Colorado state employees, already struggling with high vacancy rates, are bracing for heavier workloads after Gov. Jared Polis implemented a hiring freeze for government agencies this month.
Polis announced the freeze alongside his call for a special legislative session, citing the impacts of the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, a federal tax and spending measure passed by Congressional Republicans and signed by President Donald Trump earlier this summer.
“Our hope is that these proactive measures will prevent more severe actions such as furloughs or layoffs,” Polis said in a statement. “This isn’t a decision I wanted to make, but unfortunately H.R. 1 is forcing the state to make difficult budget decisions, and the Executive Branch is looking at what we can do to practice what we preach and alleviate the financial burden created by the federal government.”
The freeze takes effect on August 27 and will remain in place until the end of the year.
However, many agencies are already struggling with a 20% vacancy rate, leaving employees overworked and stretched thin.
“I think we’re often relied on to do the work when it’s important, regardless of whether it’s in our job duty or it’s the role of a vacant position. So we do the work. We work longer, we work later,” said Madison Cappa, an employee with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE).
Cappa oversees safety net health centers across the state, ensuring patients can access primary care regardless of their ability to pay. Her division manages 100 organizations and over 500 clinicians, but her team consists of only three employees instead of the five it should have. She said the hiring freeze could make an already difficult situation worse.
“My biggest concern is that, as we continue to get work piled on us without getting additional support, people will reach a point where morale is so low they’ll have to choose between keeping these positions and finding something better for themselves,” Cappa said.
Hilary Glasgow, head of CO Wins, the union representing nearly 30,000 Colorado government workers, said many members have long felt overworked and underpaid.
“Most people are performing the functions of multiple jobs, and that’s before the hiring freeze,” Glasgow said. “It’s just a result of an inability to bring people into public service because of the low pay.”
While state agencies historically struggled to offer competitive wages, CO Wins secured the right to negotiate salaries in 2020 and won experience-based raises in 2022. Still, Glasgow stressed that the hiring freeze isn’t the root problem — instead, she blamed the federal tax-and-spending bill for cutting Colorado’s revenue by more than $1.2 billion.
“People are concerned and definitely care about this, and they understand that the $1.2 billion cut has come directly from the federal government,” Glasgow said.
The governor’s office clarified that the freeze is not a blanket policy. Instead, individual positions will be reviewed based on their impact to public safety, inmate care, and other critical functions before being placed on hold.
State Sen. Jeff Bridges, a Democrat from Greenwood Village and member of the legislature’s budget committee, said the hiring freeze represents the first financial step taken to address the budget shortfall.
“I think it was his way of saying the governor is taking this just as seriously as he expects the legislature to,” Bridges explained.
During the ongoing special legislative session, Colorado Democrats are pushing to roll back tax breaks for businesses and use money from the state’s reserve fund to stabilize the budget.
Republicans, meanwhile, argue the state should streamline spending and cut what they view as excessive expenditures by the Democratic majority.
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Katie is a senior who has been on staff for three years. Her favorite type of stories to write is reviews and features. Katie’s favorite ice cream flavor is strawberry.
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