Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Approved

House opens 75th session with Rep. DeGraaf questioning, if passwords were leaked can election be certified?
No Comments
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

House opens 75th session with Rep. DeGraaf questioning, if passwords were leaked can election be certified?

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice It did not take long for the opening of the 75th General Assembly to reach a hiccup Wednesday. Republican Rep. Ken DeGraaf objected to the Colorado House credentials committee report, typically a first order of business when opening the legislature, based upon concerns related to Secretary of State Jena Griswold's office leaking election system passwords. The credentials report is presented to the whole of the House and voted on to start the process of seating representatives. DeGraaf was critical of a system Griswold has self-described as the "gold standard". He rose to state the objection to the credentials report. "This [the password leak publicly] lasted a full four months," DeGraaf said. "This is the keys to the kingdom." His fu...
Read More
House passes immigration measure named after Laken Riley
No Comments
Approved, National, THE HILL

House passes immigration measure named after Laken Riley

By Rebecca Beitsch and Mychael Schnell | The Hill House Republicans focused their attention on the border with their first bill of the year, passing legislation named after the slain Georgia student Laken Riley that would require detention of migrants arrested for theft. The legislation cleared the chamber in a 264-159 vote, with 48 Democrats joining all Republicans in support. The Senate is expected to take up the legislation this week. Dubbed the Laken Riley Act, the legislation honors the woman killed by a Venezuelan migrant who was arrested for shoplifting ahead of the attack and paroled in the country. Riley’s birthday would have been Friday, which is the same day the Senate may take up the bill. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE HILL
Read More
Colorado Parks and Wildlife to discuss citizen petition to stop wolf reintroduction
No Comments
Approved, kdvr.com, State

Colorado Parks and Wildlife to discuss citizen petition to stop wolf reintroduction

By Carly Moore | Fox 31 News On Wednesday and Thursday, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission will hold meetings about potentially pausing or changing the wolf reintroduction program.  The program has been met with pushback, especially from livestock owners in the counties impacted.  CPW’s plan is to release 15 more wolves from Canada in January. The counties being considered are Garfield, Eagle and Pitkin. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX 31 NEWS
Read More
Colorado led effort to conceal medical debt from credit reporting in 2023
No Comments
Approved, CBS Colorado, State

Colorado led effort to conceal medical debt from credit reporting in 2023

By Alan Gionet | CBS Colorado A move Tuesday, in the last weeks of the Biden Administration means credit reporting agencies like TransUnion, Equifax and Experian will no longer be able to include unpaid medical bills on credit reports. At least for now. The move is a duplicative one for Colorado residents after the passage of a first-in-the-nation law in 2023 barring the inclusion of medical debt on credit reports. "I'm just starting to feel that like, 'wow, this is like, this is pretty amazing,'" said Western Slope resident Misty Castaneda. "I got to be part of something to help change a massive amount of everybody's lives." READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS COLORADO
Read More
Reward upped to $100K after dead wolf found with gunshot wound in Colorado
No Comments
Approved, Out There Colorado, State

Reward upped to $100K after dead wolf found with gunshot wound in Colorado

By Spencer McKee | Out There Colorado The reward being offered by a "consortium of conservation groups" for information about a wolf poaching incident in Colorado has doubled to $100,000, as of January 7. A press release related to the reward stipulates that $85,000 of the reward will follow formal charges being levied on a suspect, with the additional $15,000 getting delivered upon conviction of the suspect. This is an increase of the $50,000 award that was initially announced. The poaching investigation involves a Grand County wolf that died, with a necropsy revealing that it had sustained a gunshot wound that was likely a major factor in its death. READ THE FULL STORY AT OUT THERE COLORADO
Read More
In Round 5, Democrat Matthew Ball gets nod to represent Colorado’s Senate District 31
No Comments
Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

In Round 5, Democrat Matthew Ball gets nod to represent Colorado’s Senate District 31

