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Bird Resignation Rekindles Debate Over Unelected Lawmakers
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Bird Resignation Rekindles Debate Over Unelected Lawmakers

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER – Despite new laws governing vacancies in the Colorado legislature, Democrat statehouse member Shannon Bird has still found a workaround that throws a wrench into her constituents’ ability to choose their representative at the ballot box. Bird announced earlier this month she would be stepping down from her seat in House District 29 on Jan. 5 to focus on her bid for the US Congressional District 8 seat, currently held by Republican Gabe Evans. Bird’s unique timing for vacating HD 29, which includes parts of Adams and Jefferson counties, takes advantage of a quirk in the law allowing for her replacement to serve possibly an entire extra year more than state statute sets forth for House members. The meaning of ‘half’ ...
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Colorado Coyote Debate Reveals Sharp Divide Between Ranchers and Activists
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Colorado Coyote Debate Reveals Sharp Divide Between Ranchers and Activists

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER–A recent Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s (CPW) stakeholder report shows a wide gap between agriculture producers and animal welfare activists when it comes to management of coyotes.     The stakeholder report, released in early December, summarizes four months of CPW meetings with rural interests, such as ranchers and sportsman, along with animal welfare and environmental activists. CPW held these meetings to explore potential changes to current furbearing animal management.  While the two sides found common ground on management strategies of most other animals, coyotes were the one species the groups could not compromise over.    Ranchers, sportsmen, and rural landowners expressed the ...
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Colorado Blackouts Offer a Stark Warning About the State’s Energy Future
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Colorado Blackouts Offer a Stark Warning About the State’s Energy Future

By: Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado For those of you who shared this magical experience, congratulations — you’ve now had a sneak preview of Colorado’s 100% renewable energy lifestyle. No waiting. No reservation required. For us fortunate 110,000, the reality of “unreliable energy” arrived quickly: The house goes dark; people get cold; refrigerated food and medicines quietly die; folks on home oxygen machines fumble around in the dark for backup tanks; no cooked meals; garage doors refuse to open; Teslas sit silently, judging their owners, and worst of all — no electronic entertainment. Nirvana. Absolute green, renewable Nirvana. There’s a certain poetry in chasing a wind-powered energy future only to be plunged into darkness by a little wind. It’s l...
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Court Halts Colorado Effort to Mandate Gas Stove Health Warnings
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Court Halts Colorado Effort to Mandate Gas Stove Health Warnings

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER–A federal judge on Friday sided with an appliance manufacturing trade group in pausing enforcement of a Colorado law requiring consumer warning labels on gas stove appliances. Plaintiffs see the ruling as a win against state compelled speech, albeit a temporary one, as the litigation will likely continue. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) filed a complaint in August against the state regarding House Bill 25-1161. In effect since Aug. 6, the law requires retailers to attach air quality warning labels to gas-fueled stoves sold in Colorado. The yellow label reads: “Understand the air quality implications of having an indoor gas stove.” It includes a QR code linking to a Colorado Department of ...
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Teachers Union Pushes Polis To Block Federal Scholarship Option For Families
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Teachers Union Pushes Polis To Block Federal Scholarship Option For Families

By Ari Armstrong | Complete Colorado Will the Colorado teachers’ union be so spiteful toward private education options that they will deny Colorado families money from privately funded scholarships promoted by federal tax credits? We soon will find out. I first learned of the program in question when the Colorado Sun published Jay Stooksberry’s op-ed on the matter on August 19. As Stooksberry explains, buried within the One Big Beautiful Bill was the Education Choice for Children Act, which allows individuals to “make tax-deductible donations up to $1,700 to scholarship organizations.” Before a state’s families can take advantage, Stooksberry adds, the governor must opt in and “approve a list of qualifying scholarship organizations the year before the donations can ...
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Minnesota’s Medicaid Scandal Shows Why Colorado Must Tighten the Guardrails
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Minnesota’s Medicaid Scandal Shows Why Colorado Must Tighten the Guardrails

By Cory Gaines | Complete Colorado To say Minnesota has had some fraud going on is an understatement. I don’t know that I’ve seen it mentioned much in local media, but it’s a big national story. Colorado should beware taking its turn in this barrel. First, some brief background. Minnesota sought (and received) Medicaid waivers during COVID to use taxpayer dollars to fund things like subsidized housing for recipients, which ended up an impetus for massive fraud. An MPR News article gives some context, but the sheer size of the numbers are what really popped out to me: “According to the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office, DHS [Minnesota Department of Housing Stabilization] had initially predicted the housing stabilization program would cost about $2.6 mill...
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Colorado Progressive Tax Plan Advances Seeking End to Flat Tax and TABOR Limits
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Colorado Progressive Tax Plan Advances Seeking End to Flat Tax and TABOR Limits

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER — After years of voter-approved measures scaling back Colorado’s income tax rate, proponents of significantly higher government spending have cleared a major hurdle at the state Title Board towards raising taxes by $4.1 billion annually.   Proposed Initiative #181 would replace Colorado’s flat income tax with a so-called “progressive” tax where taxpayers are charged higher rates based on their income.   The initiative is being put forth by the Bell Policy Center, a progressive nonprofit led by former Colorado state rep. Chris deGruy Kennedy, who while in office advocated multiple times for such things as reducing refunds under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) and universal healthcare. The Title Board gave the green light to move forw...
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Colorado Courts Deliver Split Decisions on TABOR in 2025
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Colorado Courts Deliver Split Decisions on TABOR in 2025

By Rob Natelson | Commentary, Complete Colorado During 2025, Colorado appellate courts issued two important decisions construing the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR. One continued the judiciary’s long practice of defeating and weakening TABOR. The other decision, however, was a rare victory for Colorado taxpayers. Background The Colorado Constitution, like the charters of almost all other states, includes terms restricting public debt, taxes, and spending. Such terms are called “tax and expenditure limitations” or “TELs.” State constitution-writers started to insert TELs during the mid 19th century, after several states went bankrupt from overspending. This helps explain why the Colorado Constitution, as adopted in 1876, included some very strict TEL...
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Deadline Nears for Educators Seeking Refund of Union-Backed Political Spending
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Deadline Nears for Educators Seeking Refund of Union-Backed Political Spending

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER—An annual deadline is looming for Colorado teachers to request a refund of that portion of their union dues going to political purposes with which they might well disagree. Members of Colorado’s statewide teachers’ union are entitled to a $49 partial refund of their dues. The money otherwise goes toward supporting union-backed candidates and political causes. Many teachers are unaware of their right to the yearly refund, or the mid-December deadline to apply. Every Colorado teacher who joins their local union automatically joins the National Education Association (NEA) as well as the Colorado Education Association (CEA). According to the CEA website, the statewide union is then organized into approximately 200 ...
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How to Help Parents Through the Unimaginable Pain of Losing a Child
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How to Help Parents Through the Unimaginable Pain of Losing a Child

By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado Had my daughter lived she would’ve just celebrated her 25th birthday. She died of a vicious form of cancer just days before her first birthday. She was our only child at the time. Twenty-four years later, I still have no way to express what it is like to be a parent one day and then not the next. I had no idea what terror was before that day. Her death is the seminal event of my life. The world changed, never to shift back. If you’ve lost a child, you get it. If not, I envy you. I am forever indebted to those who pulled me through. Many had lost children themselves. I have tried to pay them back by being there myself for grieving parents, particularly men. We men have been conditioned to bottle up our pain (we are rarely rewarde...
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