Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

State

The numbers didn’t add up: A judge says Colorado’s elections office didn’t either
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

The numbers didn’t add up: A judge says Colorado’s elections office didn’t either

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Jonathan Ambler read the article more than once. Republicans in Pueblo County had reported tens of thousands in contributions. Democrats—who had controlled local politics for generations and operated out of their own headquarters—had reported barely a few thousand. It didn’t square. So he started digging. What he found led to two formal complaints, a dismissal by Colorado’s top elections office, and now, a Denver judge ordering that same office to go back and do the work again. A court steps in where the state stepped away On March 26, Denver District Court Judge Bruce Jones ruled that the Colorado Secretary of State’s office improperly dismissed Ambler’s campaign finance complaints against the Pueblo County Democratic Party. The...
Read More
Attorneys raise concerns over certification tied to Colorado court system access
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Attorneys raise concerns over certification tied to Colorado court system access

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado attorneys are starting to push back after a certification prompt began appearing when they log into the state’s court e-filing system. The requirement traces back to Senate Bill 25-276 and related statutes, including C.R.S. § 24-74-105, which deal with how the state handles nonpublic personal identifying information. Under that law, access to certain data comes with a certification—made under penalty of perjury—about how it will be used. On paper, the statute applies broadly to third parties accessing protected data. In practice, though, the certification has now been built into Colorado Courts E-Filing (CCE), meaning attorneys are being asked to agree to it just to get into the system. What the law require...
Read More
Frozen in place: How a 1997 tax law may be trapping Colorado’s senior homeowners
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Frozen in place: How a 1997 tax law may be trapping Colorado’s senior homeowners

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice A Centennial resident wrote to RMV earlier this year with a frustration he suspects many of his neighbors share — one shaped by decades spent in the same home. He has watched its value climb far beyond anything he imagined when he bought it. And now, as he weighs whether to downsize, he finds himself facing a tax bill on that appreciation — one shaped by a federal law whose core thresholds haven’t been updated in nearly 30 years. "This realized gain could be used for moving into a more manageable home, pay for necessary home care if needed, help pay for insurance, medical, dental, medicine expenses and keep their quality of life," he wrote. His concern is not an isolated one. It reflects a structural problem — one incr...
Read More
Colorado Bill Could Undermine TABOR Protections Redirecting Billions Away From Taxpayers
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado Bill Could Undermine TABOR Protections Redirecting Billions Away From Taxpayers

By Nash Herman | Commentary, Complete Colorado Senate Bill 135, legislation that could permanently end the refund of overcollected tax dollars, as well as radically raise revenue limits under Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) amendment, just received a new fiscal note predicting an even bigger blank check for the legislature than before.  This follows the updated revenue forecast presented to the Joint Budget Committee (JBC).  Let’s see what changed.  Budget hole gets bigger Legislative analysts predict that this year’s “budget shortfall” will be approximately $1.5 billion, based on the March 2026 Economic and Revenue Forecast.   While that means a haircut to General F...
Read More
Colorado Lawmakers Advance Painful Budget Cuts Amid Billion Dollar Shortfall
No Comments
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Advance Painful Budget Cuts Amid Billion Dollar Shortfall

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette The panel of Colorado legislators in charge of crafting next year’s budget has finalized the 2026–27 spending plan built on deep cuts and one‑time cash transfers in an attempt to close a shortfall of more than $1.2 billion. The plan is leaving lawmakers frustrated with the reductions to core services. Some cited cuts to health care programs for children and families, though others argued the spending plan “protects what matters most.” That $1.2 billion figure comes from the governor’s economic forecast. The legislature’s economists, however, warned of an even bigger deficit at around $1.5 billion. A combination of factors have led to Colorado’s budget woes. Democrats have pointed to the congressional budget approved last...
Read More
Lawmakers Weigh $300M Pinnacol Split To Shore Up State Budget
No Comments
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Lawmakers Weigh $300M Pinnacol Split To Shore Up State Budget

