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Colorado Sues Trump Admin Over Withheld Funds Due to “Failure to Deliver”
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State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Sues Trump Admin Over Withheld Funds Due to “Failure to Deliver”

By Erica Breunlin | The Colorado Sun Colorado has joined 23 other states and Washington, D.C., in suing the Trump administration over its decision to freeze $6.8 billion in grant funding that helps school districts across the country operate after-school programs, train teachers, and boost resources and support for kids with significant learning needs. That money includes an estimated $80 million that would have flowed to Colorado school districts, which now face uncertainty about the level of staffing and programs they will be able to offer this next school year — about a month away for many districts. Colorado is one of four states leading the lawsuit, according to Attorney General Phil Weiser. They filed the lawsuit Monday, naming the U.S. Department of Education, Education Sec...
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Colorado’s Housing Crisis: Not Enough Homes Fuels Third-Highest Rent in America
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State, Approved, denvergazette.com

Colorado’s Housing Crisis: Not Enough Homes Fuels Third-Highest Rent in America

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Denver Gazette Colorado had the third highest rent and fifth highest home prices in 2023, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis from a zoning group. Compiled by a group called National Zoning Atlas, the analysis examined zoning codes in all 334 of Colorado's jurisdictions to assess how zoning affects housing affordability in the state. Of those 334 jurisdictions, 275 have zoning codes — but not all are openly available to the public, the analysis said. "Affordable" housing has been a top priority of Gov. Jared Polis since he was first elected in 2019, a goal shared by policymakers, though they often sharpy differ how to achieve that aim. Some push for greater density as a solution to many of the state's urban problems. In Denver, that reason...
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The COvid Chronicles June 16-23, 2020: Social justice got a platform—police got massive reform
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

The COvid Chronicles June 16-23, 2020: Social justice got a platform—police got massive reform

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board In this ninth chapter of The COvid Chronicles, summer arrived—but sanity didn’t. Looking back at our COVID-19 history is painful. But as Spanish-American philosopher put it, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Approaching the summer solstice, Colorado entered a new phase—shaped not just by COVID-19, but by weeks of racial unrest.  Early tremors signaled what was coming. Inflation began to stir.  Ever-libertarian Gov. Jared Polis sermonized about how Coloradans needed the right “responsibility, behavior and will” to earn their freedoms back. CU Boulder, shrine of elite enlightenment, spoke solemnly of COVID safety out of one side of its mouth and pledged allegiance to the state’s racial reckoning out ...
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17 Colorado sheriffs to Polis: Fix inmate transfer crisis straining local jails
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denvergazette.com, Approved, State

17 Colorado sheriffs to Polis: Fix inmate transfer crisis straining local jails

By Marissa Ventrelli | Denver Gazette A coalition of 17 county sheriffs urged Gov. Jared Polis to resolve the Department of Corrections' backlog in inmate transfers and increase what the local officials described as the state's inadequate reimbursement rate for housing inmates in county jails. Current conditions are unsustainable according the group. In a letter signed by the sheriffs of El Paso, Douglas, Pueblo, and other counties, the group warned that prolonged delays in transferring of DOC-sentenced inmates from county jails into state custody, combined with what they called an "outdated and underfunded" per diem reimbursement rate, is creating a fiscal and public safety crisis.  "County jails were never designed — or funded — to house state inmates for extended periods,”...
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Feds unfreeze $4M for Upper Colorado River Basin watershed restoration
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Feds unfreeze $4M for Upper Colorado River Basin watershed restoration

By Jerd Smith | Colorado Sun The cash will allow work in fire-damaged watersheds and the Kawuneeche Valley in Rocky Mountain National Park to continue Millions of dollars in federal funding have been released to continue restoring lands and streams in the fire-scarred Upper Colorado River Basin watershed in and around Grand Lake and Rocky Mountain National Park. The roughly $4 million was frozen in February and was released in April, according to Northern Water, a major Colorado water provider and one of the agencies that coordinate with the federal government and agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service to conduct the work.  Esther Vincent, Northern Water’s director of environmental services, said the federal government gave no reason for the  freeze and release of funds....
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Gazette editorial board: Why taxing servers and medics is political malpractice
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denvergazette.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Gazette editorial board: Why taxing servers and medics is political malpractice

