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Democrats launch legal assault on TABOR: Will the courts undo the will of Colorado voters?
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Democrats launch legal assault on TABOR: Will the courts undo the will of Colorado voters?

By Marianne Goodland | Denver Gazette In 2011, a coalition of 33 individuals and groups, including current and former lawmakers, county commission and other elected officials and school districts, sued the state of Colorado, challenging the constitutionality of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. A decade later, the lawsuit was dismissed on a technicality: the lawsuit, the federal courts indicated, had the wrong plaintiffs. A state Democratic lawmaker who was part of the legal team in Kerr v. Hickenlooper (later Kerr v. Polis) is now sponsoring a resolution to try again, but with some important differences. Rep. Sean Camacho, D-Denver, sponsored House Joint Resolution 1023, which would require the General Assembly to sue over TABOR's constitutionality in state district court. The...
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Colorado judges made campaign contributions despite rules prohibiting the practice
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Colorado judges made campaign contributions despite rules prohibiting the practice

By DAVID MIGOYA | Denver Gazette More than a half dozen judges in Colorado — each of them specially appointed and paid to oversee a divorce case since 2019 — has made at least one political campaign contribution while serving in that capacity despite a prohibition against the practice and an affirmation to uphold it, The Denver Gazette has found. Colorado’s Code of Judicial Conduct explicitly bars anyone serving as an appointed or private judge, as they are sometimes called, from making the contributions, the same exclusion that applies to full-time sitting judges and senior judges who fill in part-time. The private judges handle civil cases, nearly all divorces by high-end couples, away from the courthouse and the public, and their salaries and expenses are paid fo...
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Hillman: Fiscal tailgating put Colorado in the ditch
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Hillman: Fiscal tailgating put Colorado in the ditch

By Mark Hillman | Denver Gazette Headlines from the state Capitol might cause a reader to believe Colorado is in a deep recession. Legislators say they must cut more than $1 billion in spending to balance the 2025-26 budget. Still, state government has $687 million more to spend than last year in a $19 billion budget. So why all the histrionics about a budget “crisis”? Because Colorado lawmakers practice fiscal tailgating. Tailgating on the highway is dangerous because when drivers travel too fast and follow too close to the car ahead, the tailgating driver doesn’t have time to react if the lead driver unexpectedly brakes or swerves. Fiscal tailgating is much the same. Lawmakers spend money as fast as it comes in, then when the economy slows, they face much harder choices th...
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Colorado Republicans call on Polis to block police officer’s killer from early-parole program
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Colorado Republicans call on Polis to block police officer’s killer from early-parole program

By Ernest Luning | Denver Gazette The four Republican members of Colorado's congressional delegation are calling on Gov. Jared Polis to prevent a man convicted of killing a Denver police officer in 2005 from joining a program that could lead to his early release. Polis' office, however, said the governor has no role in the process and accused the GOP lawmakers of grandstanding around a "heinous crime." In a letter dated March 21 led by U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, a former state lawmaker and Arvada police officer, Evans and U.S. Reps. Lauren Boebert, Jeff Crank and Jeff Hurd asked Polis to join them in urging the executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections to reject an application by Raul Gomez-Garcia to participate in a program that allows certain inmates to l...
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Trump asks DOGE to review states’ voter database maintenance practices
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Trump asks DOGE to review states’ voter database maintenance practices

By The Denver Gazette The Trump administration has tapped the Department of Government Efficiency to review states' practices to maintain their voter databases, part of a new move by the White House to strictly enforce the ban on non-citizens voting in federal elections.    The new White House memo authorized DOGE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to issue subpoenas, presumably to access the states' maintenance systems. Colorado officials are calling the memo an "unlawful" order that would "undermine" American democracy. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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CU regents request internal investigation for conflict of interest
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CU regents request internal investigation for conflict of interest

By Eric Young | Denver Gazette Members of the University of Colorado’s Board of Regents have requested an internal investigation into one of its fellow members over possible conflicts of interests in efforts to cut funding for a CU program. The investigation, requested by regents Ken Montera and Callie Rennison, comes after fellow regent Wanda James’ objections to a campaign created by the state legislature and funded through the Colorado School of Public Health and CU Anschutz Medical Campus to educate the public on the health risks of highly concentrated marijuana. “We know the people of Colorado expect the Board to provide excellent oversight and leadership to the University of Colorado,” Montera and Rennison said in a joint statement. “We expect that as well and are confident ...
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Douglas County explores establishing its own home rule charter
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Douglas County explores establishing its own home rule charter

By Noah Festenstein | Denver Gazette Douglas County commissioners voted on Tuesday to explore establishing a home rule charter, arguing the move would allow the county to carve a path that is different than where the state is headed.     Establishing home rule, officials said, gives commissioners and the county more local control. "Douglas County seeks more local control, freedom from state laws via Home Rule Charter," the county said in a news release. If the county ultimately adopts its own home rule charter, it would become the first sole Colorado county to do so in more than 45 years. Only Pitkin and Weld counties are currently under home rule charters out of Colorado's 64 counties. "For too long, we have watched as reckless state policies have made Colora...
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Denver school district asks judge to dismiss lawsuit challenging school closures
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Denver school district asks judge to dismiss lawsuit challenging school closures

By Nicole C. Brambila | Denver Gazette Denver Public Schools has asked a district court judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the parent group Mamas de DPS, which is seeking a temporary restraining order to halt the closures of seven schools at the end of the academic year. The district's attorneys have argued the parent group lacks standing. Mamas de DPS filed the lawsuit in Denver District Court in December. If the group prevails on its temporary restraining order, it would bar the district from shuttering any campuses while the lawsuit makes its way through the legal system. The district argument rests on whether, as taxpayers, the parents were directly and clearly harmed - thus having a standing to bring the case. READ FULL ARTICLE AT DENVERGAZETTE.COM
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Downtown Denver Partnership gets a $1.5 million boost, city settles another police liability claim
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Downtown Denver Partnership gets a $1.5 million boost, city settles another police liability claim

By Deborah Grigsby | Denver Gazette The Denver City Council approved a resolution Monday night, clearing the way for an additional cash infusion to provide “activation activities related to the reopening of the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver.”  Council Resolution 25-0191 amends a contract with the Downtown Denver Partnership, adding $1.5 million – for a new total of $1.9 million – for events and permanent installations that draw crowds, as well as increased safety and operations, according to city documents. The resolution, a late filing by City Council President Amanda Sandoval, conjured mixed reactions among some council members. At-Large Councilmember Sarah Parady called the resolution out, citing concerns with “the budget environment that we’re in and that we’re g...
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Train conductor who revived ski train wants to fix I-70 traffic with ‘rail bridge’
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Train conductor who revived ski train wants to fix I-70 traffic with ‘rail bridge’

By David O. Williams | Denver Gazette A longtime Amtrak train conductor credited with crafting a business plan that helped revive the mothballed Winter Park Express ski train in 2017 now has a plan to get at least 60% of the commercial truck traffic off of Interstate 70 and free it up for skiers, snowboarders and other mountain travelers. Brad Swartzwelter, 60, retired as conductor of the ski train last spring after 30 years with Amtrak, the federal rail agency that runs the popular, seasonal and recently expanded ski train service between Denver’s Union Station and the city of Denver’s Winter Park Resort. “I-70 congestion has cost us dearly in the snow sports industry, and it is my absolute mission in life … to get people safely, conveniently and economically up to our economic e...
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