Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

State

Colorado’s War On Natural Gas Could Cost Coloradans Dearly
No Comments
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s War On Natural Gas Could Cost Coloradans Dearly

By Elizabeth Caven | Commentary, The Denver Gazette In a state where winter isn’t optional, you’d think reliable heat wouldn’t be either. Yet, Colorado’s Public Utilities Commission seems increasingly comfortable with discarding the very energy source that keeps the majority of households in the state warm: natural gas. Residents are not thinking about long-term regulatory frameworks when they go to turn up the heat in January. They are asking much simpler questions: Will their homes stay warm, and can they afford it? This is what makes Colorados current energy trajectory so puzzling and, increasingly, troubling. Natural gas continues to be the backbone of the states energy sphere even as lawmakers at the Capitol seem determined to ignore that fact. A recent report published ...
Read More
Colorado Title Board Blocks The “Right to Know” Transparency Amendment From Ballot
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Title Board Blocks The “Right to Know” Transparency Amendment From Ballot

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER — The Colorado Title Board has refused to give Coloradans the opportunity to vote on making government transparency a state constitutional right. The board voted 2-1 at an April 24 re-hearing that a proposed constitutional amendment, put together by a large stakeholder group from across the political spectrum, did not meet Colorado’s “single-subject” requirement, calling it too broad. The 3-member Title Board is made up of representatives of the secretary of state, attorney general, and office of legislative legal services (OLLS). Colorado’s single‑subject rule requires that every citizen-initiated ballot measure be only about one issue in an effort to keep non-related topics from being grouped together.  Ball...
Read More
Gas Turbines Ramp Up As Colorado Joins Regional Grid System
No Comments
The Coloradoan, Approved, State

Gas Turbines Ramp Up As Colorado Joins Regional Grid System

By Rebecca Powell | The Coloradoan In the month since Platte River Power Authority joined a regional energy market, its combustion gas turbines have been operating at a higher level and the Craig 1 unit that was supposed to have been retired instead began burning coal again. The combustion turbines have been operating at a "much higher capacity factor" and prices have been volatile, Melie Vincent, PRPA's chief power supply officer, told the board of directors on April 30. "A lot of this is just SPP operators trying to figure out the western side," Vincent said, referring to the Southwest Power Pool regional transmission organization's expansion into the western United States with nine utilities in Colorado, Arizona, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah and Wyo...
Read More
Colorado Health Care Bailout Bill Could Hit Families and Small Businesses With $40 Million Fee
No Comments
CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Health Care Bailout Bill Could Hit Families and Small Businesses With $40 Million Fee

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado Colorado insurers say health care premiums could increase by hundreds of dollars in 2027. The warning comes as state lawmakers consider $40 million in new fees on insurers that the companies say they'll pass on to policyholders.  Democratic stet Sens. Iman Jodeh and Kyle Mullica are sponsoring a bill that would bail out the Health Insurance Affordability Enterprise, which is short $140 million. The enterprise subsidizes care for 176,000 Coloradans on Connect for Health Colorado and 6,700 undocumented immigrants on OmniSalud. That's in addition to supporting the Colorado Reinsurance Program, which helps cover high-cost claims. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT CBS COLORADO
Read More
Weiser’s record: A system falling behind
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Weiser’s record: A system falling behind

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Every time a convicted felon in Colorado decides to fight their case on appeal, the state has to answer. Homicide. Sexual assault. White collar crime. Death row. It doesn't matter — the Attorney General's Criminal Appeals Section picks up every one. Thirty-four attorneys. Every felony appeal in the state. And for three straight years, they haven't been able to keep up. The cost of that starts before a single case is decided. The state tracks response briefs through mandatory SMART Act performance filings. One metric counts how many are overdue — cases where the office has not filed within the deadline set by the Colorado Appellate Rules.  The Attorney General's office sets its own annual target for how ma...
Read More
Colorado’s Republican governor primary: Scott Bottoms in his own words
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s Republican governor primary: Scott Bottoms in his own words

