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Rep. Lauren Boebert backs GOP Chairman Dave Williams in 5th District’s primary
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Rep. Lauren Boebert backs GOP Chairman Dave Williams in 5th District’s primary

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert waded into the Republican primary for the Colorado congressional seat held by retiring U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn on Monday with a social media post supporting candidate Dave Williams. "We’ve got enough cranks in Congress already," Boebert posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. "The PEOPLE want Dave Williams!" Williams, the chairman of the Colorado GOP and a former state lawmaker from Colorado Springs, is running against Americans for Prosperity executive and former talk radio host Jeff Crank in the 5th Congressional District, which covers most of El Paso County. Primary ballots go in the mail to voters during the first week of June, and they're due back to county clerks by June 25. READ THE FULL ST...
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Eight measures expected to make November ballot, dozens more possible
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Approved, State, Westword

Eight measures expected to make November ballot, dozens more possible

By Hannah Metzger | Westword The list of ballot measures awaiting Colorado voters in November is growing. State lawmakers voted to send five measures to the ballot before the Colorado Legislature adjourned on May 8, adding to two citizen-initiated measures that had already officially qualified for the ballot: an effort to include economic impact statements before the questions on ballot measures, and another to cap property tax revenue increases at 4 percent each year. The five legislative ballot proposals would let the state keep all sports betting tax revenue to fund water projects; create an excise tax for gun and ammo purchases to fund victim services; remove the ban on same-sex marriage from Colorado's constitution...
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Wolverine reintroduction legislation is ‘completely opposite’ of Colorado’s ballot–driven wolf plan
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Wolverine reintroduction legislation is ‘completely opposite’ of Colorado’s ballot–driven wolf plan

By Jason Blevins | Colorado Sun A new predator could be coming to Colorado’s high country but supporters are promising this reintroduction will be different.  Colorado lawmakers have overwhelmingly approved the return of wolverines to Colorado’s alpine landscape, with a plan “that is completely opposite from the wolf reintroduction process,” said Sen. Dylan Roberts, a Democrat from Avon who co-sponsored the legislation with Sen. Perry Will, a Republican from New Castle.  Roberts said the pair’s Senate Bill 171 marks “a responsible way to do wildlife reintroduction.” The bill is heading to Gov. Jared Polis’ desk for final approval. If signed, the effort will mark the first-ever attempt to restore wolverines to a native range.   READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN...
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Colorado Republicans celebrate policy wins in 2024 legislative session
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado Republicans celebrate policy wins in 2024 legislative session

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics House and Senate Republicans celebrated big policy wins during the 2024 legislative session, in particular focusing on property taxes and an income tax rate reduction. "I'm very happy at what our caucus was able to do," said House Minority Leader Rep. Rose Pugliese of Colorado Springs, who added that Republicans accomplished much in the 2024 session. Pugliese cited housing measures with Republican sponsorship, including include House Bill 1152, the accessory dwelling unit bill, and House Bill 1308, which would push the state's Division of Housing to move a little faster in releasing resources for affordable housing development. Pugliese also pointed to the income tax rate reduction in Senate Bill 228, which will lower the rate from 4.4% ...
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Numerous citizen-led initiatives working for a spot on Colorado’s November ballot
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Approved, completecolorado.com, State

Numerous citizen-led initiatives working for a spot on Colorado’s November ballot

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado  Colorado is one of just 21 states that allow citizens’ ballot initiatives to change state statute or amend the state Constitution, and one of just 14 states that allow for direct initiatives, meaning the state’s legislature does not have to confirm the statute. Nearly every election year there are a handful of measures for voters to decide, while other efforts never make it to the ballot. This year is no exception, with a huge number of initiatives at various stages of the process, including many being challenged to the Colorado Supreme Court. There are measures to guarantee abortion rights in the state’s Constitution (while another, that did not gather enough signatures would have banned abortion entirely). Other measures would reduce property...
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Here’s when Miller moths will start to swarm in Colorado this year
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Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Here’s when Miller moths will start to swarm in Colorado this year

