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Weiser’s Record: The Lawsuit Machine and the Scorecard
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Weiser’s Record: The Lawsuit Machine and the Scorecard

By Shaina Cole | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Marya Washburn is a federal Forest Service firefighter. She was fired by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins last year, right before fire season. At a January forum in Denver, Attorney General Phil Weiser singled her out by name as evidence of what his office has accomplished. "My office got involved in one of the 50 lawsuits we brought against this administration," Weiser told the Colorado Young Democrats forum. "We got our job back." It is also incomplete in ways voters should understand. The lawsuit Weiser was describing is captioned State of Maryland v. USDA. Maryland filed it. Maryland's attorneys drafted the complaint and argued the case. Colorado was one of several states that added its name to the filing. Weiser's o...
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What tax day looks like in Colorado: A business owner, a paycheck—and what changed this year
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

What tax day looks like in Colorado: A business owner, a paycheck—and what changed this year

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice A mother approached a federal official after a recent event with a simple observation. She said her daughter, who is working through nursing school, saved about $8,000 because of the no-tax-on-tips provision. “That’s three to four months of rent,” U.S. Small Business Administration Regional Administrator Justin Everett said, recalling the conversation. As Americans file their taxes, Everett is part of an effort to highlight what the administration is calling “Working Family Tax Cuts,” a set of federal tax changes aimed at reducing the burden on small businesses and workers. According to White House estimates Everett cited, Colorado families could see between $4,500 and $8,100 in tax savings, with take-home pay rising higher in some ...
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Where did your TABOR refund go? Follow the spending
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Where did your TABOR refund go? Follow the spending

By Jarvis Caldwell and Gabe Evans | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice TABOR, otherwise known as the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, was created to protect Coloradans from bloated government spending, prevent politicians from overtaxing working families, and ensure extra revenue is returned to the people who earned it. But under Governor Polis' fiscal mismanagement and runaway spending, Coloradans are paying the price — through dramatically reduced TABOR refunds this year and no refunds at all next year.  TABOR is a provision in the Colorado Constitution passed by voters in 1992 that puts strict limits on how much the government can tax, spend, and grow unless otherwise voted on and approved. It ensures government spending increases only by inflation and population growth and...
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Less Pay. Less Jobs. Businesses Blame Overregulation
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Red State, Top Stories

Less Pay. Less Jobs. Businesses Blame Overregulation

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado has spent five years building one of the most expansive labor regulatory environments in the country. Paid family leave. Wage transparency requirements. A lowered standard for harassment claims. Minimum wages that rise automatically every year, with several cities setting their own higher rates on top. Each law arrived with the same promise: this is good for workers. The workers' employers tell a different story. In late 2024, before federal tariffs became a headline and before trade policy gave anyone a convenient explanation for rising costs, the Colorado Chamber of Commerce commissioned an independent survey of 169 Colorado business leaders. Cole Hargrave Snodgrass & Associates, a nationally recognized ...
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After a father’s warning, lawmakers block porn age-check measure
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

After a father’s warning, lawmakers block porn age-check measure

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice A Mesa County father didn’t show up to talk policy. He showed up to talk about kids. “My heart breaks for this generation and the technology that they face today,” Mesa County Commissioner Cody Davis told lawmakers, describing a world where explicit material is “one click away” and often discovered long before children understand what they’re seeing. He talked about foster children, smartphones, and the quiet moments when exposure happens before parents even know it. “Right now, a 10-year-old boy is quietly absorbing scenes that teach him that women are objects,” Davis said. “Right now, a 12-year-old girl is comparing her natural developing body to the… performer she sees.” No one in the hearing questioned the problem. Kids are runn...
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Election Integrity and Cybersecurity Failures at the Colorado GOP Convention
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Election Integrity and Cybersecurity Failures at the Colorado GOP Convention

By Maria Orms | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice I attended this past weekend’s Colorado Republican State Convention in Pueblo as a gubernatorial candidate seeking ballot access. I was there not only as a candidate, but as a cybersecurity professional. What I witnessed—and what was reported by multiple credible participants—was not simply disorganization. It was a series of failures that demand a full, independent investigation. Confidence in any election process—whether internal to a party or statewide—depends on security, transparency, and adherence to procedure. In Pueblo, those standards were not met. Start with the delegate database. Multiple individuals reported that the system had been corrupted or compromised just days before the convention. That alone should hav...
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Heaven’s Battle Plan: You’re Not Alone
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Devotional, Top Stories

Heaven’s Battle Plan: You’re Not Alone

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice “It is not good for man to be alone.”~ Genesis 2:18 ~ In Colorado and especially across the Rocky Mountains, we deeply respect a trait we find truly admirable: rugged independence. It embodies the ability to stand firm on your own, work diligently, fulfill your responsibilities, and take control of your life. It’s important to recognize that this isn’t a weakness but a genuine strength. So, therefore, as I get into this devotion, I want to clarify that God is for independence—He’s the one who bestowed upon us the capacity to stand tall and be self-reliant when understood correctly. However, like many virtues, what begins as strength can slowly transform into something else—something heavier and isolating. I recall a meaningful mom...
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He Loved This City. Then It Nearly Killed Him.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

He Loved This City. Then It Nearly Killed Him.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Nico Francis had spent the early part of the evening on April 3 at the First Friday ArtWalk on Santa Fe, and with friends waiting on Colfax, he grabbed a Lime scooter just after 11:30 p.m. and took what he called the scenic route. It was a night like dozens of others for the Ohio transplant, who moved to Denver in 2020 — a man who had long been something of a downtown defender, someone who pushed back every time a friend called the area dangerous.  "I love 16th street. I love downtown. I like just riding through there and seeing what's going on — seeing all the people, seeing everything going on," Francis said. That comfort level would not survive the night. Then something felt off  A white SUV conta...
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HB26-1276 faces hearing today as Rep. Slaugh warns sanctuary policies could cut federal jail funding
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

HB26-1276 faces hearing today as Rep. Slaugh warns sanctuary policies could cut federal jail funding

By Rep. Scott Slaugh | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Editor’s update: HB26-1276 is scheduled to be heard today at 1:30 p.m. in the House Finance Committee (HCR 0112). Readers can listen to the hearing live here or sign up to testify here. Since the year 2000, by Act of Congress the federal Department of Justice’s has annually reimbursed state prisons and thousands of local county jails across the nation for the documented costs of incarcerating convicted criminal aliens –persons not lawfully present in the United States and convicted of a felony crime or two misdemeanors under a state’s criminal code. That decades-old federal program is called the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, or simply, “SCAAP.”   From its inception the federal SCAAP program ...
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GOP advances candidates as convention backs effort to limit primary ballots to Republicans
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

GOP advances candidates as convention backs effort to limit primary ballots to Republicans

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado Republicans came to Pueblo to choose candidates. They left having done that—and still debating who should have a say in choosing them. What unfolded over the course of a long delayed and at times contentious assembly produced clear outcomes in major races while also setting in motion a legal step that could reshape how those candidates are selected in the future. Candidates emerge with distinct paths to the ballot Two different approaches carried through in the governor’s race. State Rep. Scott Bottoms led with 968 votes (45.13 percent) while Victor Marx followed with 837 votes (39.02 percent). Both cleared the 30 percentage threshold required to advance. Supporters raise signs for Scott Bottoms as delegates r...
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