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Retiring Republican Doug Lamborn endorses Jeff Crank as his replacement in Colorado’s 5th CD
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Retiring Republican Doug Lamborn endorses Jeff Crank as his replacement in Colorado’s 5th CD

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn on Monday formally endorsed Republican Jeff Crank as his successor. Calling the political operative and former talk radio host "a man of integrity, conviction and solid family values," Lamborn said he's throwing his "total endorsement and full support" behind Crank, one of two Republicans running for the El Paso County-based congressional seat Lamborn has held for nine terms. Lamborn, who announced in January that he wouldn't seek reelection in the heavily Republican 5th Congressional District, said he decided to make the endorsement after watching the GOP primary unfold between Crank and Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams. Both candidates have lost hard-fought primaries to Lamborn over the years:...
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Colorado lawmakers OK bills on AI, oil and gas, medical malpractice
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Colorado lawmakers OK bills on AI, oil and gas, medical malpractice

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics With the end of the legislative session looming closer, members of Colorado's state House worked on Sunday to debate bills, hold a committee hearing and advanced several measures.   With a vote of 37-24, the House passed House Bill 1468, which aims to broaden the scope of the state's facial recognition software task force to include the study of additional facets of artificial intelligence and biometric technology. Lawmakers also adopted an amendment to allow the task force to study the effects of artificial intelligence and biometric technology on "vulnerable communities," addressing points raised by parties and Judiciary Committee members regarding what they described as potential biases against people of color in faci...
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Bill to boost rural broadband, opposed by Polis administration, dies in committee
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Bill to boost rural broadband, opposed by Polis administration, dies in committee

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics A panel of Colorado lawmakers on Wednesday rejected legislation that would have prohibited the Colorado Department of Transportation from charging annual fees for right-of-way access to deploy broadband networks in some of the most remote areas of rural Colorado.  The Polis administration, which is pushing for high-speed broadband access to 99% of Coloradans in three years, opposed the measure.   Introduced back in January, negotiations over Senate Bill 91 with the Colorado Department of Transportation — whose fees broadband providers claimed would make rural access unaffordable — delayed its first hearing until this week, just a few days before the end of the 2024 legislative session. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLIT...
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Gov. Kristi Noem’s Colorado event canceled by Jeffco GOP amid dog-killing controversy
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Gov. Kristi Noem’s Colorado event canceled by Jeffco GOP amid dog-killing controversy

By Colorado Politics (via Kyle Clark/9News) South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R) will not speak as planned in Golden this week after the national outrage over her killing of a puppy created “safety concerns,” according to event organizers. Noem was scheduled to headline a fundraiser for the Jefferson County Republicans on Saturday. Early Friday morning, the group posted on social media that the event at the Denver West Marriott was canceled. “In the past few days, numerous threats and/or death threats have been made to our organization, the hotel, and to the Governor and her staff,” a Jeffco Republicans Facebook post read in part. “The Denver West Marriott also received alarming comments and shared with us their deep concern over the safety and security for those attend...
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Colorado House approves bill to regulate funeral industry
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Colorado House approves bill to regulate funeral industry

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The bill to put Colorado's funeral home operators under state regulation for the first time in 40 years won near unanimous approval from the House Wednesday. Senate Bill 173 requires licensing for funeral directors, mortuary science practitioners, embalmers, cremationists, and natural reductionists. The licensing requirements are steep. The bill says perspective funeral industry professionals must apply, pay an application fee, pass a criminal history check and not be subject to discipline in another state. Those regulations go into effect Jan. 1, 2026. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Sheena Kadi, a Democratic Party official, resigns from state treasurer’s office
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Sheena Kadi, a Democratic Party official, resigns from state treasurer’s office

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Sheena Kadi, who has served as public information officer and communications director for state Treasurer Dave Young, has resigned effective Tuesday. Kadi is under a protective order issued on behalf of Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver, after Kadi accused Herod of being a "sexual predator," using the X account she also used for communications on behalf of the state treasurer. Kadi made more than a dozen accusations on X, many of which remained on her account. A post accusing Herod of sexual assault last December has since been deleted.  In a Feb. 12 ruling, Denver County Court Judge Clarissa Gonzales found Kadi’s accusations not credible and granted Herod a year-long protective order. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Gov. Polis signs Democrats’ $40.6 billion state budget containing $2 billion more in spending
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Gov. Polis signs Democrats’ $40.6 billion state budget containing $2 billion more in spending

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Gov. Jared Polis on Monday signed the state's $40.6 billion budget for the next fiscal year, which includes $2 billion more in spending. "This bipartisan budget builds a stronger, brighter, and safe future for Colorado where we invest in students, have housing people can afford near work and transportation options, and live in safer communities," the governor said in a statement. There was less money available for this budget than in previous years, noted Joint Budget Committee Chair Rep. Shannon Bird, D-Westminster. "But the hallmark of a good budget, is that no matter how much you have, you're listening to your constituents ... prioritizing the funds you have to meet the moment," Bird said.  READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Tents back at pro-Palestinian protest on Auraria Campus in Denver
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Tents back at pro-Palestinian protest on Auraria Campus in Denver

By Noah Festenstein and Nico Brambila | Colorado Politics Ignoring university officials, pro-Palestinian protesters set up roughly 40 tents over the weekend at the Auraria Campus in Denver, saying they are prepared to "defend" the encampment until their demands — notably divestment from companies that operate in Israel — are met. Police officers arrested dozens of protesters on Friday, a day after hundreds occupied the Auraria Campus, which is shared by the University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver and the Community College of Denver. Authorities had also cleared several tents that went up near the Tivoli building. On Sunday, the tents were back — and there are more of them. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Amendments to Colorado’s school finance formula could move opponents closer to support
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Amendments to Colorado’s school finance formula could move opponents closer to support

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics With more than a dozen amendments being added to the new school finance formula, outspoken opponents that have come out against the measure may move closer to a position of support. As reported by Colorado Politics Thursday, the bill that would revamp the state's school finance formula was amended in the House Appropriations Committee Friday morning. HB 1448 starts with the base per-pupil funding, excluding high school students and online enrollment. Then, it adds in at-risk funding, money for English language learners, and special education. The cost-of-living factor would be applied after that, along with a locale factor, a district size factor, and then "extended" high school and online funding. The cost is estimated at around $500 milli...
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Colorado lawmakers to introduce long-awaited property tax relief bill
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Colorado lawmakers to introduce long-awaited property tax relief bill

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The long-awaited major property tax bill will likely be introduced sometime early next week, giving it about a week to work through the General Assembly before its May 8 adjournment. This bill, however, will have had an advantage that previous bills, most notably the 2023 legislation, didn't have: a public airing of its concepts. That's because the bill will be largely based on the recommendations of the property tax commission, which has been meeting since last December. Lawmakers have been scrambling to deal with skyrocketing property taxes since 2020 when voters approved repealing the Gallagher Amendment, which set specific assessment rates for residential and non-residential properties.  READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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