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Court Reinforces Limits On State Cooperation With Federal Immigration Requests
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Court Reinforces Limits On State Cooperation With Federal Immigration Requests

By Taylor Dolven | The Colorado Sun It’s the latest legal loss for the governor in a case brought against him for attempting to share information with federal immigration officials. A Denver judge Tuesday again barred Gov. Jared Polis from ordering state employees to comply with a subpoena from federal immigration officials for Coloradans’ personal information. The ruling marks the latest loss for the governor in the lawsuit brought against him to stop the sharing of information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the past year. The case was first brought last June by Scott Moss, the former director of the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics at Colorado’s Department of Labor. Moss alleged Polis directed him to comply with an Apr...
Colorado Democrats Push Plan To Redirect TABOR Refunds To State Spending
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Democrats Push Plan To Redirect TABOR Refunds To State Spending

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette A nonpartisan analysis of a proposed ballot measure that seeks to increase public education spending by tapping Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refunds shows that about 75% of what would otherwise go to Colorado residents wouldn’t actually go to K-12 schools. Instead, those dollars would go into the state’s general fund pot — to be used by lawmakers for whatever purposes they choose. The analysis said that arrangement could start as soon as the 2028-29 fiscal year. What that means, according to the analysis, is that every taxpayer would lose $7,381 in TABOR refunds between the 2026-27 and 2036-37 fiscal years. At its core, TABOR requires a public vote in order to raise taxes. It also limits revenue growth. Notably, it r...
Polis Signs Letter Criticizing Colorado Business Climate Critics Say He Created
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Polis Signs Letter Criticizing Colorado Business Climate Critics Say He Created

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER – An open letter expressing concern over the number of businesses leaving Colorado and the inability of the state to attract others was recently sent to numerous Colorado elected officials. The several hundred business, technology, and civic leaders who signed the letter are asking for consideration in easing the regulatory burden that they say is the driving factor behind Colorado’s “deteriorating” foundation. That same letter was both sent to and signed by Gov. Jared Polis, the irony of which is not lost on State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer (R-Brighton) who points out that Polis is the man behind the pen that has caused much of the trouble the letter outlines. “Basically, he’s a hypocrite,” Kirkmeyer told Complete Colorado. “Th...
Before Peters is resentenced, Barrett must decide whether he keeps the case
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Before Peters is resentenced, Barrett must decide whether he keeps the case

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice A Mesa County judge has ordered the state’s attorneys to respond to a motion seeking his removal from the Tina Peters case, setting up a legal fight that will determine who presides over her resentencing—and who decides whether she remains in prison while that process unfolds. In an April 22 order, District Court Judge Matthew Barrett directed the state to file a response “as soon as practicable,” with a deadline of April 27. The order does not resolve the issue. It moves it forward. Now the court must decide whether Barrett can remain on the case—and nothing else in district court moves until that question is answered. 2026-0422 ACTION TAKEN_VERIFIED MOTION TO DISQUALIFY JUDGE MATTHEW BARRETT - People Respond by 4-27Download ...
A missing email and a federal paper trail: Colorado weighs discipline in Guggenheim case
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

A missing email and a federal paper trail: Colorado weighs discipline in Guggenheim case

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Rich Guggenheim says an email exists that would end his case. The Colorado Department of Agriculture says it does not. The dispute centers on a message Guggenheim says was sent to him in early December by Gabriel Leverance, a grant accountant at CDA, instructing him to approve a USDA-funded Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey report—the report he had previously kicked back and now at the center of the discipline the department is weighing against him. Guggenheim says he requested records twice under CORA that he believes should have included the email. At an April 15 disciplinary hearing, he told the department’s deputy commissioner: “I know it exists, because I’m the recipient of that email, and I’m not getting it in a CORA reques...
Weiser’s record: 27,000 complaints. 17 settlements.
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Weiser’s record: 27,000 complaints. 17 settlements.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice When a Coloradan files a consumer complaint with the attorney general's office — a contractor who vanished with a deposit, a lender charging illegal interest, a landlord who pocketed a security deposit without cause — the office receives it, logs it and adds it to a database. The complaint may help build a future case. It informs trend reports. For the person who filed it, that is usually where it ends. Coloradans filed a record 26,993 complaints with Attorney General Phil Weiser's Consumer Protection Section last fiscal year. That's nearly three times the number filed when Weiser took office in 2019. His March 2026 press release describes the growth as "over 200 percent." His office's own annual figures put the actual increa...
Lone Colorado Judge Sides With Government On Immigration Custody Rules
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Lone Colorado Judge Sides With Government On Immigration Custody Rules

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics Chief Judge Daniel D. Domenico broke with his peers on Colorado’s U.S. District Court last week in siding with the government’s argument about the broad scope of its immigration detention authority. In an April 15 order finding that a man was properly in custody without a bond hearing, Domenico acknowledged his view is the outlier locally and nationally. “The majority of district courts, including all of the judges in this District who have addressed the issue, have found that detention of noncitizens similar to the petitioner under (the mandatory detention provision) is improper,” wrote Domenico, a first-term appointee of President Donald Trump. “There are legitimate arguments on both sides.” Beginning last year, ...
Colorado Democrats Push Bill Expanding Lawsuits Against Public Officials
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Democrats Push Bill Expanding Lawsuits Against Public Officials

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Denver Gazette Colorado Democrats are considering a bill that would let people sue federal, state, and local officials for alleged constitutional violations — a change supporters say would check government power, while critics warn it could trigger a surge of lawsuits against public employees. Senate Bill 176, dubbed the “No Kings Act,” is sponsored by Sens. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, and Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, and Reps. Javier Mabrey, D-Denver, and Yara Zokaie, D-Fort Collins, would allow individuals who have been subjected to a “deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities” afforded in the U.S. Constitution to sue for civil damages within two years of the alleged violation. The bill still permits federal officials to claim absolute...
The measles story you haven’t gotten — from either side
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

The measles story you haven’t gotten — from either side

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice An unvaccinated traveler touched down at Denver International Airport after eleven hours in the air — measles already working through the bloodstream, picked up in the U.S. before the trip out. One night in a Denver hotel. Back to the airport the next morning and onto a domestic flight home. By the time Colorado public health officials finished tracing what followed, ten state residents had confirmed measles. Nine exposed during that single pass through DIA — on the flight, in the terminal, at a gate. One more from a household contact downstream. Four of the nine secondary cases — including three passengers on the international flight — had received both recommended doses of the MMR vaccine. Measles lingers airborne fo...

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