Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Complete Colorado

Colorado Senate Bill 135 Trades TABOR Refunds for Limited School Funding
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado Senate Bill 135 Trades TABOR Refunds for Limited School Funding

By Nash Herman | Commentary, Complete Colorado Colorado state senators recently engaged in more debate over Senate Bill 135, ultimately passing the measure and sending it over the House for consideration.     The bill sends a ballot measure to voters this November, exchanging billions of dollars in Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) refunds for a relatively small increase in education funding.  The Senate debate was enlightening in showing which amendments the bill sponsors supported and more importantly, those they did not.  For the kids (but not too much) One might think that the logical mechanism of a bill titled “State Public K-12 Education Funding” would be to increase revenues and direct the new money to C...
Read More
Colorado Case Tests Limits Of Religious Freedom In Publicly Funded Programs
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado Case Tests Limits Of Religious Freedom In Publicly Funded Programs

By Ari Armstrong | Commentary, Complete Colorado The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of a Colorado Catholic preschool that wishes to get state funding but not follow all antidiscrimination laws pertaining to gay and transgender students and possibly staff. I suspect that constitutional law professor Josh Blackman is right to predict the Court’s view, “This will likely be yet another repudiation of Colorado’s hostility to religious liberty.” Yet I wish Blackman and other conservatives would more fully think through the implications of the case for freedom of conscience. Remember who’s paying the bill The basic argument for not excluding the Catholic preschool is that excluding it infringes the school’s religious liberty. Religious prescho...
Read More
Polis Signs Letter Criticizing Colorado Business Climate Critics Say He Created
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Polis Signs Letter Criticizing Colorado Business Climate Critics Say He Created

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER – An open letter expressing concern over the number of businesses leaving Colorado and the inability of the state to attract others was recently sent to numerous Colorado elected officials. The several hundred business, technology, and civic leaders who signed the letter are asking for consideration in easing the regulatory burden that they say is the driving factor behind Colorado’s “deteriorating” foundation. That same letter was both sent to and signed by Gov. Jared Polis, the irony of which is not lost on State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer (R-Brighton) who points out that Polis is the man behind the pen that has caused much of the trouble the letter outlines. “Basically, he’s a hypocrite,” Kirkmeyer told Complete Colorado. “Th...
Read More
State Regulators Override Elbert County To Advance Massive Power Line Project
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, Local

State Regulators Override Elbert County To Advance Massive Power Line Project

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER–The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) recently sided with Xcel Energy in overriding Elbert County’s denial of a permit for the monopoly utility’s $1.7 billion power line project. The decision was based on a rarely used state statute. As previously reported by Complete Colorado, both Elbert and El Paso counties previously denied Xcel’s permit request to build a massive transmission line that slices directly through Colorado’s Eastern Plains. Colorado’s Power Pathway Project is 550-mile line connecting wind and solar energy generated in eastern counties to Denver metro-area communities. The project is a vital part of Governor Polis’ ambitious, though increasingly unrealistic mandate for 100% renewable energy ...
Read More
Colorado Senate Advances Bill to Ease Landfill Regulation Burden
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Senate Advances Bill to Ease Landfill Regulation Burden

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER – A bipartisan bill to backfill county governments for an unfunded methane emissions mandate is counting on money from existing state grant programs, which, according to Sen. Byron Pelton, is necessary to ensure Colorado counties don’t go bankrupt from the environmental rules put in place by unelected boards appointed by Gov. Jared Polis. Senate Bill 26-101, Local Government Landfill Methane Emission Reduction Regulations, will allow counties to use money from the community impact cash fund, air quality enterprise cash fund, and local government mineral impact fund “for the purpose of complying with landfill methane emission reduction requirements adopted by the air quality control commission, a division of the department of public h...
Read More
Colorado budget battle reveals deep divide over spending priorities
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado budget battle reveals deep divide over spending priorities

By Rep. Scott Bottoms | Commentary, Complete Colorado Nearly two millennia ago Jesus of Nazareth said, “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). Colorado’s Capitol is a long way in space and time from ancient Israel, but the principle remains and is often illustrated during the legislature’s annual budget week. We see where people’s values are by programs that lawmakers do – or do not – fund. The first observation about budget week is a broad one: Governor Polis and majority Democrats like to make a distinction between Washington DC and Denver. They speak of the ‘Colorado way’ so as to suggest that the dirty and deceitful politics of the national capitol never make their way to the state one. Don’t believe it. Here’s an example: with all the talk of ...
Read More
Cutting Social Studies Tests Means Less Accountability For Schools
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Cutting Social Studies Tests Means Less Accountability For Schools

By Ari Armstrong | Commentary, Complete Colorado If “public education is the bedrock of Colorado’s democracy,” as Democratic sponsors declare in the TABOR-busting Senate Bill 26-135, then why do lawmakers want to cut social-studies testing from two grades to one? Someone might conclude that not even the legislators believe the slop they’re slinging on behalf of the teachers’ unions. A look at social-studies testing Given how abysmally most Colorado students perform on the social studies portion of the Colorado Measures of Academic Success, maybe it’s no wonder that some legislators want to sweep the evidence of underperforming public schools under the rug. If you look at CMAS results by year, you’ll find that the last publicly-released data f...
Read More
Colorado Lawmakers Push Major Expansion Of Public Utilities Commission Authority
No Comments
Uncategorized, Approved, Complete Colorado, State

Colorado Lawmakers Push Major Expansion Of Public Utilities Commission Authority

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER – Colorado lawmakers are trying to introduce major changes to how the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) operates. The PUC, consisting of three members appointed by the governor, oversees numerous industries serving the public, from setting rates for your monthly electric bill to regulating Ubers. New legislation not only extends the PUC for another 11 years, but also introduces an onslaught of changes claiming to protect Coloradans.  However, according to critics, it adds additional burdens to an already over-regulated industry, takes transparency away from consumers and gives an already powerful board of unelected bureaucrats, even more power in other areas. Rideshare companies targeted House Bill 26-1326, Sunset ...
Read More
Colorado Lawmakers Open Door To Unlimited Conversion Therapy Lawsuits After Supreme Court Ruling
No Comments
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...
Read More
Federal lease sale brings $8 million boost as Colorado energy shifts to Washington-controlled land
No Comments
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...
Read More