Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Top Stories

Colorado’s Fair Map Fight: What’s Happening and Why It Matters
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s Fair Map Fight: What’s Happening and Why It Matters

By Robyn Carnes | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice A nonpartisan overview of the competing redistricting initiatives on Colorado’s 2026 ballot — and what’s at stake for every voter. A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR As a former elected official and candidate, I’ve experienced Colorado’s election system from the inside. I’ve seen how much trust in that system matters — not just for candidates, but for the communities we serve. I’m doing this because I believe in fair process, strong institutions, and trust in elections. This isn’t about parties — it’s about process. The Big Picture In 2018, 71% of Coloradans voted to take map-drawing power away from politicians and give it to an independent constitutional commission. It worked. In 2021, the commission drew a balanced map ...
Read More
A Rodney King-era civil rights law drives the federal lawsuit over Colorado’s magazine ban
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

A Rodney King-era civil rights law drives the federal lawsuit over Colorado’s magazine ban

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado's magazine ban has been challenged before. The surprise this time is not the Second Amendment argument. It is the DOJ’s decision to use a federal civil-rights law traditionally aimed at police misconduct investigations to make it. On May 5, federal attorneys filed against Denver over its assault-weapons ban. The next morning, they were back in court with another complaint—this one against the state, over the 15-round magazine limit. The law driving both lawsuits came out of the aftermath of Rodney King. Congress passed §12601 in 1994 after Los Angeles erupted in riots, giving the federal government authority to intervene when police departments repeatedly violated constitutional rights. DOJ has used the law fewer than 100 times in t...
Read More
When the people vote, the majority should not pre-load a workaround
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

When the people vote, the majority should not pre-load a workaround

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado is supposed to be a representative government, not a manager class that “handles” voters the way an accountant handles a problem line item. Yet that is exactly what HB26-1430 represents: a legislature preparing a conditional “counterpunch” that activates only if voters approve Initiative 175 this November. Reasonable people can disagree about Initiative 175. That is not the point. The point is this: the majority is building an escape hatch before the people have even spoken. That posture is a warning sign in any republic, because it reveals what leadership thinks about consent. What HB26-1430 is, in plain English Initiative 175 would amend the Colorado Constitution to redirect certain transportation-rela...
Read More
Manny Rutinel wants to represent Colorado’s oil country. His law is bearing down on its only refinery.
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Manny Rutinel wants to represent Colorado’s oil country. His law is bearing down on its only refinery.

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice State Rep. Manny Rutinel is asking voters in the heart of Colorado’s oil country to send him to Congress. Seven weeks from now, a law Rutinel helped write could reshape how Colorado’s only petroleum refinery operates. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment published a refinery assessment on May 1 after HB24-1338—the 2024 bill Rutinel co-sponsored—required the state to conduct it. The state hired Eastern Research Group to do the work. ERG compared Suncor's Commerce City refinery—in Rutinel's own state House district—against standards in California, Texas and Indiana and found multiple areas where Colorado's current permits fall short. A public meeting on the assessment is May 13. If CDPHE acts on the findings, a new refine...
Read More
As EEOC complaints climb, former federal official teaches Colorado workers their rights
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

As EEOC complaints climb, former federal official teaches Colorado workers their rights

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice A congressional candidate is teaching workplace discrimination law to the public as Congress faces new harassment scrutiny and the EEOC operates with its smallest workforce in nearly half a century. Patty McMahon spent her career at the EEOC's Denver Field Office—training community groups, unions, businesses and educators on federal anti-discrimination law, serving as the office's congressional liaison and public affairs officer, and holding special certification to deliver the agency's "Respect in the Workplace" training. Now she's taking that knowledge to library meeting rooms—four free workshops this month and next, open to anyone who shows up. The sessions are called "Know Your Federal Employment Rights." Each one covers what the law ...
Read More
Big business taxes, small family credits, and a permanent tax on overtime
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Big business taxes, small family credits, and a permanent tax on overtime

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Rep. Yara Zokaie stood before the House Finance Committee on March 9 and made the case for HB26-1221, a bill targeting executive pay deductions and corporate loss carry-forwards. "Our families are struggling to juggle their rent, groceries, and utilities," she said. The legislature had a choice. It could "choose to protect tax breaks for millionaire CEO salaries" or "allow for a break for our hard-working Coloradan families." Zokaie also co-signed HB26-1289. The reengrossed text of that bill, passed by the House on May 4, contains a provision requiring Colorado workers to add their federally exempt overtime pay back into state taxable income. Congress created a federal income tax deduction on overtime pay — up to $12,500 ...
Read More
You’ve been praying all along — you just didn’t know it
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

You’ve been praying all along — you just didn’t know it

By Drake Hunter | Rocky Mountain Voice From Billy Graham’s Capitol steps to Ronald Reagan’s national call, the National Day of Prayer reminds us: prayer isn’t just something we do—it’s who we become. Prayer sometimes gets a bad reputation for being formal. Folded hands, bowed heads, the right words in the right order. But walk into any coffee shop on any morning and listen carefully — and you'll hear it everywhere. And once a year, a whole nation does exactly that — together. There's something so inspiring about a nation coming together to pause, even just for a moment, to reflect beyond ourselves. Back in 1952, a young evangelist named Billy Graham stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with thousands of people, calling a nation to seek God during uncertain times, m...
Read More
Colorado loses businesses at one of nation’s highest rates, new report finds
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado loses businesses at one of nation’s highest rates, new report finds

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado residents have spent years watching prices climb while business groups warn that operating in the state is becoming harder. A new report adds another layer of data to those concerns. Colorado ranked near the bottom nationally for net business establishment growth in 2024 and recorded the nation’s worst employment losses tied to business openings and closures, according to a new analysis from the Common Sense Institute. While most states added businesses and jobs last year, Colorado was one of only six states to lose ground in both categories, joining Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Washington. Researchers pointed to high business costs and weakening confidence in Colorado’s economic outlook as growing warni...
Read More
Transparency for All, Not Just Some
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Transparency for All, Not Just Some

By Dusty Johnson | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Editor's update: SB26-147 is scheduled for third reading and final passage in the House today, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. The legislative day began at 11 a.m. Coloradans may listen live at sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00327/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20260506/74/18834#info_  Coloradans deserve a government that operates in the open. They deserve to know who is influencing their laws, how those decisions are being shaped, and how taxpayer dollars are being used in that process. That is exactly why I am proud to sponsor SB26-147.  At its core, this bill is simple. It applies the same transparency standards to everyone involved in lobbying, including those working inside government.  Right now, private ...
Read More
How the nation’s largest teachers union taught schools to cut parents out
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

How the nation’s largest teachers union taught schools to cut parents out

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice In April 2025, Dustin Gonzalez stood before the Jefferson County school board and told them what had happened to his family. A school-appointed therapist in Lakewood, he said, had affirmed his daughter's gender transition without his knowledge. His ex-wife initiated proceedings to take his visitation. A court-appointed investigator never accused him of abuse or harm. A judge ruled anyway that his inability to affirm was sufficient grounds to reduce his parenting time — and limited it to every other weekend, Gonzalez shared on X. "It started in your schools," Gonzalez told the board. "Your systems made it possible, and your silence made it personal. You never once thought, 'Shouldn't the father be involved, too.'" He de...
Read More