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A shepherd in the trenches: Rep. Scott Bottoms answers the call to fight for Colorado
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A shepherd in the trenches: Rep. Scott Bottoms answers the call to fight for Colorado

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice El Paso County Republican Rep. Scott Bottoms walked the quiet State Capitol halls with his wife, prayers filling the empty space. They spent hours there—no fanfare, just a pastor seeking God’s will on a new path after years of preaching in Colorado Springs.  Several lawmakers asked him to run for office. “I’m a pastor,” he told them. One replied, “Pray about it.” That stuck. “I almost said no,” Bottoms said. “I was scared God might say yes.”  “I didn’t choose this,” Bottoms said. “I felt God say, ‘This is your battlefield.’” He said what no one else would Bottoms caught the attention of millions across the country with a speech that went viral on X last fall. “Our state is running rampant with pedophilia,”...
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Lawmakers propose risky PERA maneuver for voter-approved police funding amid budget shortfall
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Lawmakers propose risky PERA maneuver for voter-approved police funding amid budget shortfall

By Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun Something’s missing from the Colorado state budget proposal — and it’s a biggie. The Joint Budget Committee last week finalized its budget package without deciding what to do about Proposition 130: the voter-approved requirement that the state spend $350 million to support law enforcement. But the six-member panel does have the makings of a plan. The JBC was briefed last week on a draft bill to dole out the $350 million in regular installments over the next 10 years. If only it were that simple. READ FULL ARTICLE ON THE COLORADO SUN
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Bureaucracy vs. 2A rights? SB25-003 awaits Polis’ pen
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Bureaucracy vs. 2A rights? SB25-003 awaits Polis’ pen

By Heather Willard | Fox31 News DENVER (KDVR) — On Friday, the Colorado Senate voted to concur with amendments adopted by the House on a bill that Democrat legislators have touted as a way to “fully implement and enforce Colorado’s existing high-capacity magazine prohibition.” That means the bill is now headed to Gov. Jared Polis’ desk where he could sign the measure into law. The bill would require anyone in Colorado after Aug. 1, 2026, to have a permit and complete firearm safety training to purchase semiautomatic firearms that accept detachable magazines. The bill would also prevent any sales of rapid-fire conversion devices, which allow the user of a semiautomatic gun to treat it more like a fully automatic weapon. These devices include bump stocks and binary trigger...
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Bannon lights fire under Colorado GOP at Centennial Gala: “The elites failed this state”
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Bannon lights fire under Colorado GOP at Centennial Gala: “The elites failed this state”

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Despite credible bomb threats and a last-minute venue change, the Colorado GOP gathered under tight security to kick off what Steve Bannon called “a journey to take this state back.” But the fight, he warned, isn’t just against Democrats—it’s against weak Republicans and elites “who don’t want you in their party.” The Centennial Dinner, held March 28 at Phil Long Music Hall in Colorado Springs, featured a live call-in from former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters from the Larimer County jail, and a headlining speech from Bannon that ignited the room with calls for courage, action and confrontation.  Outside, protesters shouted and blocked the entrance. Inside, hundreds of attendees stood their ground. A call t...
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From the ashes of division: Horn, Phelan and Andrews chart a new course for Colorado GOP
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From the ashes of division: Horn, Phelan and Andrews chart a new course for Colorado GOP

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice "We’re like a great football team," Russ Andrews told delegates at the Colorado Republican Party reorganization meeting on March 29. "But when we take the field, we block and tackle each other. That has to end." It was a sentiment echoed by the party's newly elected leaders Brita Horn (Chair), D. Lee Phelan Sr. (Vice Chair), and Andrews himself, who was elected Secretary. The three swept their respective races after a day of pointed speeches, surprise withdrawals and shifting alliances that ended with a new leadership slate promising to put unity and effectiveness over factional infighting. Contests, concessions and realignment Lori Saine, who came in second to Horn in the chair race, struck a note of resilience. She t...
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Ballooning Medicaid costs, TABOR limits expose flaws in Colorado’s big government spending spree
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Ballooning Medicaid costs, TABOR limits expose flaws in Colorado’s big government spending spree

