3 Things Congress Should Get Done This Year

Congress is back in session, and we have a lot of work to do.

Coloradans are facing a cost-of-living emergency. Gas, groceries, housing. Just about everything costs more. Working families are being left behind while the wealthiest Americans make money hand over fist. Americans are deeply concerned about how we regulate AI and how it’ll impact all of us.

We have to end President Trump’s war of choice, repeal his disastrous tariffs, and get back to addressing your needs.

As we fight on those fronts, we’re focused on three priorities we’re pushing to deliver before the end of the year.

Healthcare Transparency

The lack of transparency in our healthcare system is astounding. A trip to the hospital can sometimes feel like a trip to the casino: a complete gamble.

It shouldn’t be this way.

For months, we’ve been hard at work on a bill to change that. Our Patients Deserve Price Tags Act requires providers to publish the actual prices of services so Americans know what a visit or procedure will cost and can compare prices to find the best deal.

That matters now more than ever. A recent survey of 1,800 employers found that healthcare costs are expected to rise over 8% in 2027 compared with this year’s costs for employer-sponsored health insurance.

We can’t wait another minute to address our healthcare crisis.

If we’re serious about lowering costs and putting ourselves on a path to universal coverage, we should start by following the money.

Our bill has already passed committee with overwhelming bipartisan support. Now it’s time for the full Senate to pass it.

Preventing Wildfires

This summer has been one of the worst wildfire seasons in modern Colorado history. We’ve lost five brave firefighters, hundreds of homes have been destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of acres have burned.

We’ve traveled to many of these communities, and the destruction is something you never get used to. Where homes once stood, families are now facing the difficult task of rebuilding their lives.

We cannot sit idly by while climate change and drought continue to ravage the West.

That’s why we’re pushing our bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act. The bill would improve forest management, support fire-safe communities, and streamline projects that protect communities and ecosystems from catastrophic wildfires.

Wildfires aren’t going away anytime soon. We need to reduce the risk before fires start and make our homes, businesses, and communities more resilient when they do.

This bill has also passed committee and is waiting for a vote in the full Senate. It shouldn’t take another tragedy for Congress to act.

Permitting Reform

There’s a military term dating back to World War II: FUBAR. It stands for “fouled up beyond all recognition.”

There’s no better way to describe America’s permitting process.

Want to build new transmission lines to bring down energy costs? It takes forever. Roads, bridges, clean energy projects? Just getting the permits to start can take years.

We need to stop finding reasons not to build things and start finding ways to get things built.

We’ve put forward legislation to streamline the permitting process and better coordinate our interstate transmission system. But we’re not stopping there.

One thing I learned in the bar business is that when you bring people together over good food – and maybe a pint or two – good things happen. People talk. They let down their guard.

It’s in that same spirit that I’ve been regularly convening a bipartisan group of senators to discuss how we can make real progress on overhauling federal permitting processes for energy projects of all kinds.

Despite all the division in Washington, there’s clear consensus that something needs to be done, and fast. If we want to lower energy costs, confront climate change, and compete with China, we need to make it easier to responsibly create more clean energy here at home.

What’s Next

There’s no shortage of pressing problems to tackle: a broken immigration system that’s inflicting terror on our communities, reckless attempts to sell our public lands to the highest bidder, and continued attacks on American science. We’re continuing to work on all of these issues – and more.

This August, I traveled across Colorado to Beaver Creek, Blackhawk, Dolores, Durango, Eagle, Edwards, Frisco, Georgetown, Golden, Hasty, La Junta, Lamar, Limon, Ouray, Pueblo, Ridgway, and Towaoc. We heard from working families, business owners, and community leaders about the problems you’re facing.

We’ll take those stories back to Washington and keep fighting to make life better for every Coloradan.