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Hillman: TABOR is the people’s law—Democrats want to sue it out of existence
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Approved, Colorado Politics, State

Hillman: TABOR is the people’s law—Democrats want to sue it out of existence

By Mark Hillman | Colorado Politics Lawmakers and special interests routinely ask Colorado voters to raise taxes so they can spend more of our money. Most often, voters say, “No!” Now certain “progressive” Democrat lawmakers plan to use our own tax dollars to sue us for limiting their power to raise our taxes. That’s disgusting even by the gutter standards of this legislature. Having demonstrated their contempt for the rights of law-abiding Coloradans to exercise freedom of speech and to keep and bear arms as protected by the U.S. Constitution, Democrats at our State Capitol now want us to believe they care about respecting that same Constitution. Led by Reps. Sean Camacho (D-Denver) and Lorena Garcia (D-Adams County) and Sens. Lindsay Daugherty (D-Arvada) and Iman Jodeh (D-...
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Rural towns squeezed by state’s bureaucratic delays and shifting wastewater mandates
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Approved, State, Water Education Colorado

Rural towns squeezed by state’s bureaucratic delays and shifting wastewater mandates

By Jerd Smith | Water Education Colorado Dozens of small towns in Colorado have banded together to protest new wastewater treatment permits that are designed to protect state rivers and streams, saying they  contain new rules that are too costly to implement and they haven’t had time to make the necessary changes to comply. The controversy comes as climate change and drought reduce stream flows and cause water temperatures to rise, and as population growth increases the amount of wastewater being discharged to Colorado’s rivers. In response to the towns’ concerns, the water quality control division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has taken the unusual step of holding off on taking enforcement action against at least some of the towns that say they can’t...
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Menten: HB25-1327 punishes citizen participation and violates the Constitution
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Approved, Colorado Politics, Commentary, State

Menten: HB25-1327 punishes citizen participation and violates the Constitution

By Natalie Menten | Colorado Politics Petition rights in Colorado have been under increasing attack, and that trend continues with House Bill 25-1327 (HB 25-1327), recently introduced in the Colorado State legislature. Among other things, HB 25-1327 would reduce the time available for citizen-led initiative efforts by moving the deadline for Title Board hearings up by two weeks. Under current law, Title Board hearings may be held through the third Wednesday in April. This bill shifts that deadline to the first Wednesday in April— a 14-day reduction in time that proponents would otherwise use to finalize their language before gathering nearly 200,000 signatures within a tight window to secure a spot on the ballot. It’s worth noting Colorado voters recently rejected a similar propos...
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Self-defense on hold: House GOP announces letter to AG Bondi at capitol press conference
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Approved, National, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Self-defense on hold: House GOP announces letter to AG Bondi at capitol press conference

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice A young woman in her twenties stood outside Rep. Scott Bottoms’ church recently and asked him for help—she needed a firearm. Not for sport. Not to make a point. For protection. “She was worried, she was frightened… She had no way to protect herself,” Bottoms said during a House Republican press conference Wednesday. “She has to wait three days. She can't even get her own firearm to protect herself.” That delay, he argued, could be the difference between safety and tragedy. It’s the kind of real-life scenario House Republicans say they had in mind when they gathered on the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol the morning of April 16 to speak out against SB25-003.  At the press conference, lawmakers said they...
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Tristan: Politics came between me and my daughter – love and faith brought us back
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Approved, Commentary, National, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Tristan: Politics came between me and my daughter – love and faith brought us back

By George Tristan | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice A fundamental hallmark of the saga of human history, has been and continues to be, invention. Take communications for example. Less than 200 years ago, we relied on the Pony Express to send and receive communications over long distances. Then, on May 24, 1844, Samuel Morse sent the famous message "What hath God wrought" from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore, Maryland – marking the first long-distance telegraph transmission in the United States.  Advance the hourglass of time forward 180 years to 2024, to the first human trials of Neuralink’s brain computer devices, which will enable people with medical conditions such as paralysis, spinal cord injuries, or neurological disorders, to connect with devices using only their tho...
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In first 100 days, Evans introduces six bills focused on fraud, safety and immigration
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Approved, National, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

