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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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Universal preschool bill dies as some Colorado programs still complain of bumps
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Universal preschool bill dies as some Colorado programs still complain of bumps

By Ann Schimke | Chalkbeat Colorado via The Colorado Sun Colorado’s $344 million universal preschool program is popular among families, but some providers say they’re still wrestling with problems that make it hard for families to secure seats or for preschools to sustain themselves financially. Some preschool directors want greater access to the state’s preschool sign-up system. Others want to be paid by the state before kids step into their classrooms — not a month later. Some providers also want more leeway on preschool class sizes, which the state will cap at 20 by 2026 for most preschools. These are a few of the sticking points that remain a year and a half after the rocky launch of universal preschool. State lawmakers proposed a bill meant to address these and other issues, ...
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Colorado fuel retailers face up to $20,000 fine for failing to post warning stickers about global warming under proposed bill
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado fuel retailers face up to $20,000 fine for failing to post warning stickers about global warming under proposed bill

By Scott Weiser | Denver Gazette via Colorado Politics According to a proposal by Democrats at the Colorado state Capitol, up to a $20,000 fine will hang over the heads of every retailer who sells either liquid or gas fuels if they don’t have global warming warning stickers on their pumps and products if House Bill 25-1277 is signed into law. The bill, Increasing Transparency Impact of Fuel Products, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver, Rep. Junie Joseph, D-Boulder and Sen. Lisa Cutter, D-Jefferson County, says retail outlets selling petroleum-based fuel products must put stickers on pumps, store displays and other retail items or face fines. “Evidently the purpose of the bill is to shame buyers for purchasing a product necessary for them to use in many cases to transport t...
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Anderson: SB25-003 faces Constitutional hurdles under the Bruen standard
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Anderson: SB25-003 faces Constitutional hurdles under the Bruen standard

By Phillip Anderson | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Many conservatives and Second Amendment advocates have raised concerns about the constitutionality of SB25-003, a bill that seeks to make it significantly more difficult for Coloradans to exercise their Second Amendment rights. These advocates argue that if the bill becomes law, it will not withstand a constitutional challenge under the Bruen standard established by the Supreme Court of the United States. If you do not closely follow Supreme Court cases or have never heard of the Bruen standard, you may be unsure what to make of these claims. The Bruen standard of review in Second Amendment cases originates from New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen. In this case, two New York residents challenged a s...
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HB 1010 an attempt to expand governor’s power, Rep. Hartsook complains
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

HB 1010 an attempt to expand governor’s power, Rep. Hartsook complains

By Brian Porter | Rocky Mountain Voice State Rep. Anthony Hartsook is concerned with the tsunami of bills he sees filtering through the legislature. "Numerous bills expanding government control continue to flood the General Assembly, threatening businesses and economic freedom," he wrote in a report to his District 44 constituency. One example, Hartsook says, is Democrat-led House Bill 25-1010, which aims to protect consumers from "price gouging during a declared disaster." Like many bills floating through the legislature, it does more than its title or brief description might indicate. "This legislation hands unbridled power and authority to the governor to declare a disaster, based on an 'imminent threat,'" Hartsook said. "We’ve seen this playbook before — for 16 months, the ...
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‘This is our Alamo!’: Gun owners rallying March 11 against SB 3 in Colorado House committee
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

‘This is our Alamo!’: Gun owners rallying March 11 against SB 3 in Colorado House committee

By Brian Porter | Rocky Mountain Voice A bill which some gun advocates say would lead to extinction of their rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday, March 11, in the House's Judiciary Committee. Senate Bill 25-003, led through the upper chamber by Sens. Julie Gonzales and Tom Sullivan, prohibits the transfer, sale and purchase of semiauto firearms with certain exclusions permitted to allow the bill to clear the Colorado Senate on a 19-15 vote, with all Republicans and three Democrats opposed. At issue is whether, in the interest of stemming mass shootings in the state, if Coloradans should sacrifice constitutionally-provided gun ownership rights. Sullivan says the measure works to enforce the "high-capacity magazine ban" from 2014, but othe...
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