Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

State

Evaluating Gov. Polis’s Tax Reform Agenda: Tax Expenditures vs. Broad-Based Tax Relief
No Comments
Approved, i2i.org, State

Evaluating Gov. Polis’s Tax Reform Agenda: Tax Expenditures vs. Broad-Based Tax Relief

By Fiscal Policy Center | SOURCE: INDEPENDENCE INSTITUTE Colorado’s governor, Jared Polis, champions increasing state revenue by eliminating provisions of the tax code that benefit special interests—what state budgeters call “tax expenditures.” Rather than use the new money to grow government or redistribute surplus revenue through tax handouts and Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) refunds, however, the governor argues the state should use the revenue to provide tax relief for all Colorado taxpayers through income tax rate reductions. As far back as 2018, Polis campaigned on this tax reform approach. This report evaluates Governor Polis’s progress in advancing these tax reform goals. By calculating the revenue impact of each tax expenditure modification, it determines whether legislatio...
Read More
COLUMN: As school performance slumps, parents opt out | Jimmy Sengenberger
No Comments
Approved, gazette.com, State

COLUMN: As school performance slumps, parents opt out | Jimmy Sengenberger

By Jimmy Sengenberger | SOURCE: THE GAZETTE In the pandemic’s aftermath, Colorado’s public PreK-12 school system faces deteriorating enrollment. Contrary to the narrative spun by politicians, educrats and teachers union bosses — that the slump is simply due to demographic shifts, unaffordable housing and COVID-19 — it’s far from the full story. Last week, the Denver Gazette reported 1,800 fewer students were enrolled at the October count, a 0.20% year-over-year dip. While Colorado’s population burgeoned, education department data reveals public-school enrollment plunged by 30,024 students (3.3%) in the 2020-2021 school year — the state’s first drop since 1988. The subsequent rebound for 2021-2022 was modest, regaining just 3,318 students (0.38%). The statewide exodus continued,...
Read More
EDITORIAL: The urgent need for more school choice in Colorado
No Comments
Approved, gazette.com, State

EDITORIAL: The urgent need for more school choice in Colorado

By The Gazette Editorial Board | SOURCE: THE GAZETTE The only downside to school choice in our state? There isn’t enough of it. It’s the right prescription for what ails Colorado’s public schools — an inoculation against the plague of malaise and abysmal performance at too many schools in too many communities. It’s why we salute the 14th annual National School Choice Week, which kicked off Sunday and runs through Saturday in Colorado and across the rest of the country. It’s a week in which school choice’s diverse advocates and supporters not only raise the movement’s profile for state policymakers but also reach out to parents to help them take advantage of the education options available to them. The observance, organized by the National School Choice Awareness Foundation, wil...
Read More
Colorado property taxes may increase 25%
No Comments
Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado property taxes may increase 25%

By Noah Festenstein | SOURCE: COLORADO POLITICS Despite Gov. Jared Polis approving several property tax relief bills after the failure of Proposition HH, Colorado homeowners may still pay an average of 25% more in property tax increases, according to an analysis by the Common Sense Institute. Proposition HH intended to use the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights surplus revenue – normally money refunded to taxpayers – to reduce property taxes, fund school districts, water districts, fire districts, ambulance and hospital districts and other local governments. Voters in November did not support the tax relief measure, which was estimated to save the average homeowner $1,200 in the next three years. Following Proposition HH's defeat, Polis held a special legislative session to discuss alte...
Read More
Colorado justices hear cases, judicial officials put on suspension
No Comments
Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado justices hear cases, judicial officials put on suspension

By Michael Karlik | SOURCE: COLORADO POLITICS Welcome to Court Crawl, Colorado Politics' roundup of news from the third branch of government. The Colorado Supreme Court heard oral arguments in six cases last week, while a pair of judicial officials were placed on suspension under mysterious circumstances. Oral argument week •  In an unusual case submitted by the federal appeals court based in Denver, the justices are set to give their opinion about whether Colorado's sex offender law, when applied to juveniles, takes account of the factors the U.S. Supreme Court has said are relevant to preventing the imposition of cruel and unusual punishment. READ FULL ARTICLE ON COLORADOPOLITICS.COM
Read More
Paws are on the Ground
No Comments
Approved, State, The Western Slope Statesman

