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The Good, the Bad, and the Alarming: What You Need to Know from Colorado’s 2025 Legislative Session
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The Good, the Bad, and the Alarming: What You Need to Know from Colorado’s 2025 Legislative Session

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board The 2025 legislative session officially adjourned Wednesday evening after 120 days, leaving behind a flood of new laws, deep partisan divides, and a public increasingly skeptical of the pace and priorities of progressive lawmakers. From sweeping gender identity mandates to gun control and TABOR attacks, the Democrat supermajority pushed through one of the most ideologically driven sessions in recent memory. Here’s a full breakdown of what passed, what failed—and what it all means for Colorado: 🔺 The Most Controversial Bills of Session SB25-003 – Gun Permit-to-Purchase Law (BECAME LAW): What began as a sweeping semi-auto ban was revised—under pressure from Gov. Polis—into a permit-to-purchase system. Starting in 2026, Coloradans must take ...
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Polis Vetoes Open Records Bill—But Conservatives Say It’s Too Little, Too Late
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Polis Vetoes Open Records Bill—But Conservatives Say It’s Too Little, Too Late

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board Governor Jared Polis vetoed a controversial bill last Thursday that would have made it more difficult—and more expensive—for Coloradans to access public records. But transparency advocates across the political spectrum say his sudden concern about responsive governance contradicts years of actions that have consistently chipped away at public accountability. Senate Bill 25-077, sponsored by Sen. Cathy Kipp (D–Fort Collins), would have: Extended response deadlines for open records requests from three to five days, and up to ten under “extenuating circumstances” Allowed government agencies to bundle multiple requests from the same person to increase feesEliminated the first free hour of research time for follow-up requests Created diffe...
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Polis’s $4M legal fund to fight Trump? GOP Senators say it’s a political power grab
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Polis’s $4M legal fund to fight Trump? GOP Senators say it’s a political power grab

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board Colorado Governor Jared Polis wants $4 million in taxpayer money to fight off the return of Trump—literally. Under HB25-1321, Democrats in the Colorado legislature are moving to shift $4 million from the state’s infrastructure fund directly into Polis’s office, allowing him to wage legal and administrative battles against the federal government, particularly policies implemented by the Trump administration.  The bill gives Polis sweeping discretion to use the funds however he sees fit, including hiring outside legal teams, launching lawsuits, and defending state officials under federal investigation. The bill—ironically titled "Support Against Adverse Federal Action"—has raised red flags across the aisle, with critics calling it a pa...
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The COvid Chronicles: Fifteen days that changed Colorado forever
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The COvid Chronicles: Fifteen days that changed Colorado forever

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board Editor’s Note: The following is the most extensive article RMV has published. We believe the depth is necessary to preserve the timeline and truth of Colorado’s earliest COVID response decisions. Colorado changed overnight. In the first two weeks of April 2020, headlines shifted from public health to public control. Behind the fear and mandates were decisions—made daily—that reshaped lives and redefined freedom. This is the record. April 1 Where else to start than the pages of The Denver Post (The DP)? On April 1, 2020 it wasn't an April Fool's Day joke that the economic industry Gov. Polis prioritized over such Centennial State mainstays as oil-and-gas and beef production – tourism – was reeling.  Hotels across the state were co...
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The COvid Chronicles: How fear and force reshaped Colorado
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The COvid Chronicles: How fear and force reshaped Colorado

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board How Polis and the powers-that-be permitted the COVID-19 pandemic to pervert Colorado's pioneer spirit It's one of the more ubiquitous storytelling styles in legacy corporate media — anniversary time pegs. In editorial meetings, reporters and editors look at a calendar, see what historic newsy event(s) are upcoming that originally occurred 5, 10, 25 years ago, and put into proper historical perspective said event on the respective anniversary. So, we thought here at Rocky Mountain Voice, with our exploding audience in the evolving media landscape, that we would do the same – bringing a historical spotlight on a topic that impacted all Coloradans, Americans – and just about every human on planet earth.  That topic? The government and m...
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Griswold sues against Trump’s executive order on elections but is a case study for it
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Griswold sues against Trump’s executive order on elections but is a case study for it

