strategy on post-2026 Colorado River operating guidelines.

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TranscriptPreview

All right. Joint Agriculture, Water and Natural Resources Smart act hearing is now coming to order. Please call the roll. Senators and Representatives Catlin. Excused. Danielson. Excused. Garcia. Sander. Present. Goldstein. Here. Henriksen. Excused. Johnson. Here. Yep. Here. Lindsey. Here. Lukens. Here. Martinez. Here. Morrow. Online but excused for now. Pelton B. Present. Pelton R. Here. Smith. Here. Stuart K. Here. Story. Here. Here. Sukhla. Here. Winter. Here. Roberts. Here. And Madam Chair? Here. Great. Thank you all for being here on a Friday afternoon. We start with our JBC committee briefing and Representative Sirota. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll just say a few words before I turn it over to Senator Kirkmeyer, but we are here before you to meet our joint rule 25 obligation and what we bring to you today. A discussion about the governor's budget request for the fiscal year 27. He is required to submit a balanced budget and did so well. He submitted a budget on October 31st. And we have since been spending time with our analysts, getting briefed on each department and spent time in hearings with the department's committee going over our questions about their submissions. And so we have been…

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