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Colorado Lawmakers Open Door To Unlimited Conversion Therapy Lawsuits After Supreme Court Ruling
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Open Door To Unlimited Conversion Therapy Lawsuits After Supreme Court Ruling

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER–Despite the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) recently slapping down Colorado’s ban on so-called “conversion therapy,” legislative Democrats are taking yet another swing at influencing conversations mental health professionals have with clients around gender indentity. This time around, it’s the threat of lawsuits at any time in the future, and with no limit on potential damages. As previously reported by Complete Colorado, SCOTUS in March struck down a 2019 statute barring state licensed therapists from engaging in “efforts to change an individual’s sexual orientation, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attraction”  The court held t...
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Colorado budget showdown: GOP forces full reading of 661-page bill, halting debate
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado budget showdown: GOP forces full reading of 661-page bill, halting debate

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics A procedural battle at the Colorado Capitol boiled over on Wednesday night, when a House Republican demanded the 661‑page state budget be read aloud in full — a move that delayed the advance of the proposed $46.8 billion spending plan. Colorado legislators are constitutionally required to adopt a balanced budget each year. For next year’s budget, they are grappling with $1.5 billion deficit in general fund dollars, compelling them to cut spending and reexamine programs, particularly in Medicaid, the major factor driving the deficit. In addition to the state’s Medicaid woes, Democrats have blamed Congress for Colorado’s fiscal woes, arguing the federal budget changed the revenue equation and caused the state budget to go unbalanced. Republic...
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DIGNITY Act debate: What’s in the bill raising concerns on amnesty and enforcement
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The Federalist, Approved, National

DIGNITY Act debate: What’s in the bill raising concerns on amnesty and enforcement

By Brianna Lyman | Commentary, The Federalist I read the bill. And frankly, it might be worse than just amnesty. Despite President Donald Trump winning on the promise of “mass deportations,” a handful of spineless Republicans, alongside Democrats, are trying to push a mass amnesty act known as the DIGNIDAD Act — or, for English speakers, the DIGNITY Act. The legislation is billed as not being amnesty, but would give millions of illegal aliens — both so-called DREAMers/DACA and non-DREAMers/DACA — a legal status. But co-sponsor Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., insists it’s not amnesty, so much so that she’s screaming at people on X to “READ. THE. BILL. BEFORE. YOU. OPEN. YOUR. MOUTH.” So I read the bill. And frankly, it might be worse than just a...
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Federal lease sale brings $8 million boost as Colorado energy shifts to Washington-controlled land
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Federal lease sale brings $8 million boost as Colorado energy shifts to Washington-controlled land

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER–The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) quarterly oil and gas lease sale in Colorado generated over $8 million, the most successful such sale the federal lands agency has enjoyed in recent years. The BLM, as well as energy policy experts credit the successful lease sale in large part to the Trump administration’s pro-energy production policies. According to its recent press release, the BLM on March 31 leased 68 parcels of federal land for drilling in Colorado, generating $8.1 million. Over 42,000 acres were leased across Weld, Jackson, Routt, Arapahoe, Delta, Mesa, Rio Blanco, Gunnison, and Garfield counties. This sale was conducted with lower royalties embedded in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), which reduced th...
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Polis loses ground with Democrat base as cost-of-living fears rise
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Polis loses ground with Democrat base as cost-of-living fears rise

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics Gov. Jared Polis is losing steam among members of his party, particularly progressive Democrats, according to a recent poll. Other statewide Democrats also saw their favorability ratings drop, though relatively stable compared to the governor’s numbers, the poll conducted by the Colorado Polling Institute in late March said. Forty-four percent of respondents said they view Polis favorably, down seven percentage points from last March. Nearly 50% of respondents said they had a negative view of the governor, whose final term ends this year. Polis’ favorability was strong within the Democratic Party last year, with 84% of members saying they viewed him favorably. That number has dropped to 72%, while Polis’ approval among Democrats...
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Free speech or state control?: Elon Musk lawsuit targets Colorado’s AI discrimination law
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Financial Times, Approved, State