In first 100 days, Evans introduces six bills focused on fraud, safety and immigration

RMV Staff | RMV NE CO Newsroom, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s 8th Congressional District—a nationally watched swing district—just saw its freshman Congressman, Gabe Evans, cross the 100-day threshold in office. The milestone highlights a flurry of legislative action, bipartisan wins, and scrutiny over constituent accessibility. Evans, a Republican and former law enforcement officer and Army veteran, has moved quickly since being sworn in. “By contrast, it took my predecessor up until August before she had six bills,” Evans told FOX31. “So we are doing the work and delivering the work for constituents. I look forward to continuing to engage with them, hear their problems, and do what we can to solve them.” Six bills, five bipartisan, three out of committee Denver7 reported tha...
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The COvid Chronicles: Fifteen days that changed Colorado forever
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

The COvid Chronicles: Fifteen days that changed Colorado forever

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board Editor’s Note: The following is the most extensive article RMV has published. We believe the depth is necessary to preserve the timeline and truth of Colorado’s earliest COVID response decisions. Colorado changed overnight. In the first two weeks of April 2020, headlines shifted from public health to public control. Behind the fear and mandates were decisions—made daily—that reshaped lives and redefined freedom. This is the record. April 1 Where else to start than the pages of The Denver Post (The DP)? On April 1, 2020 it wasn't an April Fool's Day joke that the economic industry Gov. Polis prioritized over such Centennial State mainstays as oil-and-gas and beef production – tourism – was reeling.  Hotels across the state were co...
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Colorado Senate committee approves bill aimed at boosting condo construction
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado Senate committee approves bill aimed at boosting condo construction

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The bill that backers hope will breathe new life into Colorado's condo construction market won a solid 6-1 vote from a Senate committee. But will the bill do what backers hope — lead to a resurgence in condo construction? It depends on who gives the answer. The condo market all but died in 2010 after changes to property and casualty insurance drove those insurers out of the Colorado condo market. That has led to insurance costs of up to $40,000 per unit, which are less of an issue for a million-dollar condo but one that makes the "affordable" condo — in the $400,000 range — unaffordable. Ted Leighty of the Colorado Association of Homebuilders told the committee House Bill 1272 doesn't go far enough to solve the issue it is intended to...
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Yadira Caraveo launches bid to reclaim Colorado’s 8th District after razor-thin loss to Gabe Evans
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Yadira Caraveo launches bid to reclaim Colorado’s 8th District after razor-thin loss to Gabe Evans

By Rocky Mountain Voice Staff Democrat Yadira Caraveo has officially launched her campaign to reclaim Colorado’s 8th Congressional District—just five months after losing the seat to freshman Republican Gabe Evans by fewer than 2,500 votes. Caraveo’s announcement sets the stage for a rematch in what has quickly become one of the most closely watched and expensive congressional battlegrounds in the country. One of the Most Competitive Districts in the Nation The 8th District, created after the 2020 Census, has emerged as a political bellwether with no clear partisan tilt. It spans Denver’s northern suburbs and rural areas along U.S. 85 into Greeley and has the highest percentage of Latino voters of any district in the state. Caraveo first won the seat in 2022 by just 1,600 vot...
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Colorado Parks and Wildlife settles with hunting groups that sued claiming commissioners violated open meetings rules
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Parks and Wildlife settles with hunting groups that sued claiming commissioners violated open meetings rules

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Two influential hunting organizations that sued members of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission claiming they violated Colorado Open Meetings Law and spread false information about mountain lion hunting say they agreed to a small cash payment and the promise that commissioners would be trained in open meetings law and the agency’s rules around hunting lions, lynx and bobcats.   CPW spokesperson Travis Duncan confirmed the groups had reached a settlement but said once the state proved the commissioners had never communicated outside of an official meeting, the hunting groups decided to settle for “a modest amount of $2,332 to avoid the expense of litigation.” Commissioners did participate in an open meetings training, he said, which “was also ...
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