Meet the Gatekeepers: Who Actually Runs the Colorado House This Session

The Bottom Line

This resolution isn't a new law—it's the official hiring document that appoints the clerks, policy analysts, and sergeants-at-arms for the 2026 legislative session. If you want to know who is actually tracking the bills, crunching the budget, and keeping the state government running behind the scenes, this is your official roster.

What This Bill Actually Does

At the start of every legislative session, the Colorado House of Representatives has to officially formally appoint its non-elected workforce. While the 65 elected representatives are the ones voting on the floor, the Capitol is ultimately a massive administrative machine. House Resolution 26-1001 is the formal document that hires and assigns the people who act as the engine of that machine for the Second Regular Session of the 75th General Assembly.

First, this bill appoints the operational backbone of the House. It officially names Vanessa Reilly as the Chief Clerk, a role that effectively acts as the Chief Operating Officer of the House floor. The resolution also appoints a small army of specialized clerks—like the Reading Clerk, who literally reads bill titles aloud into the public record, and the Enrolling Clerks. The enrolling clerks have one of the most high-stakes jobs in the building: they are responsible for ensuring that the final, amended version of a bill is perfectly proofread and formatted before it goes to the Governor's desk. A single typo or missed comma here can inadvertently change state law.

Second, the resolution lists the partisan staff who guide the political and policy strategy for both Republicans and Democrats. This includes the Majority and Minority Chiefs of Staff, media directors, and crucially, the Policy Analysts and Budget Analysts. These are the subject-matter experts who digest complex, hundred-page bills and translate them into digestible briefs for lawmakers. Finally, the bill appoints the Sergeants-at-Arms, led by Chief Sergeant-at-Arms Stephen Rosenthal, who maintain security and decorum, and officially brings on students from Arrupe Jesuit High School to serve in work-study roles as front office clerks and visitor aides.

What It Means for You

When we think about state government, we usually picture politicians arguing at podiums. But if you are a Colorado resident trying to navigate a problem, the people listed in this resolution are often the ones who actually impact your experience. Think of them as the gatekeepers, guides, and proofreaders of our state's democracy. Their daily work dictates how smoothly—and how transparently—your government operates.

For example, if you ever decide to visit the Capitol to testify on a bill that affects your neighborhood, your child's school, or your taxes, the first official you interact with will likely be one of the Sergeants-at-Arms. They are tasked with keeping committee rooms safe, orderly, and accessible to the public. If you call or email your representative with a complex problem, it is usually a Legislative Coordinator or Policy Analyst who reads your message, researches the issue, and advises your elected official on how to respond or what legislation to draft.

Furthermore, you rely on the precision of the Chief Assignable Clerk and the Journal Clerks to ensure that the laws you live under are accurate. When lawmakers debate late into the night, amending bills on the fly with handwritten notes, these clerks are the ones translating that chaos into the official, legally binding public record. It is a quiet, behind-the-scenes job, but the integrity of Colorado's legal code rests entirely on their shoulders. While you may never see their names on a ballot, their competence directly protects your rights and ensures the laws passed at the Capitol are exactly what the legislature intended.

What It Means for Your Business

If you own a business in Colorado—whether you are a general contractor, a real estate developer, or a restaurant owner—you already know that state regulations can dramatically impact your bottom line. When industry-shifting bills regarding labor laws, commercial property taxes, or environmental compliance move through the Capitol, the elected lawmakers are rarely the ones writing the technical fine print. They rely entirely on the staff appointed in this resolution.

If your industry trade association or lobbyist is working to fix a problematic regulation in a new bill, they aren't just talking to the politicians. They are deep in the weeds with the Majority Policy Analysts and Minority Policy Analysts. These staffers are the subject-matter experts who scrutinize amendments to see if they create unintended consequences for business owners. Knowing that there are dedicated Senior Budget Policy Analysts on this roster is also crucial if your business relies on state contracts, grants, or public infrastructure projects. These budget analysts are the ones who tell lawmakers exactly how much a new program will cost and whether the state can actually afford to pay its vendors.

Understanding the roles outlined in this resolution gives you a clear picture of how power and information actually flow in Denver. The Chief Clerk's office controls the docket—meaning they manage the calendar of when bills will be heard and voted on. If you are tracking a bill that could mandate new compliance reporting for your industry, the speed at which that bill moves is managed by the people on this list. While this resolution doesn't change your taxes or regulations directly, it formally installs the workforce that will.

Follow the Money

This resolution does not appropriate any new taxpayer dollars or raise revenue. Instead, it serves as the formal authorization to employ the individuals listed using funds already set aside in the state's annual budget for the Legislative Department.

The salaries for the clerks, policy analysts, sergeants-at-arms, and other staff members are paid by Colorado taxpayers to ensure the General Assembly has the professional infrastructure needed to function. While funding the legislative staff represents a fraction of a percent of the overall state budget, it is an essential investment in oversight; these are the professionals tasked with catching costly errors, analyzing billion-dollar state expenditures, and ensuring that taxpayer money isn't wasted on poorly drafted or unconstitutional legislation.

Where This Bill Stands

HR26-1001 is currently In Committee. The latest official action came on 01/20/2026: Signed by the Speaker of the House.

That means the bill is still in the committee stage. To keep moving, it would need to clear committee and then survive floor votes in both chambers.