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Government knows best? Colorado homeschool advocates say families should decide
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Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Government knows best? Colorado homeschool advocates say families should decide

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado In the 1950s, there was a popular television show that aired for many years called Father Knows Best. It was a wholesome program about a typical American family in the Midwest. Today, if we created a show about the state of Colorado, it would be called “Government Knows Best.” This is because our state government has never met an area of life that they don’t want to regulate or control. Education is one of those areas that is funded and controlled by our state. This also extends to part-time homeschool enrichment funding, which has become more popular to use due to the growing number of publicly provided and publicly funded programs across our state. Alarmed at the number of families taking advantage of these programs...
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A win for taxpayers: Colorado Senate committee kills employer fee bill
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

A win for taxpayers: Colorado Senate committee kills employer fee bill

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Per the Sum and Substance article linked first below, HB26-1327 (linked second) made it out of the House but died in committee in the Senate. Quoting: “Senate Finance Committee members voted down HB 1327 by a 7-2 margin on Thursday, with four Democrats joining the committee’s three Republicans in opposing it. Sen. Cathy Kipp, D-Fort Collins, said she was for the idea before groups like CCLP convinced her of its faults, and Sen. Adrienne Benavidez, D-Adams County, joined with several Republicans in arguing that it would violate TABOR.” However it needed to be, I’m glad it didn’t pass. A look at the bill helps explain why in part. The bill would have been yet another enterprise run by yet another unelected boar...
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Republican Candidates Take Center Stage In Key Colorado Governor Debate
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Colorado Public Radio, Approved, State

Republican Candidates Take Center Stage In Key Colorado Governor Debate

By Bente Birkeland | CPR News Republican gubernatorial candidates state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer and state Rep. Scott Bottoms are scheduled to take the stage Thursday in their first televised debate ahead of the June 30 primary election.  The candidates hope to replace outgoing Gov. Jared Polis, who is term-limited after eight years in office. A third GOP contender, Victor Marx, a Marine and nonprofit Christian ministry leader, declined to participate.  Bottoms and Kirkmeyer have attended multiple forums together, talking about their leadership styles and how they hope to get the state back on track after years of Democratic control. Marx has separately held his own community events.  The debate, hosted by CPR News, Denver7 and The Denver Post, is t...
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Tax Fight At Capitol Ends As Polis Signals Veto Threat
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Tax Fight At Capitol Ends As Polis Signals Veto Threat

By Nash Herman | Complete Colorado Governor Polis played an important role in killing two of the most anti-business bills introduced this legislative session, in a rare moment of follow through on his proposed tax policy.   Is it too little too late?  How Polis killed the bills House Bills 1221 and 1222 were part of a four-bill package by progressive lawmakers that Mike Rosen dubbed the “Four Big Ugly Bills,” for their obvious hostility to Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and anti-business aims.  Because Democrat lawmakers could not stand that the OBBBA cut taxes for most Coloradans, they designed the four bills to decouple aspects of the Colorado tax system from federal policy and eliminate certain tax break...
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Colorado Ballot Measure Asks Voters To Forfeit Up To $7000 Per Taxpayer In TABOR Refunds
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The Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Ballot Measure Asks Voters To Forfeit Up To $7000 Per Taxpayer In TABOR Refunds

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Gazette A Democratic‑backed proposal to direct money to K‑12 schools using Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights dollars is headed to the ballot, setting up a major debate over taxpayer refunds and long‑term education funding. If voters approve it, the average Coloradan would forfeit more than $7,000 in TABOR refunds over the next decade. Senate Bill 135 includes a provision to increase the TABOR cap by the amount the state spends on K-12 education, which currently sits at about $4.5 billion per year. Under the proposal, any funding beyond that would be allocated to services for students with disabilities and increased contractor hours. “We have worked hard to better the quality of education in Colorado and have made great strides in m...
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Court Rules ICE Failed To Follow Warrantless Arrest Limits In Colorado
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Court Rules ICE Failed To Follow Warrantless Arrest Limits In Colorado

By Jessica Porter | Denver7 Agents are now barred from warrantless arrests pending mandatory training. DENVER — A federal judge has ruled that ICE violated a court order and the law by continuing to make unlawful warrantless arrests in Colorado. The ACLU of Colorado filed a lawsuit in October 2025 on behalf of four plaintiffs, alleging Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested and detained people without warrants to fulfill quotas set by the Trump administration. Federal law only allows ICE agents to make warrantless arrests if an individual is a flight risk. In November 2025, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction barring ICE from making warrantless arrests in Colorado. On May 12, a Colorado District Court judge ruled that...
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Dillon Vakoff died protecting a family. His mother and his fellow officer won’t let Colorado forget why.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Dillon Vakoff died protecting a family. His mother and his fellow officer won’t let Colorado forget why.

By Gabe Evans and Lisa Vakoff | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice In 2025, 115 police officers in the United States paid the ultimate price. Officers who survive their careers carry lifelong scars and health complications. The average American experiences their first heart attack at the average age of 65. Police officers get their first heart attack at age 46. Stress, lack of sleep, and violent criminals are just a few of the hazards that cops face every day.  To honor their service, in 1962, Congress and President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week during which it occurs as Police Week. It is a time to honor the brave men and women in law enforcement who put on the badge and willingly step into danger to protect our c...
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Three GOP candidates take aim at Colorado’s open primary law—and bring the math
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Three GOP candidates take aim at Colorado’s open primary law—and bring the math

By Candice Strutzreim | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Republican candidates Ron Hanks (CD-3), David Willson (attorney general) and Scott Bottoms (governor) have filed a lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of CRS 1-7-201. Also known as the Open Primary statute, the law was created through Proposition 108 in 2016. The hearing will be held in Denver District Court this Thursday at 1:30 pm, one day before primary ballots are scheduled to be sent to overseas and military voters for the June 30 election. How is this lawsuit any different than all the other challenges to “Prop 108” that have been previously brought before the courts? Counsel for the plaintiffs, Gary D. Fielder, intends to prove that Governor Jared Polis and Secretary of State Jena Griswold are promulg...
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“Regardless of party”: Colorado’s teacher unions say one thing. A decade of records shows another.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

“Regardless of party”: Colorado’s teacher unions say one thing. A decade of records shows another.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado teachers are Republicans. They are Democrats. They are unaffiliated. They work in every county in the state, in every kind of classroom, for every kind of family. Their union says its political spending reflects that same range. The money says something else. RMV examined contributions from 13 Colorado teachers union entities across 22 data files between 2016 and 2026. Every identifiable contribution to a school board or state legislative candidate went to a Democrat. Not most. Not nearly all. Every one. Zero went to a Republican. The Colorado Education Association Victory Fund — the independent expenditure committee for the state’s largest teachers union — filed its political mission with the Colorado Secr...
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There’s a Vacancy on Colorado’s Transportation Investment Board. You Should Apply.
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

There’s a Vacancy on Colorado’s Transportation Investment Board. You Should Apply.

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project A reader sent in a tip about an upcoming vacancy at CTIO. Before getting more on that, let’s back up and talk about what CTIO is. The first link below is to their “About” page, but in brief they’re one of the copious number of enterprises (government “businesses”) that do so much of Colorado’s work. Quoting their page: “The Funding Advancement for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery Act (Part 8 of Article 4, Title 43, Colorado Revised Statutes), otherwise known as FASTER, created the Colorado High Performance Transportation Enterprise (HPTE), now doing business as the Colorado Transportation Investment Office (CTIO), in 2009 as an independent, government-owned business within CDOT. CTIO has the legal re...
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