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Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission hearings show how small business voices are shut out
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission hearings show how small business voices are shut out

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project, Substack Government regulations differentially harm small businesses AND private businesses I wrote a newsletter (see the first link below if you want the context) a bit back about testifying in front of the Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) about how unelected boards are not how our state should run. I did end up testifying* and I wanted to share the testimony of a gentleman who preceded me because what he said struck me as important. The gentleman's name is Jeff Kendall and he is the CEO of Bruin Waste, a private, family-run business on the Western Slope which picks up trash and operates some landfills. His testimony starts in the recording of the hearing (linked second below) at the 1:03:55 mark. I won't...
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Colorado Liberal Coalition Seeks To Unwind TABOR With Graduated Income Tax Plan
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State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Liberal Coalition Seeks To Unwind TABOR With Graduated Income Tax Plan

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun The plan would increase income taxes on people earning at least $506,000 in annual taxable income to raise more than $2 billion each year for things like health care, education and public safety. People earning less would get a tax cut. A group of liberal advocacy groups is pursuing a 2026 ballot measure that would change the state constitution to enact a graduated income tax rate in Colorado and raise more than $2 billion each year for services like health care, education and public safety. The plan would increase income taxes on people earning at least $506,000 in annual taxable income. The proposal would lower the income taxes on people earning less, who represent the vast majority of Colorado taxpayers. The changes would also apply to busine...
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Colorado’s green building code mandates drive up housing costs and do little for the climate
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ScottKJames.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s green building code mandates drive up housing costs and do little for the climate

By Scott K. James | Commentary, Scott K. James New ‘green’ building code mandates in Colorado reek of virtue signaling, drive up housing costs, and do jack squat for the environment. The Denver Post recently dropped a fun little read about how Colorado’s unelected bureaucrats have found yet another way to make housing completely unaffordable while pretending they’re saving the planet. The Colorado Legislature cedes authority to unelected bureaucrats in the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) to whip out new codes. The Denver Post piece highlights how the CEO has done just that, and – viola – Colorado will now require cities and counties to adopt updated building codes focused on cutting emissions – because if there’s one thing this housing market needed, it was more ...
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Chamber Optimistic on Colorado Aerospace Despite Space Command Move
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Chamber Optimistic on Colorado Aerospace Despite Space Command Move

By Shannon Ogden | Denver7 The chamber of commerce told Denver7 anchor Shannon Ogden that the state's robust aerospace industry will be largely unaffected by SPACECOM's move to Alabama. DENVER — News that U.S. Space Command (SPACECOM) is relocating from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama, is not necessarily the economic deathblow that some are making it out to be, according to the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. Chamber president and CEO J.J. Ament said Space Command accounts for 1,400 jobs and a billion dollars in regional economic impact. However, according to Ament, that is a drop in the aerospace industry bucket. "We're certainly disappointed to see Space Command move to Alabama, but Colorado's aerospace economy is incredibly robust," Ament told Denver7 anchor Shanno...
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Colorado Semiautomatic Firearm Law Met With Lawsuit From Gun Rights Group
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State, Approved, KRDO.COM

Colorado Semiautomatic Firearm Law Met With Lawsuit From Gun Rights Group

By Samantha Hildebrandt | KRDO The Colorado State Shooting Association said that it has filed a lawsuit, seeking to overturn the law. Opponents of the law say that it will do nothing more than impose long and costly waiting periods for law-abiding people. “This law won’t stop crime — it will only stop Coloradans from exercising their constitutional rights,” said Ray Elliott, president of CSSA. “Colorado already has background checks. We already have waiting periods. SB25-003 piles on yet another hoop for responsible citizens while criminals ignore the rules. Enough is enough.” The law places more restrictions on those looking to purchase a semi-automatic weapon in Colorado. Under the law, those hoping to buy a semiautomatic are required to complete a firearms safety course ever...
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Polis Budget Cuts Threaten Health Care Access for Medicaid Patients
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Polis Budget Cuts Threaten Health Care Access for Medicaid Patients

