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Colorado files amicus brief supporting DEI initiatives in lawsuit
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Approved, Colorado Politics, National

Colorado files amicus brief supporting DEI initiatives in lawsuit

By Thelma Grimes | Colorado Politics Colorado joined yet another coalition of 18 states in filing a court brief supporting the legal challenge to two of President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs, even as a federal court blocked cuts to public health grants.  In the case involving public health funding, U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy in Rhode Island granted a temporary restraining order against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services terminating $11 billion in public health grants, including $229 million in Colorado. That lawsuit, filed April 1 by 23 states and the District of Columbia, argued that cutting billions in federal money from state public health departments would decimate health infrastruc...
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Polis open to signing bill restricting local ICE cooperation as Colorado sanctuary debate heats up
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Approved, Colorado Politics, State

Polis open to signing bill restricting local ICE cooperation as Colorado sanctuary debate heats up

By Luige Del Puerto | Colorado Politics Gov. Jared Polis said that while he had "major problems" with an earlier proposal that sought to inoculate immigrants from federal policies, the bill now includes "workable language," thereby signaling his intent to sign it. The governor reiterated he is still reviewing the proposal, which underwent several changes before its final passage during the 2025 legislative session. At its core, Senate Bill 276 reemphasized existing state law that precludes local law enforcers from detaining an individual based on an "immigration detainer." An immigration "detainer" is a notice issued to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies informing the latter that agents intend to assume custody of an individual no longer subject to the former's dete...
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Condo reform bill becomes law–after years of lawsuits, delays and rising insurance costs
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Approved, Colorado Politics, State

Condo reform bill becomes law–after years of lawsuits, delays and rising insurance costs

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Gov. Jared Polis on Monday signed the first major bill of his administration that sponsors hope would unclog the state's longstanding logjam regarding the construction of affordable, middle-market multi-family housing, specifically condos and townhomes, and, thereby directly promote home ownership. Past efforts by the governor had mostly focused on rental housing and zoning.  This year, House Bill 1272 aims to jumpstart the affordable condo market, which backers say has died off in Colorado due to "construction defects" litigation.  This bill puts Colorado more in line with other states that see condo construction and protects homeowners from legitimate defects, Polis said. "There's no silver bullet" for dealing wi...
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Statewide and congressional contests heat up early as candidates line up for 2026
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Approved, Colorado Politics, State

Statewide and congressional contests heat up early as candidates line up for 2026

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics Colorado's political world is in as close to a lull as it's likely to get this cycle — six months past the 2024 general election, days after the end of this year's regular legislative session, and with just over a year to go until voters begin casting primary ballots. Major candidates for the state's most prominent and competitive 2026 contests have already emerged, but many are about to get more company. Like at the beginning of a fundraising quarter, the immediate aftermath of the General Assembly's 120 day session is prime calendar real estate to launch campaigns for higher offices, for a couple of reasons: State lawmakers finally again have some control over their schedule and can turn their attention to campaigning, while other hopefuls ca...
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“YIGBY” bill to let churches build housing on their land fails without Senate support
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Approved, Colorado Politics, State

“YIGBY” bill to let churches build housing on their land fails without Senate support

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The campaign known as "YIGBY" - "Yes in God's Backyard" - to allow churches, school districts, colleges, and universities to build affordable housing on their land failed in the waning days of the Colorado legislative session.  House Bill 1169 would have required local governments to allow residential development on land owned by those institutions. The bill has sat in the state Senate, awaiting debate, since it cleared the Senate's Local Government and Housing Committee on March 27.  On Monday, its sponsors, Sens. Tony Exum, D-Colorado Springs, and Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, acknowledged the bill didn't have the votes to pass and asked that it be laid over to May 8, the day after the session's end, which effectively would kill ...
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Northeast Colorado judge resigns after allegations of undisclosed ties to former client
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Approved, Colorado Politics, Local

Northeast Colorado judge resigns after allegations of undisclosed ties to former client

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics A judge from northeastern Colorado resigned at the end of Wednesday, and, in doing so, admitted to allegations that he used his position to aid a friend in her court case and did not disclose his personal connection in other cases involving that friend. District Court Judge Justin B. Haenlein presided in the 13th Judicial District of Morgan, Logan, Sedgwick, Phillips, Washington, Yuma and Kit Carson counties. He had been off the bench since the Colorado Supreme Court suspended him in November, pending a disciplinary investigation. In an April 29 letter addressed to Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez, he announced his resignation effective on April 30. Also on April 29, Haenlein's attorney submitted a filing to the three-member...
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Gregory: Colorado’s highest court has lost credibility
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Approved, Colorado Politics, State

Gregory: Colorado’s highest court has lost credibility

By  Christopher Gregory | Colorado Politics, Commentary Colorado is haunted by the ghosts of Watergate. Through his preemptive pardon of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford blunted the rule of law by preventing our country from ever directly addressing the wrongfulness of Nixon's conduct and having public discourse as to what accountability was appropriate. The evolution of Colorado's judicial scandal has been very similar to the chronology of Watergate. In it I have found my own spiritual camaraderie with Justice Melissa Hart's grandfather, Archibald Cox. Like me, Cox was retaliated against and fired just as his investigation of Nixon discovered critical evidence. The greatest danger to the American republic is not who voters choose to represent them but rather the selective enforcement or n...
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Democratic lawmakers prepare rare override of Polis veto on open records bill
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Approved, Colorado Politics, State

Democratic lawmakers prepare rare override of Polis veto on open records bill

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Democratic lawmakers, who are preparing for a fight with the executive branch over a myriad of issues, will seek an override of Gov. Jared Polis' veto on Friday of a bill that sought to increase deadlines to fulfill public records requests in Colorado. Senate Bill 77 sought to change the state's open records law by increasing the costs of open records requests, creating three classes of requesters, and extending the time a governmental entity must comply with those requests. One of the main criticisms of the bill was that it allowed the media to receive public records quicker than the general public. Polis vetoed the bill last week, citing concerns over its creation of three classes of requesters — mass media, those who seek open recor...
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Colorado lawmakers consider live-streaming legislative committee hearings for first time
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Approved, Colorado Politics, State

Colorado lawmakers consider live-streaming legislative committee hearings for first time

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The public has been asking for it for years, and it looks like it will finally happen. On Monday, the executive committee of the Legislative Council, comprised of six legislative leaders, looked at the cost of live-streaming videos of committee hearings at the Capitol. The discussion focused on a pilot program that would begin with the 2026 session. Should that move forward, Colorado would cease to be the only state in the nation that does not live-stream its legislative committee hearings. For years, the lack of live video streaming has been a problem for governmental transparency advocates and other members of the public. The cameras are already in the committee hearing rooms and used for remote testimony, so converting to live video ...
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Hancock: HB25-1312 replaces truth with dogma and calls it progress
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Approved, Colorado Politics, Commentary, State

Hancock: HB25-1312 replaces truth with dogma and calls it progress

By Michael A. Hancock | Commentary, Colorado Politics From the rugged ridgelines of the Rockies now echoes a different kind of thunder — not from the skies above, but from the marble halls of Colorado’s State Capitol, where lawmakers are ushering in a bill that feels less like legislation and more like dogma. House Bill 25-1312, ostentatiously named the “Kelly Loving Act,” is heralded as a civil rights measure. But dig past the buzzwords and you’ll find something far more troubling: a secular creed imposed with such fervor it borders on religious zealotry — and as such, possibly violates the U.S. Constitution’s Establishment Clause. At the heart of the bill is a sweeping redefinition of “coercive control” in family law. If passed, courts would be mandated to treat “deadnaming” and...
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