Free speech or state control?: Elon Musk lawsuit targets Colorado’s AI discrimination law

By Alex Rogers and George Hammond | Financial Times Elon Musk’s AI lab claims the regulations violate free speech protections Elon Musk’s xAI has filed a lawsuit challenging Colorado’s landmark AI bill as the Trump administration and leading industry players try to stop US states from regulating the technology. Colorado’s bill, set to take effect in the summer, was the first state-level initiative passed to impose protections against “algorithmic discrimination” in AI systems. Musk’s AI lab, which recently merged with rocket group SpaceX, says the bill would force it to “promote the state’s ideological views on various matters, racial justice in particular” rather than its own “disinterested pursuit of truth”. The lawsuit is the latest move in a battle between ...
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Colorado loses jobs as nearly 100 companies exit, business leaders demand change
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado loses jobs as nearly 100 companies exit, business leaders demand change

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado Colorado is losing businesses and jobs at an alarming rate. Now, the ones who've stuck around are calling on state leaders to make changes before things get even worse. The Colorado Chamber of Commerce has been sounding an alarm for years about excessive regulation and, last year, more people moved out of Colorado than into the state. The chamber says companies are also relocating out-of-state. It released data showing, since 2019, 98 companies have either left the state, expanded elsewhere, or scrapped plans to move here. That's resulted in more than 13,000 lost jobs. Since 2022, Colorado has also had a net loss of 34 public company headquarters. Some of the states seeing gains from Colorado's losses included Texas, California a...
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From imminent threat to no threat: Why the Iran narrative suddenly changed
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American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

From imminent threat to no threat: Why the Iran narrative suddenly changed

By Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker Not long ago, Iran was described as an imminent threat. Now we are told it wasn’t a threat at all. What changed? Not the facts. The politics. That shift is playing out in real time as the narrative around the Iran war evolves. A recent Rasmussen Reports poll found that a majority of likely U.S. voters believe the conflict has been successful so far. Under normal circumstances, that would invite a sober reassessment. Instead, it has produced something closer to denial. From the beginning, critics warned that confronting Iran would spark chaos across the Middle East, destabilize global markets, and drag the United States into another endless quagmire. Many insisted there was no urgent threat requiring acti...
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Colorado Supreme Court sides with transparency in child abuse hotline case
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado Supreme Court sides with transparency in child abuse hotline case

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project The CFOIC article linked at bottom details a recent ruling by the CO Supreme Court. Five years on from when the suit was first filed, the state’s highest court ruled that the Colorado Sun and 9News have a right to some records from the state’s child abuse hotline pertaining to group homes for children. The State of Colorado, in particular the State Department of Human Services (CDHS) had argued that releasing the statistics would violate state statutes pertaining to confidentiality, mainly due to there only being three group homes from which statistics were sought.** Quoting with links intact: “CDHS contended the information could be used to identify individual informants, children or family members — in ...
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Colorado Faces Backlash Over Law Limiting Attorney Cooperation With Federal Authorities
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Fox News, Approved, Commentary, National

Colorado Faces Backlash Over Law Limiting Attorney Cooperation With Federal Authorities

By Jonathan Turley | Commentary, Fox News New law forces lawyers to certify they won't share court data with immigration officials. Colorado's tourism slogan, "It's Our Nature," has a menacing meaning for free speech advocates. Colorado is now arguably the most anti-free speech state in the union, pushing an array of measures attacking those with opposing social and political views. The irony is that the state has proved a bonanza for free speech with spectacular legal failures that reaffirmed rather than restricted the First Amendment. Now, the Democratic legislature and governor are back with new unconstitutional measures, including a requirement that lawyers not share information with federal immigration officials as a condition for filing with state courts. ...
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