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“Education desert” bill would let charters open without school board approval in underperforming areas
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun, Top Stories

“Education desert” bill would let charters open without school board approval in underperforming areas

By Erica Breunlin | The Colorado Sun New charter schools authorized by the Colorado Charter School Institute would be allowed to open in communities with low-performing schools — possibly without approval from local school boards — under legislation that Colorado Senate President James Coleman is considering introducing at the Capitol this year. Coleman, a Denver Democrat, is also exploring the prospect of giving Colorado school districts “the option to solicit proposals from their communities for new quality schools,” including traditional public schools, charter schools, magnet schools, innovation schools or “other innovative education models.” The key factor in opening new schools in areas with struggling schools, Coleman said, would be “demonstrated community demand from acros...
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DOGE is terminating $9.4M in leases across Colorado
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Approved, kdvr.com, State

DOGE is terminating $9.4M in leases across Colorado

By Maddie Rhodes | Fox31 News Government agencies nationwide are experiencing spending cuts and layoffs with billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, and leases for property across Colorado are on the list. DOGE posted a “Wall of Receipts” on its website, listing contract, grant and lease cancellations. Over $9.4 million in leases are included, totaling 355,000 square feet. FOX31 matched the list to the U.S. General Services Administration’s inventory of federal government leases, which provided additional information, including addresses. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX31 NEWS
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Where is my refund? Here’s how to track your federal and Colorado state tax refunds
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Approved, State, The Coloradoan

Where is my refund? Here’s how to track your federal and Colorado state tax refunds

By Nate Trela | Coloradoan Tax filing season has a little over a month left to go, with federal and Colorado state tax returns both due April 15. The IRS says it has already issued nearly 37 million refunds totaling nearly $125 billion as of Feb. 28. The average refund amount of $3,382 is up 6% from last year. Some taxpayers enjoy the big lump sum payment, although the refunds are largely the result of withholding more money from paychecks than you actually owed in a given year. That money could have been invested and generated a return instead of sitting in state and federal government accounts.   READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADOAN
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Health care costs spike for undocumented immigrants
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Approved, Axios Denver, State

Health care costs spike for undocumented immigrants

By John Frank | Axios Denver A Colorado program that provides taxpayer-funded health care to unauthorized immigrants is seeing costs spike more than 600% after the latest influx. Why it matters: The benefits that Colorado offers to people living in the country illegally are in the spotlight amid a federal crackdown on sanctuary states and cities. How it works: A 2022 law dubbed Cover All Coloradans provides the equivalent of Medicaid and children's health insurance coverage to those who would otherwise qualify if they were citizens. READ THE FULL STORY AT AXIOS DENVER
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CO AG Weiser on DOJ’s review of Tina Peters’ case: “Grotesque attempt to weaponize the rule of law” 
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

CO AG Weiser on DOJ’s review of Tina Peters’ case: “Grotesque attempt to weaponize the rule of law” 

By RMV Staff | Rocky Mountain Voice The DOJ is now reviewing whether federal agencies engaged in politically motivated lawfare in the high-profile case of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. In response to the DOJ’s filing, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser urged the Denver federal court to reject its interference. The DOJ’s recent move to review Peters’ prosecution for "political bias" is a rare and unprecedented step, leading many to question whether this is a genuine concern for justice or simply an attempt to suppress dissent. Peters was sentenced to nine years behind bars for actions related to the forensic imaging of Mesa County's election management system in 2021.  The mainstream narrative has painted her as a criminal, but the DOJ’s sudden interest in reviewing h...
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Attorneys general announce final plan to end Google’s search engine monopoly
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Approved, State, The Center Square

Attorneys general announce final plan to end Google’s search engine monopoly

By Elyse Apel  | The Center Square Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced a coalition of 38 attorneys general and the Department of Justice have proposed a final package of remedies to end Google’s monopoly over internet search engines. The remedies would include requiring Google to divest Chrome, as well as potentially other assets like Android if the initial remedies fail “to address the marketplace harms or if Google undermined the effectiveness of the decree.” “For years, the Google browser has been the dominant gateway for users to search the internet,” said Weiser, who led the coalition that included states such as Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington as well as the District of Columbia and one territory, Puerto Rico. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE ...
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Colorado lawmakers funded an office to handle complaints against judges. No one set it up.
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State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado lawmakers funded an office to handle complaints against judges. No one set it up.

By Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun In the wake of an alleged blackmail and harassment scandal that roiled the state judicial branch, the Colorado legislature in 2023 created an independent office to help ensure it didn’t happen again. But two years later, the ombudsman office still doesn’t exist — and it’s not clear why. The apparent oversight came to light this week when a legislative budget staffer — looking line by line for things to cut from the state’s operating budget to close a $1.2 billion shortfall — discovered an oddity: a $400,000 budget for an agency that had no employees, hadn’t made a budget request and didn’t appear to exist anywhere but on paper. “This independent agency does not exist,” Craig Harper, the legislative budget staff director told the Joint Budg...
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House Democrats push “most outrageous” SB25-003 forward after 12-hour hearing
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

House Democrats push “most outrageous” SB25-003 forward after 12-hour hearing

By RMV Staff | Rocky Mountain Voice The sheriff in town may be tasked with the administrative burden of weighing in on your future firearm purchase, if Democrat lawmakers have their say. Although sheriffs from El Paso, Lake, Mesa and Weld counties testified that Senate Bill 25-003 is both unconstitutional and difficult to enforce, the House Judiciary Committee advanced the legislation after twelve hours of testimony. The bill started as a full ban on manufacturing and selling semiautomatic guns but has since been watered down.  The latest version still imposes severe restrictions, requiring would-be buyers to navigate an onerous and bureaucratic process, including an additional background check, training requirements and even sheriff approval. House Republicans took to Twi...
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Gun control bill met with opposition on front steps of Colorado Capitol
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Approved, kdvr.com, State

Gun control bill met with opposition on front steps of Colorado Capitol

By Carly Moore | Fox 31 News DENVER (KDVR) — A bill seeking to change the requirements for purchasing a semiautomatic gun in Colorado will be discussed in the House on Tuesday. In February, the bill passed the senate 19 to 15, but not without strong push back. Senate Bill 25-003, “Semiautomatic Firearms & Rapid-Fire Devices,” has been amended 15 times. This bill would ban the sale and manufacturing of many semiautomatic guns in Colorado. One of the important amendments would allow guns with a detachable magazine to be purchased only if buyers complete about 12 hours of training courses. If you have a hunter’s safety certification, gun owners would only need a four-hour class. READ MORE AT KDVR.COM
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House Bill 1208: Price controls for a minimum wage mistake
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Approved, completecolorado.com, State

House Bill 1208: Price controls for a minimum wage mistake

By Ari Armstrong, Complete Colorado What happens when the price of eggs soars? People buy fewer eggs and start looking for substitutes. What would happen if, say, government set a $10 minimum price on a dozen eggs, higher than the usual price in stores these days? People would buy fewer eggs, yet producers would want to sell all the eggs they could. Some eggs would sit around unpurchased. No one disputes the economics of price controls on eggs. (We can leave to another day discussion of legislative attempts to set de facto price limits on products.) But, somehow, when it comes to wages, we’re supposed to throw basic economics out the window and pretend that price controls don’t matter. Obviously no one thinks that price controls never matter. If government set a minimum price of a...
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