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‘It’s crucial that we work together’: House Republican leaders call for bipartisan cooperation in special session
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

‘It’s crucial that we work together’: House Republican leaders call for bipartisan cooperation in special session

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice When Gov. Jared Polis called on Thursday for a special session of the 74th State Legislature, he specifically noted the need for bipartisan efforts toward property tax solutions for Coloradans. It is crucial those words are reflected in actions of the majority party, leaders of the House Republicans said in a joint media statement. Republicans face a superminority in the Colorado House -- only 19 of the 65 members are Republican -- which often meant during regular session their bills are killed in committee and their voices muted. "The majority party has had multiple opportunities to work with us on a solution," said Assistant Minority Leader Ty Winter. "Instead, their delays and dysfunction have led to a rushed process that could have been a...
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As school opens, in many districts there are too few teachers, drivers and declining enrollments
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Approved, CBS Colorado, State

As school opens, in many districts there are too few teachers, drivers and declining enrollments

By Alan Gionet | CBS Colorado The 2024-25 school year is starting with districts seeking help. Across Colorado, many districts are again short of teachers, staff, and bus drivers.  In Jefferson County Schools, which resumes for most students on Thursday, the district is still looking to hire 11 teachers, 35 paraprofessionals, and 27 special education teachers, despite decades of declining enrollments due to a drop in birth rates and rising housing costs. In the Boulder Valley School District, officials are seeking to hire a dozen teachers as the district opens. They are offering a $3,500 signing bonus to bus drivers. "What we're trying to do is be proactive and engage the community," said Superintendent Dr. Rob Anderson. "We've been talking about this for several years." ...
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Gov. Polis calls 74th Legislature into special session to address property tax
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Gov. Polis calls 74th Legislature into special session to address property tax

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice A deal has been reached to remove two qualified property tax initiatives from the fall ballot in exchange for a special session of the 74th Colorado Legislature to address property tax. Gov. Jared Polis called the special session in an executive order Thursday morning. The single-item call on property tax will convene at 10 a.m. Monday, Aug. 26, his order reads. In order for a special session of the legislature to be called, it must be deemed to be an emergency, or as his order calls it, an "extraordinary occasion". The special session may only include those items in the call, in this case specifically property tax. "Coloradans continue to be burdened by increasing property taxes and need reliability in the amounts they will pay in future ...
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Colorado Rep. Joe Neguse, Sen. Michael Bennet lead delegation call for IRS not to tax TABOR refunds
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado Rep. Joe Neguse, Sen. Michael Bennet lead delegation call for IRS not to tax TABOR refunds

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics Colorado's congressional delegation on Wednesday once again urged the Internal Revenue Service not to treat refunds issued under the state's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights as taxable income. In a letter led by U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Assistant House Minority Leader Joe Neguse, every member of the state's delegation asked IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel to stick with the approach the agency has taken for more than three decades, since voters approved the revenue-limiting state constitutional amendment known widely as TABOR. The lawmakers said they are concerned the IRS could be considering treating refunds issued this year by the state — $800 for individual filers and $1,500 for joint filers — as taxable income, reversing an interpretation the age...
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Following anti-gun session, bipartisan 2nd Amendment Caucus is being formed by Reps. Armagost, Bottoms
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Following anti-gun session, bipartisan 2nd Amendment Caucus is being formed by Reps. Armagost, Bottoms

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice If state Reps. Ryan Armagost and Scott Bottoms are successful, their newly-formed House caucus will have bipartisan membership and strive to support, promote and protect gun rights for all Coloradans. The intent of the 2nd Amendment Caucus in the Colorado House is to create policy, ensuring the 2nd Amendment rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution are upheld, while prioritizing firearm safety and education, a statement reads. "Firearm safety and education should not be a partisan issue," Bottoms said in a press release. "Our goal is to ensure that all Coloradoans are knowledgeable and safe when it comes to firearm ownership. The Colorado 2nd Amendment Caucus will serve as a platform for collaboration and understanding, transcending party li...
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In bid to claim 8th District, Speaker Mike Johnson to headline fundraiser for Gabe Evans in Loveland
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