By RMV Editorial Board | Rocky Mountain Voice In five weeks, the candidate who won 45 percent of delegate votes at the GOP state assembly will be a name on a ballot. Scott Bottoms wants them to know exactly where he stands—on everything. In the individualized portion of RMV's governor primary feature, the Colorado Springs pastor and state representative answered questions about his faith-driven language on the House floor, his budget vote, his FBI claims, his endorsement of Joe Oltmann, his readiness to run a $46 billion state government and his vote against certifying election results. These questions were drawn from reader submissions, Bottoms' legislative record and public statements. The common questions all three GOP candidates received are published in the side-by-side c...
Read More
Colorado’s Republican governor primary: Barb Kirkmeyer in her own words
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s Republican governor primary: Barb Kirkmeyer in her own words

By RMV Editorial Board | Rocky Mountain Voice In five weeks, more than 21,000 petition signatures become a name on a ballot. Barb Kirkmeyer got on that ballot by knocking on doors. While her two opponents competed for delegate votes at the GOP state assembly, this state senator skipped the convention and submitted 21,342 petition signatures—15,438 of which were validated by the Secretary of State—to qualify for the June 30 primary. In the individualized portion of RMV's governor primary feature, Kirkmeyer explains why she chose that path and answers questions about her budget vote, TABOR refunds, Tina Peters, abortion and what kind of Republican she is. The questions below were shaped by reader submissions, public statements and Kirkmeyer's record in the state Senate. The six ...
Read More
Colorado Drivers Face $75 Tickets Under Expanded Automated Speed Enforcement
No Comments
MotorBiscuit, Approved, State

Colorado Drivers Face $75 Tickets Under Expanded Automated Speed Enforcement

By Saajan Jogia | MotorBiscuit While you must not speed on public roads, even if you do, Colorado’s new automated vehicle ID system (AVIS) will track your average speed and send you a ticket if it exceeds 10 mph. This renders a speed-camera-tracking app on your smartphone useless, as the new system works in a very different way. According to a report by Motor1, AVIS is being used only on certain roads and highways in Colorado, but since it uses your average speed and not the speed recorded at one particular spot, it could be more accurate, meaning motorists with a heavy foot will have to be wary of this system. How Does AVIS Work? AVIS uses not one but multiple cameras to calculate a car’s average speed at different intervals. That means on a long stretch o...
Read More
Lawmakers Move To Level Playing Field Between Lobbyists And State Agencies
No Comments
Colorado Public Radio, Approved, State

Lawmakers Move To Level Playing Field Between Lobbyists And State Agencies

By Rae Solomon | Colorado Public Radio Governor Jared Polis is strongly pushing back against a proposal that would treat legislative staff in his administration like any other lobbyist.  The primary job of those workers, called legislative liaisons, is to try to sway lawmakers and change legislation. They’re essentially lobbyists for the state government and the Polis administration, but they aren’t required to follow the same disclosure rules that govern most lobbyists.  A bipartisan bill moving through the statehouse would change that, a measure that appeared to ruffle feathers within Governor Jared Polis’s administration. “Staff members in the Governor’s office are not registered lobbyists, and it would be absurd to have them treated the same way,” ...
Read More
Colorado Lawmakers Advance Parole And Sentencing Changes in an Effort to Reduce Prison Population
No Comments
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Advance Parole And Sentencing Changes in an Effort to Reduce Prison Population

By Taylor Dolven and Rae Solomon | The Colorado Sun It’s unclear if the measures will be enough to offset the need for reopening one or two prisons. Colorado lawmakers passed two bills Thursday and are still considering a third aimed at reducing the state’s prison population, which has ballooned to the point where Gov. Jared Polis is recommending reopening up to two prisons. It’s difficult to say whether the bills, which Polis has yet to sign, can cut the prison population enough to offset the Department of Corrections’ space needs this year. But they represent the legislature’s latest effort to reduce the number of incarcerated Coloradans, which has increased 19% since 2021 even as crime rates have fallen. “This is part of the bigger conversati...
Read More

Join us at RMV's Freedom Festival

Click Here for Tickets!

This will close in 0 seconds