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Insurance relief or government growth: Colorado bills reveal two competing paths
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Insurance relief or government growth: Colorado bills reveal two competing paths

Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project The two bills linked at bottom (SB26-049 and SB26-155 respectively) present an interesting contrast in policy intended to lower homeowners insurance premiums. I thought a comparison of the two might be illuminating. It’s not going to be entirely black and white, these aren’t polar opposites, but in looking at the bills together I think you can get a sense of the “legislative style” of those involved. The fiscal notes of both provide a pretty apt summary, so let’s start there. Screenshots 1a and 1b show the summary for SB26-049. Screenshots 2a and 2b show the summary for SB26-155. In the former you increase the people who qualify for grants from an existing enterpr...
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Colorado Senate Advances Bill to Ease Landfill Regulation Burden
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Senate Advances Bill to Ease Landfill Regulation Burden

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER – A bipartisan bill to backfill county governments for an unfunded methane emissions mandate is counting on money from existing state grant programs, which, according to Sen. Byron Pelton, is necessary to ensure Colorado counties don’t go bankrupt from the environmental rules put in place by unelected boards appointed by Gov. Jared Polis. Senate Bill 26-101, Local Government Landfill Methane Emission Reduction Regulations, will allow counties to use money from the community impact cash fund, air quality enterprise cash fund, and local government mineral impact fund “for the purpose of complying with landfill methane emission reduction requirements adopted by the air quality control commission, a division of the department of public h...
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Lawmakers Push Back On Taxpayer Funding For Colorado Wolf Program
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Lawmakers Push Back On Taxpayer Funding For Colorado Wolf Program

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Sen. Dylan Roberts and Rep. Meghan Lukens led the charge to keep Colorado Parks and Wildlife from using general fund money to bring more wolves to Colorado. The General Assembly sent a strong message over the last few days to Gov. Jared Polis in footnotes to the proposed state budget: Stop using general fund money to reintroduce wolves to Colorado. Footnotes to the budget, also known as the long bill, aren’t legally binding. And the spending plan still has a few steps to go before it can be signed into law by Polis. But if approved, Colorado Parks and Wildlife would be on notice not to use taxpayer money to reintroduce wolves. Instead, lawmakers want the program authorized by voters in 2020 to rely on gifts, grants an...
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Democrat Infighting Derails Transparency Push At State Capitol
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KUNC, Approved, State

Democrat Infighting Derails Transparency Push At State Capitol

By Jesse Paul, Taylor Dolven | KUNC Radio This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at coloradosun.com. An effort to bridge the divide between more liberal and more moderate Democrats in the state legislature has fallen apart. The two sides were working on a bill to increase transparency around legislative caucuses in response to the Colorado Opportunity Caucus’ retreat at a hotel in Vail in October. The caucus is made up of moderate Democrats at the Capitol and doesn’t disclose all of its donors, though at least one of their funders is a nonprofit that has targeted liberal Democrats in primaries. But now the two sides are no longer talking about their transparency effort and the more libera...
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Supreme Court Takes Up Colorado Preschool Case Testing Religious Freedom
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Supreme Court Takes Up Colorado Preschool Case Testing Religious Freedom

By Lindsay Whitehurst | The Denver Gazette WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will hear from Catholic preschools that say Colorado violated their religious rights by excluding them from a state-funded “universal” pre-kindergarten program over their admission policies. The court agreed on Monday to take up the appeal from St. Mary Catholic Parish in its challenge against a state program. That challenge is supported by the Trump administration. Joined by the Archdiocese of Denver, two Catholic institutions, St. Mary Catholic Parish in Littleton and St. Bernadette Catholic Parish in Lakewood, filed a lawsuit against the state of Colorado, alleging their preschools cannot participate in the publicly funded program because the church’s religious views on sexual o...
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Xcel Energy Prepares Shutoffs In Drought Stricken Regions In Western And Southern Colorado
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Xcel Energy Prepares Shutoffs In Drought Stricken Regions In Western And Southern Colorado

By Christa Swanson | CBS Colorado Xcel Energy announced that customers in parts of western Colorado and the San Luis Valley should prepare for possible power shutoffs on Wednesday. Strong winds, combined with dry conditions and low humidity, will result in high wildfire risk. "To reduce the risk of wildfire and support public safety, we are planning for a possible Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) beginning on Wednesday, April 22, around 9 a.m. MT for some customers in Garfield, Mesa and Pitkin counties, and around 11 a.m. MT for some customers in Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Rio Grande and Saguache counties," the company said. Many of these areas are already experiencing extreme or exceptional drought, and the National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag...
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Colorado murder bill advances: Sentencing cuts collide with voter mandate
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado murder bill advances: Sentencing cuts collide with voter mandate

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado voters approved Proposition 128 in November 2024 with 62 percent support, requiring those convicted of second-degree murder and several other violent felonies to serve at least 85 percent of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Seventeen months later, House Bill 26-1281 is headed to the House floor. While much of the debate has focused on how the bill treats completed murders, most of its effect may come from how it changes penalties for attempted cases — incidents far more common in Colorado. The bill would reclassify some first-degree murder convictions as second-degree and also reduces penalties for attempted cases—crimes that occur far more often than completed homicides, including drive-by ...
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CPW nominee under scrutiny as broader concerns surface about board power
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

CPW nominee under scrutiny as broader concerns surface about board power

Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Some questions for CPW hopeful Christopher Sichko Last Wednesday I posted about the upcoming Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee confirmation hearing for three of Gov. Polis’ CPW appointees. If you want or need the context from the earlier newsletter, you’ll find it linked first below. A reader noted something interesting about one of the commissioner candidates. When I read what they wrote, I got curious and thought I would follow up with Mr. Sichko. The second link below is to a 10/25/2024 article in Elevation Outdoors entitled “LOCAL HEROES: Christopher Sichko, PHD”. The relevant part comes from the bottom of the article. Quoting: “Sichko says, ‘My ultimate goal is to support the regener...
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Colorado Senate Advances Plan To Address Prison Overcrowding Crisis
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Senate Advances Plan To Address Prison Overcrowding Crisis

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette As lawmakers work to complete the next state budget, they are intensifying efforts to address overcrowding and capacity challenges within the Department of Corrections and related agencies — issues that have contributed to increased spending in the budget. The state Senate on Friday gave preliminary approval to Senate Bill 159, specifically designed to work on the capacity issue. The measure, sponsored by Democratic Sens. Julie Gonzales of Denver and Mike Weissman of Aurora, has two components. One would require the creation of a working group to make recommendations for a corrections capacity management plan, including input from affected parties. That’s been part of the Joint Budget Committee’s demand for a com...
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Medicaid Cuts Raise Alarm for Colorado Hospitals Already on Thin Margins
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Medicaid Cuts Raise Alarm for Colorado Hospitals Already on Thin Margins

By Nico Brambila | Colorado Politics The $900 billion in Medicaid cuts over the next decade could threaten the viability of more than 400 hospitals nationally and at least nine in Colorado, a new report has found. The hospitals span the Front Range and rural communities, from Denver Health — the region’s primary safety-net provider — to smaller hospitals in places like Leadville, Lamar and Fort Morgan, reflecting the mounting pressure across both urban and rural health systems. “The cuts will be devastating to many low-income and disabled individuals who rely on Medicaid,” the report said. “Moreover, they will have knock-on effects on hospitals that disproportionately serve these communities, deepening the financial strain already plaguing rural and sa...
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