State

Rosen: Eco-radicals push watermelon socialism, not science

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I recently stumbled on one of my all-time favorite movies on TV. It was the 1965 film of Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago, starring Omar Sharif and Julie Christie. So, I watched the whole thing for 10th time. One particular scene stands out.

After his service as a doctor in the Russian Army during World War I, Zhivago returns to his family who’d been living with his in-laws, in Moscow. By this time, the Russian Army had disintegrated, the Czar had been overthrown and the Bolsheviks had taken control following the 1917 Revolution.

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Polis signs SB25-003 into law after months of protest and 95,000 petitions

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In the end, Governor Jared Polis didn’t make a speech. He didn’t stand before cameras or take questions. He didn’t even put the signing on his public calendar.

On April 9, behind closed doors and without public ceremony, Polis signed Senate Bill 25-003 into law—legislation that critics say is one of the most restrictive gun ownership laws in the country. The signing came after months of resistance from Colorado citizens, lawmakers, and small business owners who warned the bill was not only unconstitutional, but economically and socially devastating.

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HB25-1169 would strip local control, override zoning to force housing on church and school property

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A bill making its way through the Colorado legislature—HB 25-1169, the “Faith and Education Land Use” bill—is under growing scrutiny from local officials, school communities, and everyday Coloradans who see it as a sweeping override of local zoning authority.

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House approves $44B budget, GOP spending cut efforts rejected

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Colorado state House legislators on Wednesday debated and advanced a $44 billion spending plan for the next fiscal year.

They also approved 63 “orbital” bills designed to change state law in order to balance the state budget.

As introduced, the fiscal year 2025-26 budget stands at $43.9 billion, including $17 billion in general funds and $14 billion in federal dollars. General funds are the discretionary dollars, derived from individual and corporate income taxes, as well as sales and use taxes. Cash funds make up the rest, about $12.8 billion.

Lawmakers’ biggest hurdle is closing a $1.2 billion general fund shortfall, driven by higher-than-expected Medicaid costs and a structural deficit.

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Colorado bishops urge Polis to veto abortion funding bill

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The Colorado Catholic bishops are urging state Gov. Jared Polis to veto a bill that would put at least $1.5 million of public funding annually toward Medicaid-covered abortions.

The Tuesday open letter — co-signed by Archbishop Samuel Aquila and Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Rodriguez of the Archdiocese of Denver, Bishop James Golka of Colorado Springs, and Bishop Stephen Berg of Pueblo — urged the governor “to consider the millions of Coloradans who do not want their hard-earned tax dollars to be used in the destruction of human life.”

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Garbo: With HB25-1312, the state can claim your kids and call it compassion

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On April 6, 2025 the Colorado House of Representatives crossed a line – a Rubicon, as it were – into territory so profane, so fundamentally corrosive to the bedrock of human society, that it demands not just opposition but a thunderous rebuke. House Bill 25-1312 titled Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals, passed with a vote of 36-20, is no mere legislative misstep; it is a deliberate, ideological sledgehammer aimed at shattering the sacred bond between parent and child.

To its proponents, I say this with the full weight of reason and the fire of conviction: you have unleashed a dangerous precedent, one that betrays the very essence of family, liberty, and the proper limits of government. This is not a defense of civil rights; it is a grotesque power grab masquerading as compassion, and it must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.

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“Celebrate the win”: Boebert’s gray wolf delisting bill clears key House committee

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In rural Colorado, the fight over wolves isn’t just about wildlife—it’s about life and livelihoods. On Tuesday, a bill sponsored by Reps. Lauren Boebert and Tom Tiffany passed a key House committee, aiming to take gray wolves off the Endangered Species List and block federal courts from reversing the move.

The Pet and Livestock Protection Act (PALPA) cleared a key vote, handing a win to farmers, ranchers and energy producers across the West. In Colorado, wolf attacks on livestock and fears that the predators could stall energy projects have kept the issue front and center.

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Marshall breaks with Democrats over custody bill targeting parents who ‘misgender’

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Opposition to his party’s hardline stance on gender ideology found a Colorado Democrat explaining his “serious concerns regarding overreach.”

Sunday in the Centennial State, leftist lawmakers delivered what many considered to be a literal and symbolic salvo against Christian beliefs as they pushed through four bills advancing gender ideology and abortion. State Rep. Bob Marshall was the only member of the Democratic Party to oppose one of those bills, and he explained why he was specifically against parents losing custody if they “misgendered” or “deadnamed” their own child.

“This is a larger concern I have regarding the understandable reaction people are having to protect marginalized groups from the overly zealous onslaught in the new administration against diversity, equity, and inclusion,” he told The Daily Signal in an email.

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Immigrant protection bill passes committee, limits law enforcement cooperation with feds

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A bill meant to better protect immigrants under Colorado law passed through a Colorado Senate committee Tuesday.

Supporters of the bill say it looks to ensure everyone’s civil rights are protected regardless of immigration status, while opponents argue it further prohibits the state from helping federal agents.

“Fear is contagious, isolating and destructive. We’ve seen President Trump weaponize fear time and time again against immigrants. Donald Trump’s ICE agents say one thing and then they do another,” said state Senator Julie Gonzales when talking about who the administration is targeting for deportations through Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

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State bill rewrites how Colorado decides school vaccine mandates

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Colorado lawmakers have quietly moved to shift the state’s school immunization requirements away from the recommendations of a prominent federal committee, in response to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. taking over the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The move comes in an amendment to a bill, House Bill 1027, currently awaiting Gov. Jared Polis’ signature. The amendment makes a change to how Colorado decides which vaccines to require.

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