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Colorado Launches New Study On Single Payer Health Care A Decade After Being Rejected By Voters
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Launches New Study On Single Payer Health Care A Decade After Being Rejected By Voters

By Mary Shinn | The Denver Gazette Colorado residents owe about $1 billion in medical debt.  The sky-high number is a small portion of the nation’s medical debt estimated around $220 billion, according to a 2024 analysis by Peterson Center on Healthcare and KFF, formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation.  As more people nationally are expected to lose their health insurance following planned cuts and changes to Medicaid in January 2027, the Colorado School of Public Health is starting work on a study to analyze how the state could set up a single-payer health insurance program that would be run at the state level. Such a system could simplify the complicated private insurance system and ensure all state residents have coverage.  “It would be simple. I...
From 51 defeated bills to $8M in revenue: How Cobalt reshaped Colorado abortion policy
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

From 51 defeated bills to $8M in revenue: How Cobalt reshaped Colorado abortion policy

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice A Colorado abortion advocacy organization is celebrating a decade of legislative defeats—51 abortion-restriction bills blocked since 2010—while reporting record spending and a surge in out-of-state demand. On its website, Cobalt says it has “testified against and helped defeat 51 anti-abortion bills at the Colorado General Assembly since 2010.”  Webpage from Cobalt Advocates referencing its 51-bill claim. Viewed Feb. 19, 2026. A February data report shows more than $2.4 million spent in 2025 on abortion procedures and practical support, including travel and lodging. Those numbers, drawn from Cobalt’s own reports and IRS filings, reflect more than annual fundraising success. They trace a broader shift in Colo...
Local control or state mandate: Colorado bill would override city prostitution laws
ScottKJames.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Local control or state mandate: Colorado bill would override city prostitution laws

By Scott K. James | Commentary, ScottKJames.com The Colorado General Assembly wants to decriminalize commercial sex and block every city and county from prohibiting it. That is not reform. It is a statewide power grab dressed up as enlightenment. There are bad bills. There are misguided bills. And then there are bills that crawl out of the Capitol smelling like moral decay wrapped in legislative arrogance. This one is the latter. Under the gleaming gold dome of the Colorado State Capitol, Democrats in the Colorado General Assembly have decided that commercial sex is now so enlightened, so elevated, so philosophically superior that no city, no county, no community in the entire state of Colorado may forbid it. SB26-097 not only decriminalizes consensual...
Wave of bills sparks alarm over parental rights and religious freedom
Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Wave of bills sparks alarm over parental rights and religious freedom

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of bills and hearings. Sadly, the Colorado State Senate passed the harmful SB26-004, Expand List of Petitioners for Protection Order, which could result in homeschool families that exercise their second amendment rights being targeted as “a danger” by schools where they participate in part-time or extracurricular programs. The actual school, district or even a health care facility can petition for a Red-Flag order against the parents and remove their firearms according to the bill. It would actually incentivize families to avoid getting necessary healthcare for fear of being targeted. It is now scheduled to be heard in the House State, Civic, Military and Veteran...
Why J. Paul Brown Supports Naomi Riess for House District 59
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Why J. Paul Brown Supports Naomi Riess for House District 59

By J. Paul Brown | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice As a lifelong farmer and rancher in Southwest Colorado and someone who has proudly served as the representative for House District 59, I know the importance of strong, principled leadership for our communities. We are in dire need of someone who has always stood by agriculture and our rural way of life.  I have known Naomi Riess for many years, and I can say with confidence that she is exactly the kind of leader we need. I personally witnessed her dedication when she helped the La Plata County Farm Bureau resolve challenges that some of our members were facing with the State Land Board regarding state land leases. Her knowledge, persistence and genuine care for the people she serves made a real difference. ...
Colorado Board Eases Birth Certificate Rules Offering Hope To Long Overlooked Residents
DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Board Eases Birth Certificate Rules Offering Hope To Long Overlooked Residents

By: Jaclyn Allen | Denver7 Board of Health approves change to delayed birth certificate rule, calls for legislative fix. DENVER — After Denver7 Investigates reported on the issue of Colorado's "ghosts" last year, the Colorado Board of Health unanimously voted Thursday to remove one of the most restrictive requirements in the state’s delayed birth certificate rules. It's a change advocates say will open the door for many Coloradans who have lived for years without proof of their birth. The new rule replaces the requirement that applicants provide at least one document created before their 10th birthday with the requirement that at least one document be 10 years old at the time of application. Advocates say the previous standard created a “lifetime bar”...
Colorado Lawmakers Face Tough Choices As Medicaid Drives Increased Spending
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Face Tough Choices As Medicaid Drives Increased Spending

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics This week, the state Senate is reviewing revisions to the 2025–26 state budget, which has been reduced by hundreds of millions of dollars in each round of cuts. But the bottom line is that, because of Medicaid costs, the state will spend more in 2025-26 than lawmakers approved in the 2025 session. Last week, the 29 bills in the supplemental package were approved by the House, with most passing with broad support. That didn’t mean all of them did: bills changing the budgets for the departments of state, treasury, health care policy and financing, personnel, public health and environment and higher ed all passed largely along party lines. A supplemental for the Department of Corrections, which increased its budget by $29...
Colorado Bill To Decriminalize Prostitution Sparks Sharp Debate At Capitol
kdvr.com, Approved, State

Colorado Bill To Decriminalize Prostitution Sparks Sharp Debate At Capitol

By Anna Coon | KDVR DENVER (KDVR) — A bill that would decriminalize prostitution in Colorado is drawing sharply divided reactions from lawmakers and advocacy groups. Supporters argue the measure would improve safety, while opponents warn of broader social consequences. The proposal, introduced by four Democratic lawmakers, would remove criminal penalties for adults who buy or sell consensual commercial sex. It would also prohibit local governments from banning consensual commercial sexual activity. The policy is also backed by the ACLU, and if passed, Colorado would become the first state to fully decriminalize prostitution. Supporters say the legislation would reduce violence against sex workers, curb human trafficking and slow the spread of disease by allowing...
Colorado Ballot Push Aims To Redraw Maps And Diminish GOP Representation
Colorado Public Radio, Approved, State

Colorado Ballot Push Aims To Redraw Maps And Diminish GOP Representation

By Caitlyn Kim | CPR News The group Coloradans for a Level Playing Field wants to put an initiative on the 2026 ballot that would allow the state to draw new Congressional maps for 2028 and 2030. If voters approve, the state would join the redistricting tit-for-tat going on across the country after President Donald Trump urged Texas to redraw its congressional map to help Republicans retain control of the House in 2026. Several other Red and Blue states have followed or plan on following suit, such as Missouri, North Carolina, California and Virginia. “No one wanted to have to take this action,” said Curtis Hubbard, spokesperson for Coloradans for a Level Playing Field, adding independent commissions that make such decisions are ideal. “But with Donald Trump and his MA...

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