In bid to claim 8th District, Speaker Mike Johnson to headline fundraiser for Gabe Evans in Loveland

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana is scheduled to appear at a high-dollar fundraiser for Colorado congressional candidate Gabe Evans on Friday morning in Loveland, according to an invitation obtained by Colorado Politics. Evans, a first-term state lawmaker from Fort Lupton, is the Republican challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo in the toss-up 8th Congressional District, which stretches from Adams County suburbs north of Denver to Greeley. Caraveo, a former state lawmaker from Thornton, won the newly created seat in the last election by one of the smallest margins of any U.S. House race in the country. Tickets to the fundraising breakfast with Johnson start at $500 and top out at $10,000, which includes two seats...
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Report: Four-day week doesn’t increase student performance, staff retention
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Approved, Chalkbeat Colorado, State

Report: Four-day week doesn’t increase student performance, staff retention

By Ann Schimke | Chalkbeat Colorado Colorado school districts with four-day weeks have slightly lower student achievement on average than those with five-day weeks and see little improvement in teacher turnover after shifting from five to four days. That’s according to a new report from the Keystone Policy Center that argues for stricter guardrails on four-day school weeks and the creation of an expert panel to study the issue. The report, “Doing Less With Less,” comes at a time when nearly two-thirds of Colorado’s 185 districts — enrolling about 14% of the state’s students — operate on four-day-a-week schedules. In the last five years, about two dozen districts across the state, most small and rural, made the switch. This year, the 1,200-student Strasburg district, about 30 miles...
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In fractured state GOP, Pro-Williams wing wants bylaw amendment to make it more difficult to remove chair
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

In fractured state GOP, Pro-Williams wing wants bylaw amendment to make it more difficult to remove chair

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun If opponents of embattled Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams fail to remove him from the party’s top post later this month, they may be unable to dislodge him for the rest of his term, which ends in March. A major bylaw amendment being proposed by Williams’ allies would make it harder starting next year to call a special meeting to remove the Colorado GOP chairman or other party officers.  Currently, it only takes a written request of 25% of the members of the central committee to force such a meeting and a vote. The amendment would require that request be made through a form developed and authorized by the party’s secretary, and that each member of the central committee who signs it disclose “sufficient identifying inform...
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Faulting new law, after daughter transitions to boy, parents sue Colorado, Brighton school district
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Faulting new law, after daughter transitions to boy, parents sue Colorado, Brighton school district

By Thelma Grimes | Colorado Politics A Brighton couple is suing the state of Colorado, alleging that a law dealing with transgender identity violates parents’ constitutional rights and that their daughter, with the encouragement of a school district counselor, transitioned to a boy in secret.  The couple filed the Aug. 7 lawsuit against the Department of Education, and the 27J School District in Brighton. The suit seeks to challenge the constitutionality of House Bill 1039, claiming it violates parents’ rights as outlined in the First and 14th Amendments of the American Constitution. The Colorado law requires all public schools to use a child’s “preferred name,” subjecting schools to discrimination claims with the state's Civil Rights Commission if they refused if t...
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Number of new Colorado businesses drops 21.7% nearly a year after filing-fee discount ends
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Number of new Colorado businesses drops 21.7% nearly a year after filing-fee discount ends

By Tamara Chuang | The Colorado Sun A 21.7% dip in folks filing to start a business in Colorado during the second quarter was largely attributed to the end of a program more than a year ago that reduced filing fees to $1, according to the latest quarterly data from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. “It was the sharpest decrease year-over-year in the state (that) we’ve been tracking since 2005. That’s both in percentage terms and absolute numbers,” said Brian Lewandowski, executive director of University of Colorado’s Business Research Division, which analyzed the data for the Secretary of State’s Office.  New business filings reached a second-quarter high last year at 54,940. The fee returned to $50 in June 2023 and now, one year later, filings dropped to 43,029 for t...
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