State

Anderson: Education dollars should help all students perform, while lawmakers focus on funding gender ideology

Let’s look at the facts. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2024, only 36 percent of Colorado’s fourth-graders read at a proficient level, and just 42 percent are proficient in math.

These numbers should alarm every parent, educator, policymaker and taxpayer. Beneath the surface of annual graduation celebrations lies a troubling reality: Many students are not prepared for life after high school. Colleges are restructuring their curricula to accommodate lower proficiency levels, and remedial classes are becoming the norm, not the exception.

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Hancock: HB25-1312 replaces truth with dogma and calls it progress

From the rugged ridgelines of the Rockies now echoes a different kind of thunder — not from the skies above, but from the marble halls of Colorado’s State Capitol, where lawmakers are ushering in a bill that feels less like legislation and more like dogma.

House Bill 25-1312, ostentatiously named the “Kelly Loving Act,” is heralded as a civil rights measure. But dig past the buzzwords and you’ll find something far more troubling: a secular creed imposed with such fervor it borders on religious zealotry — and as such, possibly violates the U.S. Constitution’s Establishment Clause.

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Colo. Sheriffs call SB25-003 a ‘nightmare’ for rights, businesses and public safety

Following Gov. Jared Polis’ signing of the sweeping gun ban measure last week, some Colorado sheriffs, who have opposed the bill all along, are still speaking out against the action.

The measure bans the sale of the most popular selling rifle in America—the Modern Sporting Rifle (MSR)—unless Coloradans obtain from their county sheriff approval, based on subjective criteria, a permit-to-purchase semi-automatic firearms capable of accepting detachable magazines.

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Colorado legislature passes bill punting to local governments on how much restaurant servers are paid

A contentious bill pitting many restaurant owners against workers over how much tipped employees should earn was approved by the Colorado legislature Tuesday, with the restaurant industry feeling like it had achieved a small victory. 

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Enos: What rushed gender and abortion bills say about the legislature’s priorities

Transparency is not really our current General Assembly’s goal. We would like to believe that our state government works for us, but the majority party in charge is more concerned with covering its own tracks to avoid any repercussions of accountability with the voters. 

They also consider any opposing views or opinions to be dissent that must be squashed at all costs, even if it means forcibly gagging their opposition by disallowing all debate. This is not exactly an overflow of reasoned debate, which we would like to encourage amongst our lawmakers.

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Outnumbered but not outmatched: House Minority Leader Pugliese’s grassroots push

At the Colorado Capitol, House Republicans are outnumbered two to one. But House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese is still swinging—and she’s not swinging blindly.

She’s drawing from somewhere real.

“My father started his life with 50 cents in his pocket and a dream to own his own restaurant.” Pugliese added, “Almost every day it feels like I’m back to having spare change and a big dream—only this time it’s at the legislature.”

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Happening Today: Parents and Pastors Rally at Capitol to Stop HB25-1312 from Becoming Law

A coalition of pastors, parents, and constitutional advocates will gather Thursday on the West Steps of the Colorado State Capitol to oppose HB25-1312, the controversial “Kelly Loving Act” that critics say represents a direct attack on parental rights, religious liberty, and free speech.

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