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House Bill 1303: Transportation ‘tip jar’ ignores Colorado’s crumbling roads
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House Bill 1303: Transportation ‘tip jar’ ignores Colorado’s crumbling roads

By Rep. Scott Bottoms | Complete Colorado A friend told me about a recent experience at a fast-food restaurant. He arrived to pick up and pay for his order, and the cashier made a point of twice pointing him to the tip jar. My friend asked me, “Why should I pay him extra when I pick up a sack? Doesn’t everyone understand that I’ve already paid for that?” It’s a fair question, and one that springs to mind with Colorado House Bill 1303, which recently passed out of the House of Representatives. The legislation will create yet another “enterprise” (a government-run business designed to circumvent the taxpayer refunds normally paired with overcollected revenues under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights). It will be funded with a new fee impose on insurance companies that issue policies to C...
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CHSAA pressed by over 68 school leaders to follow federal guidance on girls’ sports
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CHSAA pressed by over 68 school leaders to follow federal guidance on girls’ sports

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER — A letter signed by some 60 school district administrators and school board members from across the state is calling on the Colorado High School Activities Association to come into compliance with a recent Trump administration order around biological boys competing in girls’ sports. “The Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) must immediately adopt rules and practices to ensure that boys are not permitted to compete as girls in girls’ sports,” the letter reads in part. “This action is not only a matter of safety and fairness for our female athletes, but also aligns with recent federal directives that reinforce the protection of women’s sports under Title IX.” Names on the letter include board members who  have prev...
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Why HJR25-1023’s logic for killing TABOR collapses under basic constitutional history
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Why HJR25-1023’s logic for killing TABOR collapses under basic constitutional history

By Rob Natelson | Complete Colorado To understand why some members of the Colorado legislature are unworthy of your trust, look no further than their current effort to take away your state tax refunds and abolish your right to vote on taxes, spending, and debt. An astounding 44 of 100 lawmakers are sponsoring House Joint Resolution (HJR) 25-1023. This resolution would spend tax dollars on a lawsuit to void the Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR). Coloradans voted to add this valuable protection to the state Constitution in 1992. I’ve listed the sponsors at the end of this column, so you can see who they are and what districts they so poorly represent. I’ve also included a link so you can see their party affiliation and email addresses and another link so you ...
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Colorado background checks surge as gun rights restrictions advance
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Colorado background checks surge as gun rights restrictions advance

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER — Data put out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reporting the number of background checks by the month, shows a trend in Colorado relating to gun rights restrictions being pushed through the legislature every year at this time. For years, Colorado residents appear to race to secure new gun purchases during the latter part of the legislative session when majority Democrats are known to rapidly advance their anti-gun agenda. To date the legislature has introduced 22 bills dealing with gun rights and restrictions in some fashion. Of those, 18 restrict rights, and many are awaiting the governor’s signature; four expanded rights, three of which have lost; and two others are relatively neutral and are awaiting hearings. The Nati...
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Bills restricting gun shows, ammo sales head to Senate floor
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Bills restricting gun shows, ammo sales head to Senate floor

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER — Two bills that would slap new restrictions on the sale of firearms and ammunition have Senate committee approval and are headed to the floor for full and final debate. House Bill 25-1238, titled Gun Show Requirements, includes onerous new barriers that would drastically change the way vendors do business at Colorado gun shows, as well as who can access the events. House Bill 25-1133, titled Requirements for Sales of Firearms Ammunition, mandates retailers lock up all ammunition, meaning customers cannot serve themselves off the shelves, as well as prohibits the retail sale of ammunition to a person who is younger than 21 years of age. Both bills passed the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs committee on Tuesday on strict ...
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Gaines: Journalists conflate all ‘immigrants’ in deportation reporting
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Commentary, completecolorado.com

Gaines: Journalists conflate all ‘immigrants’ in deportation reporting

By Cory Gaines | Complete Colorado As an undergrad, I worked many a job, often alongside people who were not born here in the United States.  Some were here legally, some not.  They comprised a variety of ages, life experiences, dreams, fears,  etc.–just as you’d expect with any other group of humans. They were not a uniform mass of humanity.  Why then, do some Colorado journalists seem so eager to make them one? Immigration has been a big story here in Colorado.  All the more so lately as President Trump has ramped up enforcement of federal immigration laws.  Many in Colorado’s left-leaning press have risen to the challenge of reporting on it.  Breathless, dramatic stories abound, with an extra special focus on those who might garner the most sympathy.  Not pr...
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House Bill 1208: Price controls for a minimum wage mistake
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House Bill 1208: Price controls for a minimum wage mistake

By Ari Armstrong, Complete Colorado What happens when the price of eggs soars? People buy fewer eggs and start looking for substitutes. What would happen if, say, government set a $10 minimum price on a dozen eggs, higher than the usual price in stores these days? People would buy fewer eggs, yet producers would want to sell all the eggs they could. Some eggs would sit around unpurchased. No one disputes the economics of price controls on eggs. (We can leave to another day discussion of legislative attempts to set de facto price limits on products.) But, somehow, when it comes to wages, we’re supposed to throw basic economics out the window and pretend that price controls don’t matter. Obviously no one thinks that price controls never matter. If government set a minimum price of a...
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Gaines: Legislative Democrats do their business in darkness
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Approved, Commentary, completecolorado.com

Gaines: Legislative Democrats do their business in darkness

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Complete Colorado On Dec. 30, 2024, right prior to the legally-mandated deadline, the Executive Committee of the Colorado legislature held a hearing on Senate Bill 24-157.  If you don’t know it by number, this is the bill that, among other things, allows the legislature to avoid certain provisions of the Colorado Open Meetings Law, which privileges them in ways that almost no other governmental entity in this state enjoys.  This privilege extends beyond just legislative business, too.  Majority Democrats have already made use of the law to hold two closed caucus meetings. READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT COMPLETE COLORADO Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessaril...
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Senate Bill 25-005 would unwind labor compromise, prompt ‘right to work’ initiative
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Senate Bill 25-005 would unwind labor compromise, prompt ‘right to work’ initiative

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado Colorado workers and their employers have lived in relative peace under a deal struck more than 80 years ago that stopped years of violence over salary and working conditions. Colorado Democrats want to unravel that deal, but one local policy influencer isn’t going to let it pass without a fight. Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute*, has filed a ballot initiative that won’t only unravel Senate Bill 25-005, should it pass, but it would also make Colorado what’s called a “right-to-work” state, giving employees the right to refuse to join unions, and denying unions the ability to force non-union employees to still pay dues. READ THE FULL STORY AT COMPLETE COLORADO
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As 75th session gets started, GOP opens caucus meetings, Democrats behind closed doors
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As 75th session gets started, GOP opens caucus meetings, Democrats behind closed doors

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado As the 2025 legislative session gets underway it appears majority Democrats will continue practicing closed door governance, while Republicans have pledged to be more transparent, saying Colorado voters have right to know what is going on under the gold dome of the state capitol. Both Speaker of the House Julie McCluskie (D-Dillon) and Senate President Steve Fenberg (D-Boulder) have made it clear that Democrat caucus meetings will no longer be open to the public or the media. The two started closing meetings last August after a new bill they both supported went into law that exempted the legislature from portions of Colorado’s open meeting laws. Senate Bill 24-157 was passed after another bill sponsored by Democrats allowing legislators to block...
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