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board When Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced that she was joining a multi-state lawsuit to block President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) on election integrity, she declared the action a defense of democracy itself. “We will not wait on the sidelines while Donald Trump tries to legislate from the Oval Office and defies the Constitution,” Griswold said in an April 3 press release. But while Griswold accuses President Trump of federal overreach, her own record suggests a pattern of constitutional violations that have unfolded under the banner of election protection.  In fact, her treatment of Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters has become a case study in why federal oversight of elections—as President Trump’s EO proposes—may be more nec...
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Phil Weiser puts politics over Constitution in legal war against President Trump
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Phil Weiser puts politics over Constitution in legal war against President Trump

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is once again putting his progressive ideology ahead of the Constitution, launching a string of lawsuits aimed at blocking President Donald Trump’s executive orders—orders designed to restore law and order, secure the border, and protect minors from irreversible medical harm. In a recent feature by Yellow Scene Magazine, Weiser is portrayed as the liberal hero "fighting back" against Trump’s return to the White House. But to conservatives, Weiser’s efforts represent a dangerous misuse of taxpayer resources, with the AG acting more like a political activist than the state’s top law enforcement officer. Targeting Trump’s Common-Sense Policies From gender-neutral bathrooms in public schools to sanctuary ...
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Ballooning Medicaid costs, TABOR limits expose flaws in Colorado’s big government spending spree
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Ballooning Medicaid costs, TABOR limits expose flaws in Colorado’s big government spending spree

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board After years of overreach and unchecked government growth, Colorado lawmakers are now scrambling to plug a $1.2 billion hole in the state budget — a crisis largely of their own making.  Colorado budget writers voted Wednesday night to finalize a 2025–26 budget plan that slashes transportation funding, eliminates programs, and kicks key decisions down the road — all while Medicaid spending surges out of control. Despite the so-called “cuts,” the budget still grows to over $16 billion. But massive increases in Medicaid — particularly long-term care for seniors and the disabled — are eating up the budget at an unsustainable pace. Democrat lawmakers admit the problem is only getting worse. “Next year, I see our fiscal challenges compounding,...
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Editorial: HB 1055 fixes a $3 million mistake and protects small business, taxpayers
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Editorial: HB 1055 fixes a $3 million mistake and protects small business, taxpayers

By Editorial Board | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice As House Bill 25-1055, by Republican Rep. Max Brooks, approaches a committee hearing on Thursday, Feb. 6, stakeholders are emphasizing its significant implications for the state's business environment. The bill seeks to repeal the Democrat-led House Bill 24-1353, which mandates that firearm dealers obtain a state permit to operate. Critics argue that maintaining HB 1353 could impose substantial financial and regulatory burdens on Colorado small business owners. According to the Joint Budget Committee's fiscal analysis, HB 1353 requires an initial general fund expenditure of $618,973 in fiscal year 2024-25 to set up the program, with ongoing costs projected of nearly $3.1 million annually in subsequent years. Additionally, imple...
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Final take in 3rd District: One candidate has misled with deception, half-truths and lies; we support vote for Hurd
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Final take in 3rd District: One candidate has misled with deception, half-truths and lies; we support vote for Hurd

By Editorial Board | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Adam Frisch and the Democrats are at it again. In Colorado Congressional District 3, once again the Frisch campaign, in cahoots with the Colorado Democrats, is spending money and sending flyers to voters in support of a third-party candidate who can’t win. This time they are promoting Libertarian James Wiley, who is running in an attempt to suck votes away from Republican Jeff Hurd. The flyers promote Wiley as the only strong Trump supporter in the race, and mock Hurd’s long career as an attorney. They neglect to say that his work as an attorney was solely focused on fighting back against federal bureaucrats' overreaching regulations that were hurting local rural schools, farmers and ranchers,  and businesses in addi...
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