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Colorado ends budget year $164M in the red with potential tax cuts looming on November ballot
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado ends budget year $164M in the red with potential tax cuts looming on November ballot

By Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun The state of Colorado will end its budget year June 30 with a deficit of as much as $164 million, forcing it to dip into its reserves as it heads into an election cycle fraught with financial uncertainty. And the budget picture only deteriorates from there, according to revenue forecasts provided to the Joint Budget Committee on Thursday. Next fiscal year, which starts July 1, the state will start in a $35 million to $86 million hole that budget writers would have to close during midyear budget adjustments, which take place each year in January. That leaves little wriggle room if something unexpected happens in the meantime, like an uptick in health care costs or a slowdown in tax collections. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Flora heads up panel addressing ‘complex problem’ of illegal immigration, HB 19-1124 and sanctuaries
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Flora heads up panel addressing ‘complex problem’ of illegal immigration, HB 19-1124 and sanctuaries

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice LONE TREE -- It might be a complex problem but the solution could be quite simple, participants in an immigration forum told a large audience gathered here Wednesday in Douglas County. "We can secure the border, and then the work begins," said Deborah Flora. A candidate in the 4th District U.S. House race, Flora has pledged that, if elected, immigration will top her list of priorities. She organized a forum here with local law enforcement officials, including a sheriff, district attorney and former ICE director. "The State of Colorado has made it essentially against the law to participate with our federal partners," said Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly. He and other sheriffs have complained the Democrat-led House Bill 19-1124 is to...
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Rep. Soper: Gov. Polis dismissive of real concerns toward wolf depredation on Western Slope
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Rep. Soper: Gov. Polis dismissive of real concerns toward wolf depredation on Western Slope

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice A weekend exchange between a national columnist and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has drawn the attention of Rep. Matt Soper, R-Delta, who pens commentary as "The Western Slope Statesman." Soper took exception to the tone in which the governor responded to Helen Raleigh, a senior contributor at The Federalist and who had written a piece for the Wall Street Journal titled "Jared Polis’s Wolves Are Moving In on Denver". Raleigh, an immigrant from China, is a Colorado resident. "Colorado Gov. Jared Polis recently signed a bill to reintroduce the vicious weasel known as the wolverine to the state," Raleigh wrote on Twitter/X. "What could go wrong? Plenty, if Colorado’s recent experience reintroducing the gray wolf is anything to go by." Western Sl...
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Signatures being gathered to get charter schools protection in Colorado constitution
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Approved, State, The Center Square

Signatures being gathered to get charter schools protection in Colorado constitution

By Joe Mueller | The Center Square An organization attempting to enshrine charter school rights in Colorado's Constitution published a report supporting the move as it gathers signatures to get it on the ballot. Advance Colorado, a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization, has until July 25 to gather at least 124,238 signatures of registered voters for Initiative #138 to be on the November general election ballot. It also must get at least 2% of the total registered electors in each of the 35 Colorado state senate districts. “Protecting Educational Freedom: Why School Choice Must Be Placed in the Colorado Constitution,” is a 15-page report by Michael Tsogt, a policy analyst with Advance Colorado. The report states school choice in Colorado received bipartisan support throu...
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RTD candidate has lengthy criminal record spanning two states since the 1990s
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

RTD candidate has lengthy criminal record spanning two states since the 1990s

By Marissa Ventrelli  | Colorado Politics A candidate for the Regional Transportation District board of directors has a criminal record spanning two states that includes multiple financial charges and accusations of animal cruelty. Robert Dinegar, a former RTD operator and candidate for District A, has been charged with a number of crimes, according to records shared by his opponent and independently confirmed by Colorado Politics.    Among those charges is a 1992 indictment for theft of over $400 but less than $1,500 in Boulder County, for which Dinegar was sentenced to two years in jail, as well as two DUIs that same year and a restraining order against his ex-wife. Dinegar also faced financial charges in Travis County, Texas, in the early 1990s. In August of 2...
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New Colorado law protects tribal lands in response to contentious Durango, Southern Ute land dispute
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

