Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

State

Gaines: Is CDPHE’s harm reduction program normalizing meth and crack on the taxpayer’s dime?
No Comments
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Gaines: Is CDPHE’s harm reduction program normalizing meth and crack on the taxpayer’s dime?

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project CDPHE's harm reduction via Colorado Health Network, Inc. The Colorado Politics article linked first below is about a meth flyer that was circulating in Denver and causing some heartburn. It's a flyer which offers tips on how to smoke not only meth but also crack cocaine. The flyer was produced and distributed by Access Point Denver.Quoting the article:"Operated by Colorado Health Network, Access Point Denver is a harm reduction program offering services such as drug checking, overdose prevention and sterile needle exchanges to reduce the transmission of diseases among drug users. In June, the Denver City Council unanimously approved a 24-month contract extension worth more than $3 million that funds Access Point Denver’...
Read More
Colorado Sued for for Taxing Overtime Pay Exempted by Trump
No Comments
State, Approved, Westword

Colorado Sued for for Taxing Overtime Pay Exempted by Trump

By Michael Roberts | Westword The lawsuit challenges a recently passed Colorado law that will continue taxing overtime pay at the state level. As President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act temporarily cuts federal taxes on overtime pay, some Colorado Republicans are seeking to force the state to follow suit. The conservative advocacy group Advance Colorado filed a lawsuit on Thursday, July 24, challenging a new law that will continue taxing overtime pay at the state level, regardless of federal changes. The lawsuit was filed in Denver District Court against Governor Jared Polis and the head of Colorado’s tax agency. Other plaintiffs attached to the suit include Republican State Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer and Fremont County Commissioner Kevin Grantham. The lawsuit target...
Read More
Colorado Delegation Unites to Demand $140M Water Funds Release
No Comments
State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Delegation Unites to Demand $140M Water Funds Release

By Shannon Mullane | The Colorado Sun The state’s congressional delegation sent a bipartisan letter to federal agencies, calling on them to fund Colorado River drought-response projects. Colorado’s entire congressional delegation, Republicans and Democrats alike, is calling for the release of $140 million in frozen funds for Colorado River water projects. In January, the last days of the Biden administration, the Bureau of Reclamation awarded funding for 17 projects as part of the federal drought-response effort in the overstressed Colorado River Basin. Three days later, President Donald Trump issued sweeping executive orders that aimed to reshape federal spending priorities to match his administration’s policies. The Colorado projects were caught in the maelstrom. Co...
Read More
TABOR Undermined as Almost Half of Colorado Budget Now Exempt
No Comments
State, Approved, coloradopolitics.com

TABOR Undermined as Almost Half of Colorado Budget Now Exempt

By Hannah Metzger | Colorado Politics State spending that is exempt from Colorado's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights has increased by nearly 30% over the past 30 years, according to a report by the public policy think tank Common Sense Institute.  While TABOR places a limit on how much revenue the state can retain each fiscal year, certain sources — such as voter-approved changes, federal funds, and state enterprises — are exempt. According to the Bell Policy Center, enterprise funds are state-owned "businesses" that provide goods or services in exchange for revenue. Examples include the state lottery and the Colorado Healthcare Affordability and Sustainability Enterprise (CHASE). According to the Common Sense Institute report, 46% of total state spending — ab...
Read More
Feds Approve Colorado Ban on Buying Soda with Food Stamps
No Comments
State, Approved, kdvr.com

Feds Approve Colorado Ban on Buying Soda with Food Stamps

By Dara Bitler | KDVR FOX31 DENVER (KDVR) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has allowed Colorado to exempt sugary beverages and soda from being purchased with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds. The announcement was made on Monday, following the state’s submission of the waiver request on May 13. The waiver will take effect in 2026, according to a release from the USDA. The SNAP waiver is designed to bring a focus on healthy eating, according to Colorado Governor Jared Polis. The waiver changes what foods can be purchased through SNAP. Beneficiaries can still purchase milk-based drinks and 100% juice drinks with their SNAP benefits, but sweetened beverages, such as soft drinks with sugar or artificial sweeteners, will be excluded. The waiver specifically exclud...
Read More
Federal Judge Blocks Colorado Ban on Abortion Pill Reversal
No Comments
State, Approved, Live Action News

Federal Judge Blocks Colorado Ban on Abortion Pill Reversal

By Nancy Flanders | Live Action News According to the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a Colorado district court issued an order on Friday to permanently block a state law prohibiting medical professionals from providing women with the option of ‘abortion pill reversal’ (APR). Key Takeaways: On August 1, Colorado District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico ordered a permanent injunction on SB23-190, the Colorado law banning the administration of ‘abortion pill reversal.’  The state has 30 days to appeal the decision to the Tenth Circuit. ‘Abortion pill reversal’ uses progesterone in an attempt to outcompete the effects of the first drug of the abortion pill. The Details: Colorado District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico issued an order on Au...
Read More
Colorado Tourism Growth Pulls Back with Booking Dips and Flat Spending
No Comments
State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Tourism Growth Pulls Back with Booking Dips and Flat Spending

By Jason Blevins | The Colorado Sun Colorado hosted 95.4 million visitors who spent $28.4 billion in 2024, an increase largely from day-trippers. The state is worrying about a decline in international visitors who stay longer, spend more. After several years of record-setting traffic, it appears Colorado’s Western Slope tourism economy has hit a plateau. Some communities are even reporting declines in visitor traffic and spending, marking the first slowdown since the pandemic. State tourism officials started warning a softening tourism market last year as vacationer traffic into the state ebbed. Last year Colorado hosted 95.4 million visitors who spent $28.4 billion. That’s up 2.1 million visitors from the crowd that spent $28.3 billion in 2023. Most of that increase in visits las...
Read More
Governor Polis Gets an Earful from Rural Towns Tired of Being Ignored
No Comments
State, Approved, Colorado Politics

Governor Polis Gets an Earful from Rural Towns Tired of Being Ignored

By Hap Fry | Colorado Politics STEAMBOAT SPRINGS • Once upon a time, Marsha Daughenbaugh supported Gov. Jared Polis from her working cattle and hay ranch some 8 miles outside of Steamboat. “Let me preface this,” Daughenbaugh said, while making day-before preparations for a Fourth of July gathering for family and friends, before pausing and adding, “I voted for Governor Polis the first go around, but I’ve become very disappointed in what he has become and what his approach to agriculture has been.” “I feel like he has a much deeper, more urban interest in his heart,” Daughenbaugh said. “I was born and raised here,” said the well-spoken 72-year-old rancher. “My folks worked very, very hard to put this ranch together. I believe deeply in agriculture. We all have to do what we can ...
Read More
Gaines: Medicaid bloat is eating Colorado’s budget after a decade of federal expansion
No Comments
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Gaines: Medicaid bloat is eating Colorado’s budget after a decade of federal expansion

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Colorado's Medicaid bloat under Obamacare In the first post of this series, I briefly went over Colorado's Medicaid financing (how much and on what). If you want or need that context, it's the first link below. In the second part of the series, I want to talk about how Medicaid got expanded by the Feds--allowing more people to get on government-funded healthcare-- and how Colorado leapt at the expansion like a shot. There were two recent (and big) expansions of Medicaid: the first was the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) which expanded Medicaid coverage to people (including those without any disability or children)making up to 138% of the Federal Poverty wage. Screenshot 1 is a summary of the changes, it comes from...
Read More

FD863768-0ACF-495E-9D21-2EF784DFFA6B[1]

Join us at RMV's Freedom Festival

Click Here for Tickets!

This will close in 0 seconds