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The panel of Colorado legislators in charge of crafting next year’s budget has finalized the 2026–27 spending plan built on deep cuts and one‑time cash transfers in an attempt to close a shortfall of more than $1.2 billion. The plan is leaving lawmakers frustrated with the reductions to core services. Some cited cuts to health care programs for children and families, though others argued the spending plan “protects what matters most.” That $1.2 billion figure comes from the governor’s economic forecast. The legislature’s economists, however, warned of an even bigger deficit at around $1.5 billion. A combination of factors have led to Colorado’s budget woes. Democrats have pointed to the congressional budget approved last ...
Read More
“Single most insecure person I’ve ever encountered”: Former Griswold aide breaks silence ahead of AG race
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

“Single most insecure person I’ve ever encountered”: Former Griswold aide breaks silence ahead of AG race

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Reese Edwards didn’t plan to speak out. He spent less than a year inside Colorado’s Secretary of State’s office before leaving in 2020, frustrated and burned out enough to walk away. He wasn’t looking to revisit any of it. Now, with Jena Griswold running for attorney general, he’s speaking up—and doing it on the record. “I love democracy with an almost religious belief,” he told RMV. “The idea of people deciding for themselves how they will govern themselves. That’s why I took the job.” Edwards, who served as Director of Government and Public Affairs, is now going on record with a warning. He says what he witnessed inside the Secretary of State’s office—erratic leadership, blurred lines between political ambition and public duty ...
Read More
Tina Peters convictions upheld, sentence thrown out and case sent back to Mesa County court
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Tina Peters convictions upheld, sentence thrown out and case sent back to Mesa County court

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Tina Peters remains convicted—but the case that made her a national figure isn’t over. A Colorado appeals court upheld every conviction against the former Mesa County clerk Thursday, while also throwing out her sentence and ordering resentencing after finding the trial judge improperly weighed her speech about election fraud. The court laid it out over 78 pages—and shut down almost every major argument Peters brought forward. Judges rejected her claim that a presidential pardon could wipe out state convictions. They also rejected her argument that she was acting under federal authority. The convictions stayed. But the sentence didn’t. The ruling leaves Peters’ criminal convictions fully intact while reopening one of the m...
Read More
Speak up or step back: Why critics say Coloradans must engage with CPW now
No Comments
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Speak up or step back: Why critics say Coloradans must engage with CPW now

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Depending on where you get your news, you are probably by now aware that the CPW Commissioners, in a meeting that I’ve heard referred to as a “shit-show” by more than one person, voted to accept a petition by a monied, out of state group. If you missed it or want to hit the high spots again, I put a FencePost article on the meeting. That is the first link below.This vote came over the recommendations against the petition by their own director and other CPW employees.Why? From where I stand the reason’s pretty simple: the CPW Commissioners have been (by design from the governor’s office) “captured” by animal rights and environmental groups.This is not just an impression I have pulled out of thin air. Over and over w...
Read More
Colorado Medicaid Crunch Leaves The Most Vulnerable Disabled Residents Facing Deep Cuts
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado Medicaid Crunch Leaves The Most Vulnerable Disabled Residents Facing Deep Cuts

By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado This is a selfish column. The legislature is about to hurt my disabled son. My son, Chance, has Down syndrome and a few years ago would have been labeled “retarded.” Then “developmentally delayed.” Now the hypersensitive prefer “intellectually disabled.” Whatever the term is this week, the reality hasn’t changed. This 21-year-old man cannot consistently count to five, can’t read and can’t write his own name. He needs constant supervision for choking risks. He still needs help toileting. And that’s just the start. Medicaid was designed for people like him, our most vulnerable. And I am grateful for it. In between passing laws barring misgendering and expanding tax credits to buy electric bicycles, the s...
Read More

FD863768-0ACF-495E-9D21-2EF784DFFA6B[1]

Join us at RMV's Freedom Festival

Click Here for Tickets!

This will close in 0 seconds