By Brandon Richard | Denver7 Gov. Jared Polis says the cuts helped rebalance the state budget after Congress passed President Trump's tax bill DENVER — Coloradans may be forced to pay more and wait longer for health care treatment due to some of the budget cuts Gov. Jared Polis announced this week. Polis said the cuts were necessary to help rebalance the state budget after a Republican federal tax and spending bill, H.R.1. (One Big Beautiful Bill Act), reduced the state’s revenue and created a $783 million budget gap. "Unlike the federal government, we have to balance our budget,” Polis said. The governor made more than $250 million in cuts and redirected spending across departments. "What H.R.1 does in a way is it makes these cuts, and then it makes states be the bad guy...
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Uncompensated care meets 340B: Colorado’s numbers force a reckoning
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, State, Top Stories

Uncompensated care meets 340B: Colorado’s numbers force a reckoning

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado now requires hospitals to open their books, but the reports still don’t show how 340B savings are used or how much uncompensated care is migrant-related. That gap has turned Colorado into a proving ground for reforms that define the patient, disclose the spread and require hospitals to prove the savings reach care. Colorado’s uncompensated care surge UCHealth says it is drowning under the weight of migrant care, reporting $17 million in uncompensated costs in just three months last year. Denver Health added another $10 million in the same surge, and a Common Sense Institute analysis put the metro total for emergency care at $48 million by late 2024, averaging $2,931 per encounter.  Colorado’s own ledger underscores the scale....
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Nuclear Energy Presents a Security Solution Colorado Can’t Afford to Overlook
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State, Approved, Commentary, Complete Colorado

Nuclear Energy Presents a Security Solution Colorado Can’t Afford to Overlook

By Kevin McManimon | Commentary, Complete Colorado While a real-life ‘Red Dawn’ scenario playing out is unlikely, with Soviets falling from the skies and taking over Colorado, the threats to national security posed by Colorado’s current decarbonization agenda are very real. Colorado is home to some of the United States’ most important national security assets, including the U.S. Space Command, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), and many aerospace and defense contractors. The installations run by these assets require a dependable energy source in order to monitor threats, operate satellites, and carry out functions to protect the nation. But as the state continues towards an unrealistic climate goal of 100% decarbonization by 2040, an important iss...
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Labor Day Protest At Capitol Draws Small Crowd Targeting Trump and Billionaires
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Labor Day Protest At Capitol Draws Small Crowd Targeting Trump and Billionaires

By Danielle Kreutter | Denver7 The event was organized by the group 50501, which also organized the No Kings Day protest back in June. DENVER — Hundreds of demonstrators spent their Labor Day rallying for workers' rights at the Colorado Capitol. The event was organized by the group 50501, which also organized the No Kings Day protest back in June. The group held two marches: one through downtown Denver, where people held signs criticizing the Trump administration's affiliations with billionaires and other policies, and another to the Governor's Mansion, where people dropped off letters of various personal concerns. The focus of the event was to support labor rights, but 50501 also collaborated with several community groups — some political, some not. Booths were set up to co...
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Colorado sheriffs warn new gun licensing law threatens constitutional rights
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado sheriffs warn new gun licensing law threatens constitutional rights

-By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER – A major gun licensing law enacted by the Colorado legislature during the 2025 session is leaving some Colorado sheriffs with a bit of heartburn. Although Senate Bill 25-003 won’t take effect until Aug. 1, 2026, the sweeping changes to how Colorado residents can purchase certain firearms puts the onus on local sheriffs to enforce, but no help with funding of the new state mandates. Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams said all this bill has done is put him in a situation where his constituents think he is helping Democrats enforce a violation of their Second Amendment rights. “They ask me all the time why I just don’t refuse to enforce it,” said Reams, who has previously refused to enforce gun laws enacted during his time as she...
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