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Polis signs SB25-003 into law after months of protest and 95,000 petitions
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Polis signs SB25-003 into law after months of protest and 95,000 petitions

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice In the end, Governor Jared Polis didn’t make a speech. He didn’t stand before cameras or take questions. He didn’t even put the signing on his public calendar. On April 9, behind closed doors and without public ceremony, Polis signed Senate Bill 25-003 into law—legislation that critics say is one of the most restrictive gun ownership laws in the country. The signing came after months of resistance from Colorado citizens, lawmakers and small business owners who warned the bill was not only unconstitutional, but economically and socially devastating. Here’s how it happened. January: early warnings SB25-003 was introduced on January 8, the first day of this legislative session. Lawmakers and residents immediately began...
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HB25-1169 would strip local control, override zoning to force housing on church and school property
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

HB25-1169 would strip local control, override zoning to force housing on church and school property

By Tori Ganahl | Rocky Mountain Voice A bill making its way through the Colorado legislature—HB 25-1169, the “Faith and Education Land Use” bill—is under growing scrutiny from local officials, school communities, and everyday Coloradans who see it as a sweeping override of local zoning authority. The legislation, supported by Democratic lawmakers and Governor Jared Polis’s administration, mandates that cities and counties allow residential development on land owned by churches, K-12 school districts, and public colleges–regardless of existing zoning restrictions or community input. Framed as a solution to the state’s housing crisis, critics argue the bill does nothing to guarantee affordability, and instead hands over local land-use control to the state under the guise of housing ...
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House approves $44B budget, GOP spending cut efforts rejected
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Approved, denvergazette.com, State

House approves $44B budget, GOP spending cut efforts rejected

By Marianne Goodland | Denver Gazette Colorado state House legislators on Wednesday debated and advanced a $44 billion spending plan for the next fiscal year. They also approved 63 "orbital" bills designed to change state law in order to balance the state budget. As introduced, the fiscal year 2025-26 budget stands at $43.9 billion, including $17 billion in general funds and $14 billion in federal dollars. General funds are the discretionary dollars, derived from individual and corporate income taxes, as well as sales and use taxes. Cash funds make up the rest, about $12.8 billion. Lawmakers' biggest hurdle is closing a $1.2 billion general fund shortfall, driven by higher-than-expected Medicaid costs and a structural deficit. The first act of the House was to rout...
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Colorado bishops urge Polis to veto abortion funding bill
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Approved, Catholic News Agency, State

Colorado bishops urge Polis to veto abortion funding bill

By Kate Quinones | Catholic News Agency The Colorado Catholic bishops are urging state Gov. Jared Polis to veto a bill that would put at least $1.5 million of public funding annually toward Medicaid-covered abortions. The Tuesday open letter — co-signed by Archbishop Samuel Aquila and Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Rodriguez of the Archdiocese of Denver, Bishop James Golka of Colorado Springs, and Bishop Stephen Berg of Pueblo — urged the governor “to consider the millions of Coloradans who do not want their hard-earned tax dollars to be used in the destruction of human life.” The legislation would require the state Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to cover abortions for Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus participants. The bill passed...
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Garbo: With HB25-1312, the state can claim your kids and call it compassion
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Garbo: With HB25-1312, the state can claim your kids and call it compassion

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice On April 6, 2025 the Colorado House of Representatives crossed a line - a Rubicon, as it were - into territory so profane, so fundamentally corrosive to the bedrock of human society, that it demands not just opposition but a thunderous rebuke. House Bill 25-1312 titled Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals, passed with a vote of 36-20, is no mere legislative misstep; it is a deliberate, ideological sledgehammer aimed at shattering the sacred bond between parent and child. To its proponents, I say this with the full weight of reason and the fire of conviction: you have unleashed a dangerous precedent, one that betrays the very essence of family, liberty, and the proper limits of government. This is not a defense of civil ...
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“Celebrate the win”: Boebert’s gray wolf delisting bill clears key House committee
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Approved, National, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