The Gazette editorial board | Commentary, Denver Gazette You’d think our state’s ruling Democrats would be doing their level best to win back the working class in advance of next year’s national midterm election. It will be a referendum, after all, on the Trump presidency and congressional Republicans — who won power last year with the support of workers long deemed the sole domain of the Democratic Party. Yet, Colorado’s Legislature and Gov. Jared Polis decided to gut-punch Colorado workers, instead — by essentially taxing their hard-earned overtime wages. That provision was buried in an obscure, wide-ranging bill innocuously titled, “Tax Expenditure Adjustment,” which lawmakers passed this spring. Polis signed it into law in May. The state’s overtime tax is intended to offset fe...
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Gaines: Watch the framing—Karlik’s slant and Polis’ quiet appointments
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Gaines: Watch the framing—Karlik’s slant and Polis’ quiet appointments

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Colorado Politics' Karlik lets his bias slip (again). Colorado Politics judicial reporter Michael Karlik is back at it (see the first link below for an earlier post about his reporting). If it's not using his pen to question the motives of a conservative judge, it's tossing softballs at a liberal judge rather than challenging him. It's framing his questions in such a way as to clearly indicate what the point of the whole endeavor has been. The Colorado Politics article linked second below is a Q and A Karlik had with retired judge John Leopold** to discuss Leopold's signing an amicus brief about the arrests of Minnesota Judge Hannah Dugan. She was the one who hustled someone ICE had a warrant for out the back door whe...
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ICE expansion in Colorado draws fire as private prison firms compete for contracts
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

ICE expansion in Colorado draws fire as private prison firms compete for contracts

By Anna Alejo | CBS Colorado Just days after the passage of President Trump's budget bill allocating $45 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to expand detention facilities, the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado made public documents submitted by private prison operators seeking to sign contracts with the federal government. The ACLU says the government provided the documents in response to its lawsuit filed in April. The Trump administration says it plans to build capacity for 100,000 ICE detention beds nationwide. Locations offered for new ICE detention centers in Colorado include Walsenberg, Colorado Springs, Hudson, and La Junta. "We sued the federal government because they were hiding these documents about their intent to expand ICE detention in Colorado...
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DEI at a cost: Colorado schools caught in $70M federal freeze
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, State, Top Stories

DEI at a cost: Colorado schools caught in $70M federal freeze

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado public schools are facing a $70 million funding freeze—part of a broader $6.8 billion nationwide hold triggered by the U.S. Department of Education. At the heart of the conflict are federal objections to DEI and LGBTQIA+ initiatives in schools, which have already led to lawsuits and pushed districts to search for new funding before fall. The freeze and federal justification The funding suspension follows executive orders issued by the Trump administration in early 2025. According to a July 2 notice sent to state education departments, the Department of Education is reviewing already-approved funds to ensure they align with new presidential priorities. Governor Jared Polis responded the same day, calling the act...
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New report blames bureaucracy, labor gaps for Colorado’s housing affordability crisis
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DENVER7, Approved, State

New report blames bureaucracy, labor gaps for Colorado’s housing affordability crisis

By Danielle Kreutter | Denver7 Mile High United Way, BuildStrong Foundation and McKinsey & Company collaborated on the in-depth housing report DENVER — A new report from Mile High United Way, BuildStrong Foundation and McKinsey & Company reveals that 51% of renters and 21% of homeowners in Colorado are cost-burdened. That means more than 30% of their income is spent on housing. But after surveying 200 various stakeholders involved in housing in Colorado, the report brought to the table six potential solutions to address the problem. Read the full report in the embed below: One solution was to improve plan review and permitting speeds. The report cited feedback that long redundant review processes can often delay projects. "There are technology solutions now ...
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