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Lawmakers press agencies as SMART Act hearings expose budget growth and policy shifts
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Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Lawmakers press agencies as SMART Act hearings expose budget growth and policy shifts

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado The hearings were billed as SMART. The answers raised harder questions. The last two weeks have been full of SMART Act (State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent Government) hearings at the Capitol with a smattering of committee work on bills. The Joint Judiciary Committee met for three days, and the Joint Health and Human Services Committee met for two. Here are some of the highlights from the hearings. Attorney General Phil Weiser presented to the Joint Judiciary Committee on behalf of the Department of Law (DOL). During his presentation, he stated that Colorado, at his direction, has filed 51 lawsuits against the Trump Administration for a cost of approximatel...
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Lawmakers admit the problem: One-time money built permanent government
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Lawmakers admit the problem: One-time money built permanent government

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Reporters talk about shared reality, some want it to be their reality. Over and over I have heard and read journalists discussing our "shared reality"--the need to operate from a basis of fact.I don't disagree.The problem is that many of those same journalists want to substitute their take on reality, they want to be the arbiters of fact.This is not their role.I wrote an op ed on this dynamic using some statements and "reporting" by 9News' Zelinger and Clark as an example.More on the topic in the link below.https://completecolorado.com/2026/01/08/colorado-journalists-shared-reality-deciders/ Were it not for TABOR (weakened as it is) … I wanted to share the Sun article below, but per...
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Medical Group Recommends Delaying Transgender Surgeries Until Age 19
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Washington Examiner, Approved, National

Medical Group Recommends Delaying Transgender Surgeries Until Age 19

By Molly Parks | Washington Examiner The American Society of Plastic Surgeons released a statement recommending doctors refuse gender-related surgeries for transgender patients under the age of 19, a move the Trump administration is calling a win. “ASPS concludes there is insufficient evidence demonstrating a favorable risk-benefit ratio for the pathway of gender-related endocrine and surgical interventions in children and adolescents. ASPS recommends that surgeons delay gender-related breast/chest, genital, and facial surgery until a patient is at least 19 years old,” the ASPS recommendation reads. The Department of Health and Human Services and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised the group for its recomme...
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Former Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen Enters City Council Race in Southwest Denver
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CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Former Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen Enters City Council Race in Southwest Denver

By Brian Maass | CBS Colorado Former Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen, who retired as chief in 2022, plans to announce next week that he is running for a seat on Denver City Council. Pazen confirmed his intentions Tuesday night, telling CBS Colorado, "I'm running for Denver City Council District 2 because southwest Denver deserves leadership that listens, shows up, and will work tirelessly for the people who live and work here." READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT CBS COLORADO
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Colorado Confirms 14th Wolf Death Since Voter Mandated Reintroduction
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Confirms 14th Wolf Death Since Voter Mandated Reintroduction

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The 14th wolf to die in Colorado since their reintroduction about two years ago took place during a “collaring” operation in the northwestern region of the state last week. Colorado Parks and Wildlife said the wolf, identified as #2305 — meaning it was one of the original 10 animals that came from Oregon — died on Jan. 28 in Routt County. The wolf was the male of the breeding pair that produced the King Mountain pack last year. Of the original 10 wolves from Oregon, five have now died. Two yearlings from the Copper Creek pack, whose mating pair were from Oregon, also died. Another seven wolves from the original 15 of the British Columbia wolves have also died. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Government Shutdown Ends but Immigration Showdown Moves to Center Stage
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The Daily Signal, Approved, National

Government Shutdown Ends but Immigration Showdown Moves to Center Stage

By George Caldwell | The Daily Signal The House of Representatives passed a Senate-modified spending package to reopen the government by a 217-214 margin Tuesday. The measure passed with 42 defections: 21 Republicans voting against it and 21 Democrats voting for it. Hardline conservatives such as Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Keith Self, R-Texas, voted against the package. There were also Democrat defectors, such as swing district Reps. Don Davis of North Carolina and Henry Cuellar of Texas. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the chamber’s top Democrat appropriator, voted for the bill. Democrat leaders, such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and House Minority Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, voted against the package. Beyond...
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Colorado School Accused of Teaching Students to Track ICE Agents
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TownHall.com, Approved, Local

Colorado School Accused of Teaching Students to Track ICE Agents

By: Joseph Chalfant | Townhall A presentation was allegedly given at a Jefferson County, Colorado public school instructing students on how to document ICE agents conducting operations. The information included the often-used acronym “S.A.L.U.T.E.” to instruct their children on how to ensure full documentation of the activity of federal agents, essentially equipping them to work as “ICE watchers” like Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Children were told to gather information like number of officers, appearance, location, and the equipment of officers that students might observe. “Remember: document and record everything,” one slide of the presentation read. The presentation also “informed” students that “ICE leadership has given officers the go-ahead to violate the [...
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Colorado House Immigration Resolution Reveals Tension Over Sanctuary Policies and Taxpayer Burdens
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado House Immigration Resolution Reveals Tension Over Sanctuary Policies and Taxpayer Burdens

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics A joint resolution affirming lawmakers’ “commitment to Coloradans navigating the complex United States immigration system” sparked more than three hours of debate on the House Floor on Tuesday morning, reflecting the tension rising between Colorado and the Trump administration, which has traded barbs and lawsuits, underpinned by the former’s campaign to crackdown on illegal immigration and the latter’s “sanctuary” policies. At the outset, Colorado’s Democratic officials have signaled a confrontational stance vis-a-vis the Trump administration — the attorney general last month announced the launch of an online “tool” for Coloradans to report misconduct by federal agents, while the city of Denver is considering barring the wearing o...
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Medicaid billing error cost Colorado tens of millions, officials acknowledge
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Approved, Colorado Accountability Project, Commentary, Red State

Medicaid billing error cost Colorado tens of millions, officials acknowledge

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project HCPF really did accidentally pay millions in Medicaid claims. In an earlier op ed about Colorado's Medicaid expansion (see the first link below) and how that puts our state at higher risk of fraud, waste, and/or abuse, I asked the Colorado Division of Healthcare Policy and Financing, HCPF, the state unit which adminsiters Medicaid, about what they do to prevent or stop such problems.Their spokesperson responded with:“We constantly look out for fraud, waste and abuse (FWA) across all services & programs, but some programs or services are more susceptible to FWA than others. We have various processes/procedures in place for ‘high risk’ services to prevent inappropriate payments from going out the door. Tho...
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Colorado’s political shift meets a population reality check
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the Aspen beat, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s political shift meets a population reality check

By Glenn K. Beaton | Commentary, the Aspen beat Last year, more people moved out of Colorado to other states than vice versa. Interstate “net migration” was negative. After factoring in births, the state’s overall population increased less than half a percent. That’s the lowest since the oil and gas bust of 1989 nearly a half century ago. These figures put Colorado in the bottom half of population growth. We’re 29th of the 50 states. Neighboring Utah grew at the fifth-highest rate, so Colorado can’t blame it on the demise of the carbon-spewing, environment-wrecking, injury-causing, traffic-jamming ski industry which is mired in a record snow drought. Colorado used to be cool. It was young, vibrant, virile. Colorado often led the nation in th...
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