“Celebrate the win”: Boebert’s gray wolf delisting bill clears key House committee

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice In rural Colorado, the fight over wolves isn’t just about wildlife—it’s about life and livelihoods. On Tuesday, a bill sponsored by Reps. Lauren Boebert and Tom Tiffany passed a key House committee, aiming to take gray wolves off the Endangered Species List and block federal courts from reversing the move. The Pet and Livestock Protection Act (PALPA) cleared a key vote, handing a win to farmers, ranchers and energy producers across the West. In Colorado, wolf attacks on livestock and fears that the predators could stall energy projects have kept the issue front and center. Boebert took to social media to celebrate the committee’s vote and reaffirm her stance on state-led wildlife management. https://twitter.com/RepBoe...
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Marshall breaks with Democrats over custody bill targeting parents who ‘misgender’
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American Wire News, Approved, State

Marshall breaks with Democrats over custody bill targeting parents who ‘misgender’

By Kevin Haggerty | American Wire News Opposition to his party’s hardline stance on gender ideology found a Colorado Democrat explaining his “serious concerns regarding overreach.” Sunday in the Centennial State, leftist lawmakers delivered what many considered to be a literal and symbolic salvo against Christian beliefs as they pushed through four bills advancing gender ideology and abortion. State Rep. Bob Marshall was the only member of the Democratic Party to oppose one of those bills, and he explained why he was specifically against parents losing custody if they “misgendered” or “deadnamed” their own child. “This is a larger concern I have regarding the understandable reaction people are having to protect marginalized groups from the overly zealous onslaught in the new admin...
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Immigrant protection bill passes committee, limits law enforcement cooperation with feds
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Approved, kdvr.com, National, State

Immigrant protection bill passes committee, limits law enforcement cooperation with feds

By Gabrielle Franklin | Fox31 DENVER (KDVR) — A bill meant to better protect immigrants under Colorado law passed through a Colorado Senate committee Tuesday. Supporters of the bill say it looks to ensure everyone’s civil rights are protected regardless of immigration status, while opponents argue it further prohibits the state from helping federal agents. “Fear is contagious, isolating and destructive. We’ve seen President Trump weaponize fear time and time again against immigrants. Donald Trump’s ICE agents say one thing and then they do another,” said state Senator Julie Gonzales when talking about who the administration is targeting for deportations through Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. A newly introduced bill at the state capitol covers a lot of ter...
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State bill rewrites how Colorado decides school vaccine mandates
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

State bill rewrites how Colorado decides school vaccine mandates

By John Ingold | Colorado Sun An amendment slipped into a bill by Democrats would shift reliance away from a key federal committee in determining which vaccines Colorado schoolkids are required to get Colorado lawmakers have quietly moved to shift the state’s school immunization requirements away from the recommendations of a prominent federal committee, in response to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. taking over the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The move comes in an amendment to a bill, House Bill 1027, currently awaiting Gov. Jared Polis’ signature. The amendment makes a change to how Colorado decides which vaccines to require. Colorado’s Board of Health sets the rules for which vaccines schoolkids need to receive or to have a valid exemption for. The current law sa...
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How HB1312 could reshape custody courts, schools, and family law in Colorado
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Approved, COLORADO PEAK POLITICS, State

How HB1312 could reshape custody courts, schools, and family law in Colorado

By Colorado Peak Politics Colorado Democrats have jumped the political shark with a dangerously radical bill that authorizes courts deciding child custody cases to consider if a parent can’t keep their pronouns straight. The summary of HB25-1312 passed on a party line vote in the House Sunday reads; “Section 1 of the bill creates the “Kelly Loving Act.” Section 2 provides that, when making child custody decisions and determining the best interests of a child for purposes of parenting time, a court shall consider deadnaming, misgendering …” and something about publishing that doesn’t make sense so we didn’t include it here. Call us old fashioned, but physical abuse should top the list of limiting a parent’s custodial rights to their own flesh and bl...
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