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics A Democratic vacancy committee for Senate District 31 chose Matthew Ball to represent the central Denver district after five rounds of voting Tuesday night. Ball won with 61 votes over Rep. Steven Woodrow of House District 2, who finished with 37.  Seven candidates squared off in an hour-long candidates forum before the vacancy committee got down to the business of voting. The committee had 107 members present out of 109 total members. To win with the required 50% plus one of the vote, candidates had to get 54 votes as long as all 107 voted.  READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
Read More
Rep. Gonzalez: Without TABOR, we would have higher taxes, little to no tax refunds, and unlimited government spending
No Comments
Approved, Commentary, completecolorado.com

Rep. Gonzalez: Without TABOR, we would have higher taxes, little to no tax refunds, and unlimited government spending

By Rep. Ryan Gonzalez | Commentary, Complete Colorado In 1992, Colorado voters passed the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, the nation’s strongest tax limitation law to this day. For those who are unfamiliar what TABOR really does, this amendment to the Colorado Constitution allows government spending to reasonably increase using a formula of population growth plus inflation. Excess revenue, known as the “TABOR surplus,” must be refunded to taxpayers. If state government wants to keep the surplus, or raise taxes, voters must approve. That is exactly why progressives abhor TABOR. But the truth is, a little north of 60% of Colorado voters approve of TABOR. Many progressives have made their disdain for TABOR be known, having tried time and time again to chip away at TABOR’s...
Read More
Colorado regulators seeking steep increases in permitting fees for air pollutants
No Comments
Approved, State, The Sum & Substance

Colorado regulators seeking steep increases in permitting fees for air pollutants

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance Colorado regulators want to raise fees by as much as 67% on air-pollutant emissions and the permits that are required for them — a price hike that industry leaders hope will result in faster permitting. The Colorado Air Quality Control Commission voted last month to set an April rulemaking hearing to consider the fee increases and new rules around the reporting of emissions. If approved, four separate fee hikes — meant to cover the costs of permitting, monitoring and enforcement — would go into place between June 2025 and early 2026. These increases will be debated as part of a trio of hearings in the new year focused on increasing regulations around air toxic contaminants, as prescribed in a 2022 law. The AQCC will identify five air toxins...
Read More
Krannawitter: It’s time to abandon the old political paradigm of ‘left’ and ‘right’
No Comments
Approved, Commentary, Thomas Krannawitter

Krannawitter: It’s time to abandon the old political paradigm of ‘left’ and ‘right’

By Dr. Thomas Krannawitter | Thomas Krannawitter Those of us in the United States who love freedom because we care about human flourishing face the daunting challenge of political and cultural reform. Doing that work well will require clarity in both thought and speech. One adjustment that can help us think better and speak more clearly is to abandon the old political paradigm of “left” and “right”—which has always been nebulous and ill-defined—and replace it with an “up” and “down” model, the top of which represents good citizenship and government protection of natural liberty and private property, while tyranny and total government control over slavish subjects are at the bottom. READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT DR. THOMAS KRANNAWITTER'S SUBSTACK Editor’s note: Opinions expres...
Read More
Joondeph: Will Jan. 20 be another Independence Day, restoring freedom and liberty?
No Comments
Approved, Commentary, Rasmussen Reports

Joondeph: Will Jan. 20 be another Independence Day, restoring freedom and liberty?

By Dr. Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, Rasmussen Reports Independence Day, celebrated on July 4 of every year, is a national holiday commemorating the ratification of the Declaration of Independence, which established the United States of America, gaining freedom from British subjugation and tyranny. A song of the same name was named Country Music Song of the Year in the mid-1990s, performed by Martina McBride, celebrating an abused woman’s freedom from a brutal husband. Will January 20 be yet another Independence Day for freedom-seeking Americans against an abusive and tyrannical federal government? READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT RASMUSSEN REPORTS Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of t...
Read More