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Author: Jen Schumann

Backlash ignored: Senate approves HB25-1312 without parental rights protections
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Backlash ignored: Senate approves HB25-1312 without parental rights protections

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Proponents hail the bill as a civil rights milestone for transgender youth. But Republicans say it strips parental rights, embeds compelled speech into law and threatens custody in future court cases. After weeks of public backlash, failed compromise efforts, and a marathon Senate floor debate, Colorado lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to HB25-1312 – a bill that critics say severs parents from decisions about their children’s identities in school. The bill passed its final Senate vote on Tuesday with no additional debate or amendments. The House voted to concur with all Senate amendments and repassed the bill without further changes, sending it to Governor Jared Polis. The final version no longer includes the family court and out-of-s...
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A turning point for Colorado: RMV announces first Mountain Majesty Gala featuring Eric Trump on June 21 
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A turning point for Colorado: RMV announces first Mountain Majesty Gala featuring Eric Trump on June 21 

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice The conservative grassroots in Colorado is waking up – and gathering for something bigger than politics as usual. Tickets are now on sale for what organizers are calling a major turning point for Colorado conservatives. Rocky Mountain Voice will host its first Mountain Majesty Gala on June 21 in the Denver Metro area. Doors open at 5:00 PM, and guests are encouraged to dress formal for an evening built to energize Colorado’s conservative movement – something many say is long overdue. Grassroots leaders, elected officials and media voices will gather for a night of connection, clarity and shared purpose. Eric Trump will serve as keynote speaker for the evening. A national conservative voice with deep grassroots credibility, Trump is exp...
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Members left in the dark: LPEA board spends big while margins shrink and bills climb
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Members left in the dark: LPEA board spends big while margins shrink and bills climb

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice When La Plata Electric Association (LPEA) members open their May power bills, most will see the effects of a 7.72% rate increase that quietly took effect April 1. While LPEA’s board says the hike is needed to cover infrastructure and supply costs, many members are beginning to ask harder questions – not just about what they’re paying, but about how their cooperative is being run. From 2019 to 2023, La Plata Electric Association’s revenue barely grew, just $3 million over five years. But its expenses went up by more than $10 million, causing profits to drop sharply.  In 2019, LPEA made $10.3 million in net income.  By 2023, that had fallen to just $3.8 million, a 63% decline. That means the co-op now keeps only 3 cents of every do...
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Michelle Chandler stopped a predator — and uncovered victims who may never know
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Michelle Chandler stopped a predator — and uncovered victims who may never know

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice On May 11, 2024, at Nordstrom Rack in Lakewood, Colorado, Michelle Chandler caught a man filming her inside a women’s fitting room. She didn’t freeze or panic. Instead, she confronted him, pinned him to the ground and held him until help arrived – or so she thought.  What happened next wasn’t the swift arrival of justice. It was abandonment: by store employees, by security and later, by a system more concerned with procedure than protection. Chandler’s story quickly gained attention when she posted about it on Instagram. Social media influencers – including David Harris Jr. posted about the video. Local radio and National news outlets reached out to cover the story. And strangers from Canada to Europe responded, showing their support.&nb...
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“Drawing the line”: School boards warn HB25-1312 oversteps on parental rights, brings policy chaos
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“Drawing the line”: School boards warn HB25-1312 oversteps on parental rights, brings policy chaos

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Board members say the bill risks punishing parents, stripping local authority, and forcing schools into the middle of contentious custody battles More than 70 school board members and education leaders have signed a letter urging lawmakers to reject HB25-1312, also known as the Kelly Loving Act. Jason Jorgenson, secretary of the District 11 Board of Education and a lead organizer of the opposition letter, said HB25-1312 “risks encouraging youth to pursue a path of gender transition without appropriate parental involvement.” Andrea Haitz, president of the District 51 Board of Education, warned that the bill “risks placing schools in an even more precarious legal position, especially when parents disagree on matters like gender identity or p...
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Clock runs out on social media bill: lawmakers shield themselves and Polis from historic override
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Clock runs out on social media bill: lawmakers shield themselves and Polis from historic override

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice The Senate overrode the governor’s veto. The House never even had to say no. In Colorado politics, sometimes the clock matters more than the votes. Without casting a single "no" vote, Colorado lawmakers on April 28 killed a bipartisan attempt to override Governor Jared Polis’ veto of a social media regulation bill. Just days earlier, the Senate had voted 29–6 to override the veto of Senate Bill 25-086, marking the state's first successful chamber override of a policy bill in more than a decade.  But when the bill reached the House, members voted 51–13 to lay over the override until after the legislative session ended. As reported by The Colorado Sun, the maneuver guaranteed the bill’s death without a formal vote, allowing lawmakers to av...
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Court sides with new Colorado GOP Chair, blocks committee tied to former leadership
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Court sides with new Colorado GOP Chair, blocks committee tied to former leadership

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice A district judge in El Paso County has rejected an attempt by the Colorado Republican Party’s Investigative Committee—an entity formed under former chair Dave Williams—to intervene in a lawsuit that the party’s current leadership has moved to dismiss. In a ruling filed April 23, District Court Judge Amanda J. Philipps found that the Investigative Committee lacks standing and legal authority to join or intervene in the ongoing civil case, saying the group was assigned "limited tasks" and does not possess independent power to act on behalf of the Colorado Republican State Central Committee (CRC). "Absent an express statutory right, a subordinate state agency lacks standing or any other legal authority to obtain judicial rev...
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Colorado law limits what voters can verify—and critics say that needs to change
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Colorado law limits what voters can verify—and critics say that needs to change

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Mesa County’s Ballot Verifier tool has been praised for giving residents unprecedented access to redacted ballot images and cast vote records. But for some longtime election integrity advocates, it’s only part of the solution. “This is a great step forward,” said Ed Arnos, a Mesa County resident and former lottery systems designer. “But it doesn’t verify the most important part—how the ballots were actually read.” This article is Part 3 of a three-part series on the Ballot Verifier: Mesa’s launch, Ada County’s pilot and the debate over election transparency laws. A philosophical divide Mesa County residents Tom Keenan and Ed Arnos have supported election transparency efforts for years. But both say the current syste...
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From critics to champions: How a ballot transparency tool won over Idaho voters—and inspired Mesa County
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From critics to champions: How a ballot transparency tool won over Idaho voters—and inspired Mesa County

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice When Ada County launched a ballot audit tool built by a small independent company, no one knew what to expect. But what followed surprised even the clerk who helped shape it.  Election skeptics became supporters, recount demands dropped and voters started tracking their own ballots—sometimes using nothing more than a $2 bill. What began as a simple idea sketched on napkins between an Idaho election official and a civic-minded data entrepreneur would grow into a public-facing ballot verification platform now used by counties in multiple states, including Mesa County, Colorado. This article is Part 2 of a three-part series on the Ballot Verifier: Mesa’s launch, Ada County’s pilot and the debate over election transpa...
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