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board After years of overreach and unchecked government growth, Colorado lawmakers are now scrambling to plug a $1.2 billion hole in the state budget — a crisis largely of their own making.  Colorado budget writers voted Wednesday night to finalize a 2025–26 budget plan that slashes transportation funding, eliminates programs, and kicks key decisions down the road — all while Medicaid spending surges out of control. Despite the so-called “cuts,” the budget still grows to over $16 billion. But massive increases in Medicaid — particularly long-term care for seniors and the disabled — are eating up the budget at an unsustainable pace. Democrat lawmakers admit the problem is only getting worse. “Next year, I see our fiscal challenges compounding,...
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Cole: Colorado lawmakers scrolled while your safety was debated
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Cole: Colorado lawmakers scrolled while your safety was debated

By Shaina Cole | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice In a state where crime surges and citizens rely on their Second Amendment rights for protection, you’d hope lawmakers would take their duties seriously. Yet, during debates on Senate Bill 25-003—a measure slashing Coloradans’ ability to defend themselves—several representatives checked out.  Rep. Meghan Lukens (D) played Tetris, Rep. Sheila Stewart (D) and Rep. Javier Mauro (D) scrolled TikTok, Rep. Tisha Mauro (D) browsed Instagram, and Rep. Matthew Clifford (D) surfed Facebook—all while colleagues argued over a bill that could leave Coloradans defenseless.  Their minds seemed made up, uninterested in the arguments put forth by their colleagues.  And on March 24, 2025, with Lukens casting the deciding vote,...
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Hillman: Fiscal tailgating put Colorado in the ditch
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Hillman: Fiscal tailgating put Colorado in the ditch

By Mark Hillman | Denver Gazette Headlines from the state Capitol might cause a reader to believe Colorado is in a deep recession. Legislators say they must cut more than $1 billion in spending to balance the 2025-26 budget. Still, state government has $687 million more to spend than last year in a $19 billion budget. So why all the histrionics about a budget “crisis”? Because Colorado lawmakers practice fiscal tailgating. Tailgating on the highway is dangerous because when drivers travel too fast and follow too close to the car ahead, the tailgating driver doesn’t have time to react if the lead driver unexpectedly brakes or swerves. Fiscal tailgating is much the same. Lawmakers spend money as fast as it comes in, then when the economy slows, they face much harder choices th...
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Rural Colorado school districts that once served students online could see brunt of major state budget cuts
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Rural Colorado school districts that once served students online could see brunt of major state budget cuts

By Erica Breunlin | The Colorado Sun As Colorado lawmakers try to solve a state budget crisis, Gov. Jared Polis’ office is advocating for a new set of changes to student averaging that would significantly impact a handful of rural school districts and charter schools that found a lifeline for their budgets by enrolling online homeschool students. Vilas School District RE-5, in far southeastern Colorado, along with Plainview School District Re-2, about 100 miles to the north, and three Colorado Early Colleges campuses in recent years ran online enrichment programs for homeschool students with help from an outside vendor. Those programs — which the districts and charter schools no longer operate — emerged during the pandemic, when the Colorado Department of Education relaxed rules a...
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Colorado’s gray wolves edge closer to Denver metro area: CPW map
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Colorado’s gray wolves edge closer to Denver metro area: CPW map

By Jacob Factor | Fox 31 News DENVER (KDVR) — At least one of Colorado’s gray wolves in March entered a new Denver area county and new watersheds in northern Park County, some of the closest areas to the Denver metro they have been tracked since their initial reintroduction. Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Wednesday released a new map for collared wolf activity between Feb. 25 and March 25, showing wolf activity in Clear Creek County and in watersheds that extend into northern Park County toward the Jefferson County border.USDA confirms wolf relocated to Colorado killed by Wildlife Services in Wyoming CPW tracks the wolves based on watersheds they enter at some point in the month-long span, but they do not report exact locations within those watersheds. This map shows...
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