Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday issued the first vetoes of the 2026 legislation, striking down a social media bill that he also rejected a year ago.

He rejected a total of four, including a bill that was intended to help balance the 2026-27 state budget. The measure — House Bill 1355 — was among the 64 “orbitals,” bills intended to change state law in order to balance the budget.

The state constitution requires the Colorado General Assembly to pass a balanced budget every year.

His veto does not mean the budget is out of balance, the governor insisted.

HB 1355 deals with the state’s “out-of-school time” program, which annually spends about $3.5 million to award grants to nonprofit organizations that provide enrichment activities outside of school hours to students in
K-12 public schools.

The funding for HB 1355, which was approved by lawmakers in 2024, was cut in half for 2026-27, which was intended to be its final year.

In his veto letter, Polis said the initial estimates expected in the upcoming June forecast from the Office of State Planning and Budgeting (OSPB) indicate that the state will have have additional revenue that “can minimize this impact and allow the state to restore $1.75M to make this program whole in its final year.”

OSPB is the budget arm of the governor’s office.

“Because this program was one-time in nature, this restoration will not cause long-term or undue burden on the long-term sustainability of the budget,” he said.

Meanwhile, Polis’ veto of another legislation with ties to the 2025 Evergreen High School shooting has has drawn criticism.

Backers of House Bill 1355 said it was intended to help law enforcement with access to social media platforms. The bill is a repeat from 2025 that Polis also rejected.

Under the measure, a social media operator must comply with a search warrant within 24 hours, set up a staffed hotline to allow for status updates on search warrant compliance and acknowledge the receipt of a search warrant within eight hours.

In his veto letter, Polis said that, after last year’s veto, he he had committed to work on the issue, including to provide “meaningful protection without infringing on individual constitutional rights.”

He pointed out he had signed a related bill —Senate Bill 26-011 — on search warrants for covered platforms in March. That measure requires social media platforms to respond to warrants within 72 hours.

But Polis also noted he supports a national approach on these kinds of issues.

He said he vetoed HB 1255 in part because it established a 24-hour required response, instead of 72 hours, and would move Colorado out of alignment with other states, such as California.

He also disagreed with the bill’s requirement for social media platforms to report users to local law enforcement if they found that a user’s post violated their own policies — within 24 hours.

This requirement would apply to any user who posts publicly available content
that may contain a specific or imminent threat, as determined by the social media company, Polis wrote in his veto letter.

The governor said he has worries about the types of content that would trigger scrutiny under the law and put the authority for inquiry into those posts into the hands of a private entity, rather than the judicial process.

Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty condemned the veto, saying it was drafted in response to the Sept. 10, 2025, shooting at Evergreen High School, in which the suspect shot and critically injured two students before killing himself.

The prosecutor called the veto deeply disappointing, saying the state missed an opportunity to help prevent future acts of violence, Dougherty.

This bill had one goal — to save lives by helping law enforcement respond more quickly to credible threats posted on social media before violence occurs, he said.

“What makes this veto especially painful is that this bill was driven by courageous young people and educators who turned unimaginable trauma into action to protect others. The Evergreen students and teachers who advocated for this legislation showed extraordinary leadership, strength, and determination,” he said, adding, “They deserved better.”

The governor also vetoed House Bill 26-1286, which would have required a commercial vehicle with an automated driving system to have a human present at all times.

Finally, he rejected House Bill 1418, which would have required online game platforms to add a 5% fee to transactions. The revenue would, in turn, fund a youth mental health services access enterprise within the state’s Behavioral Health Administration.

Polis said he does not support the fee for a variety of legal and other reasons, including that as an enterprise it would violate the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

In addition, enforcing education rights is a core government function, one that an enterprise cannot fund under state law, he said.

The governor has until June 12 to sign, veto or allow bills to become law without his signature.