By Spencer McKee | Denver Gazette This past weekend, I made the mistake of leaving the door open while I was heading in and out of my backyard with the pup – and sure enough, I noticed an intruder had snuck its way inside as I locked up for the night. Thankfully, it wasn't one of the neighborhood bears or a local bobcat – but an old familiar friend. High on my wall was a Miller moth. And just like that, I was reminded that the season when Colorado gets swarmed by hoards of the winged species is soon to be underway. According to Colorado State University, Miller moths tend to appear along the state's Front Range region sometime between mid-May and early June, hatching in the Eastern Plains and starting a migration to higher elevation parts of the state over the next two to three we...
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Rep. Holtorf details the ‘good, bad and ugly’ of state legislative session
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Rep. Holtorf details the ‘good, bad and ugly’ of state legislative session

By Rocky Mountain Voice Staff State Rep. Richard Holtorf, the whip of the Colorado House's Republican Conference, offered review of the recently closed Colorado legislative session in a press statement this week. “My last year in the state legislature had ‘some good, some bad, and some ugly'," he said. "I am immensely proud of the work I’ve done serving on the Colorado House Agriculture, Water & Natural Resources, and Health & Human Services committees. I would like to thank my family, ranch hands, legislative aids, colleagues, and most of all voters, who helped me serve 16 of the 21 counties in [Colorado's 4th District] over the past five years.” He was first appointed to serve out the completion of Kimmy Lewis' term in central and southeast Colorado, and then was elected...
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Rep. Bradley announces town hall meetings to review legislative session, focus on future
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Rep. Bradley announces town hall meetings to review legislative session, focus on future

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice State Rep. Brandi Bradley has announced a pair of town hall meetings she will host in District 39 to discuss legislative victories, losses and what lies ahead. Bradley will join with Sen. Mark Bailey and Sen. Kevin Van Winkle at 6:30 p.m. May 13 at the Larkspur Fire Station, 941 S. Spruce Mountain Road. She will again be joined by Van Winkle and this time by Sen. Jim Smallwood at 7 p.m. May 16 at Freedom Fellowship in Centennial. A time of fellowship, food and fun will precede the May 16 event at 5:30 p.m. "It has been an honor to represent House District 39 for the last two years," Bradley wrote in her district newsletter. "I never, in a million years, thought that I would run for office. It has been one of the most gratifying and most diffi...
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Voters might get chance to tell schools to notify parents of signs their kid is transgender
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State, Westword

Voters might get chance to tell schools to notify parents of signs their kid is transgender

By Hannah Metzger | Westword Days after a new state law began allowing Colorado students to choose their names at school, an effort to require parental notification for such behavior started petitioning for the November ballot. Initiative 142 would require that public school staff inform parents if they obtain any information that a student is experiencing "gender incongruence," defined as a difference between the student's biological sex and gender identity. If a child uses a different name or pronouns at school — or even if an employee overhears students talking about their gender identity — their parents would have to be notified. Advocates of the proposed initiative say they started printing petitions last week. They must collect 124,238 signatures by August 5 t...
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Bob Gardner’s infamous filibusters, policy prowess made him one of the GOP’s most effective weapons
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Approved, State, Westword

Bob Gardner’s infamous filibusters, policy prowess made him one of the GOP’s most effective weapons

By Hannah Metzger | Westword Eighteen years after he was first elected to the Colorado Legislature, state Senator Bob Gardner concluded his final legislative session on Wednesday, May 8. Twenty-four state legislators will vacate their seats this year, but Gardner has called the Capitol home for the longest. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2006, serving through 2014 before joining the Senate in 2016. Now term-limited, Gardner is one of only two current legislators expected to complete the maximum eight years in both chambers, and he started two years earlier than the other — Senator Kevin Priola, who was first elected in 2008. Following a career under the gold dome, Gardner, age 70, is stepping away from public office. He plans to return to his law pract...
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