New Colorado law protects tribal lands in response to contentious Durango, Southern Ute land dispute

By Shannon Mullane | Colorado Sun A new law, rooted in a contentious land dispute in southwestern Colorado, says municipalities that want to annex land within a reservation must get tribal approval first.  While the idea made good sense to Colorado’s lawmakers — it breezed through this year’s legislative session — the law might pose a problem for Durango. The city has contemplated plans to spur economic growth and tap water stored in Lake Nighthorse, a federal reservoir south of the city. Some of those plans could involve annexing land within reservation boundaries. The Southern Ute Indian Tribe, which said the city’s annexation discussions were secretive and dishonest, brought the matter to the state legislature. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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In Colorado, only one town lets nonresidents vote. Now it’s considering adding LLCs to voter rolls.
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

In Colorado, only one town lets nonresidents vote. Now it’s considering adding LLCs to voter rolls.

By Jason Blevins | The Colorado Sun When the town of Mountain Village above Telluride incorporated in 1995, emerging from a special district, the town charter allowed nonresident property owners to vote. Mountain Village is still the only town in Colorado that allows nonresidents to vote in local elections for council members, mayors and new regulations.  Now the town board is considering amending Mountain Village’s charter to expand voting to owners of LLCs and trusts that own property in the tony resort municipality.  “This is something that no other community has done,” Mountain Village Mayor Marti Prohaska said at the beginning of the work session on Wednesday. “So we are sort of charting new territory here and we want to be conscientious of all the questio...
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Colorado e-cigarette company settles with FDA, DOJ on unapproved products
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The Center Square, Approved, State

Colorado e-cigarette company settles with FDA, DOJ on unapproved products

By Joe Mueller  | The Center Square A federal court ordered a Colorado company to stop manufacturing, distributing or selling unauthorized vaping products. Earlier this month, a complaint against Boosted LLC, which markets itself as Boosted E-Juice, and its owner, Cory Vigil, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. The complaint stated the company violated the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by introducing or delivering for interstate commerce adulterated products and others misbranded as tobacco, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The complaint alleges the defendants manufactured and sold electronic finished nicotine delivery systems products and e-liquids. The Food and Drug Administration warned the company its products, including flavore...
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Juneteenth flag with Texas star is flying today at the Colorado Capitol
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Approved, kdvr.com, State

Juneteenth flag with Texas star is flying today at the Colorado Capitol

By Morgan Whitley | Fox 31 News On a daily basis, the Colorado Capitol flies the American and Colorado flags. Beginning Tuesday, you may notice a new flag flapping in the wind. In honor of the third anniversary of Juneteenth becoming a state holiday, Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera and other members of Colorado’s legislature raised the official Juneteenth flag at the Capitol. Juneteenth commemorates the day in 1865 when the enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, found out they had been freed — two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Along with the holiday comes a special flag. According to CNN, the banner has several symbols that represent the end of slavery in the U.S. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX 31 NEWS
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Future of Colorado charter schools could be determined by Democratic primary for a State Board of Ed seat
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Future of Colorado charter schools could be determined by Democratic primary for a State Board of Ed seat

By Sandra Fish and Erica Breunlin | The Colorado Sun Hundreds of thousands of dollars are being spent to affect the primary for a seat on the state Board of Education, a race that could determine the future of Colorado charter schools for years to come.  What’s at stake is the panel’s willingness to overturn local districts when they reject a charter school’s application.  Nearly $685,000 from Progressives Supporting Teachers and Students, a pro-charter school state-level super PAC, has poured into the contest in the 2nd Congressional District to support education consultant Marisol Lynda Rodriguez in her bid against former Boulder Valley School Board President Kathy Gebhardt. Board members are elected to six-year terms in each of the state’s eight congressional distr...
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