Paws are on the Ground

Proposition 114 has been fulfilled after 3 years of strife. Here's how it happened. By Rep. Matthew Soper | SOURCE: The Western Slope Statesman Proposition 114 puts in statute that gray wolves should be reintroduced “on designated land west of the continental divide” by December 31st, 2023. These “designated lands west of the continental divide” are what we colloquially refer to as the Western Slope of Colorado. The purpose of the proposition, according to the environmentalists, is to “restore balance” to Colorado’s ecosystems. For those of us living on the West Slope, it means an assault on our way of life by jeopardizing our ranching, hunting/guiding, tourism, and outdoor recreation economies. Colorado’s reintroduction effort followed reintroduction efforts b...
Read More
Weekly Roundup: Denver Health Immigrant Crisis, Property Taxes Increasing by 25%, Arapahoe County Commissioners Want to Eliminate TABOR
No Comments
Approved, freestatecolorado.com, State

Weekly Roundup: Denver Health Immigrant Crisis, Property Taxes Increasing by 25%, Arapahoe County Commissioners Want to Eliminate TABOR

By Brandon Wark | SOURCE: FREE STATE COLORADO This week, we look at the crisis at Denver Health, public school enrollment, home permitting delays, Arapahoe County tax protections under threat, the split in the Democratic House Caucus, the Ouray newspaper theft, and look at an event hosted by the Colorado Union of Taxpayers this week! Links to Articles: New immigrants pose ‘difficult dilemma’ as Denver Health sees thousands of unpaid medical visits: https://denvergazette.com/news/new-immigrants-pose-difficult-dilemma-as-denver-health-sees-700-increase-in-patients/article_93bbba78-b4b0-11ee-83bf-93150c61a814.html Colorado’s public school enrollment hits lowest level in a decade: https://www.denverpost.com/2024/01/17/colorado-public-school-enrollment-2023/ Del...
Read More
Now Polis says fix the border, as hospital struggles under 22,000 migrant visits
No Comments
Approved, coloradopeakpolitics.com, State

Now Polis says fix the border, as hospital struggles under 22,000 migrant visits

SOURCE: COLORADO PEAK POLITICS Colorado hospitals are begging for a federal bailout to pay for the 20,000-emergency room, childbirth, dental and primary care visits last year from the flood of migrants taking advantage of President Biden’s open border policy. The doctor in charge of government relations at Denver Health told Fox News the country needs orderly migration at the border instead of the come-one-come-all policy that is overwhelming the country’s infrastructure. Ha! Just kidding!  Dr. Steve Federico asked for more taxpayer dollars to fund the unchecked migration and keep ‘em coming! “We absolutely need additional public support to help provide health care to our safety net hospitals such as Denver Health,” Federico told “The Ingraham Angle” Thursday...
Read More
Colorado Lawmakers to Consider Pro-Nuclear Bill
No Comments
Approved, i2i.org, State

Colorado Lawmakers to Consider Pro-Nuclear Bill

By Jake Fogleman | SOURCE: INDEPENDENCE INSTITUTE Colorado lawmakers are set to consider their first nuclear energy bill of the 2024 legislative session later this week. SB24-039, dubbed “Nuclear Energy as a Clean Energy Resource,” is scheduled to go before the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee for first reading on Wednesday. The bill seeks to level the playing field for carbon-free energy technologies under state law by including nuclear energy in the statutory definition of “clean energy.” Nuclear is presently excluded by name. According to the text of the measure: The statutory definition of ‘clean energy’ in current law determines which energy projects are eligible for clean energy project financing at the county and city and county level. The statu...
Read More
Top Republican in Colorado House narrowly survives vote to remove him following revelation about his 2022 DUI arrest
No Comments
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Top Republican in Colorado House narrowly survives vote to remove him following revelation about his 2022 DUI arrest

By Brian Eason and Jesse Paul | SOURCE: THE COLORADO SUN Colorado House Minority Leader Mike Lynch on Monday narrowly survived a vote to remove him as the leader of the chamber’s 19-member Republican caucus after it was made public last week that he was arrested in 2022 on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and possessing a gun while intoxicated. The vote of no confidence was split 9-9, with one lawmaker absent and Lynch voting to keep his post. In ties, the vote fails. During the tense caucus meeting in a Capitol committee room, Lynch rejected calls from some members of his caucus to resign his post. The Wellington lawmaker defended his tenure, saying the caucus has had more cohesion under his leadership than it had in the past. “If I believed that this event,...
Read More