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Mandated hiring preferences are not a “just transition”
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Mandated hiring preferences are not a “just transition”

By Aimee Tooker | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The Colorado Just Transition Action Plan was established in 2020 to “empower communities with resources to drive their own economic transitions.”  I take personal issue with Section 2 of this introduced bill. SB26-052 “CONCERNING COAL TRANSITION COMMUNITIES, AND, IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, PROVIDING A HIRING PREFERENCE FOR COAL TRANSITION WORKERS IN COAL TRANSITION COMMUNITIES AND EXPANDING THE ALLOWABLE WAYS IN WHICH A PUBLIC ENTITY MAY DEPOSIT OR INVEST JUST TRANSITION MONEY.” ·       A COVERED BUSINESS SHALL CONSULT WITH THE JUST TRANSITION OFFICE, ·       A COVERED BUSINESS SHALL REPORT ANNUALLY TO THE JUST TRANSITION OFFICE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION REGARDING THE PRIOR YEAR: o   (a) THE TITLE OF ANY POS...
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Colorado’s crime problem is bigger than the laws on the books
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s crime problem is bigger than the laws on the books

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Colorado’s crime problem isn’t just due to our laws As I've written before, our troubles with crime involve more than just the laws on the books.There are a few steps in the criminal justice process where someone has discretion. Discretion means the ability to be too hard, or too soft.District Attorneys decide on whether to charge and what charges to bring. Judges decide on bail, and the trial judge passes sentence.Each step a chance to be too harsh or too easy.The Complete Colorado article at bottom details a new effort by some lawmakers and talk radio host Jeff Hunt. Their website is linked below the story for convenience.I'll leave it to you to read either, but in brief, their effort is intended to bring publ...
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Colorado Lawmakers Weigh Justice and Unintended Consequences in Child Sex Solicitation Bill
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Weigh Justice and Unintended Consequences in Child Sex Solicitation Bill

By: Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado Colorado is among the top ten states in the country for human trafficking and most of the victims here are children. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation says 64% of human trafficking survivors are under age 18 and, under current state law, some of their abusers receive probation. A bill by state Sen.s Byron Pelton and Dylan Roberts would change that. Roberts says the current law is failing children. "How do we hold buyers of children accountable for their crimes?" he said. Under the legislation, anyone convicted of crimes related to child solicitation would be sentenced to a minimum of four years in prison. State analysts say each year, an average of 25 of those offenders receive probation. READ THE F...
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Colorado Budget Panel Halts Proposed Medicaid Pay Reductions for Family Caregivers
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Budget Panel Halts Proposed Medicaid Pay Reductions for Family Caregivers

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics The Colorado General Assembly’s budget decision-makers have put proposed pay cuts on hold for people who care for a family member with a disability who receives Medicaid. The Joint Budget Committee made the decision after hours of testimony from family caregivers and several advocates. The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing has been struggling to manage a substantial spike in Medicaid spending, which accounts for about one-third of the state’s budget, even as Colorado faces a $1 billion budget deficit. Members of the JBC earlier expressed concerns with Gov. Jared Polis’ proposal last November on how to plug that deficit, which included a plan to fund Medicaid below its projected growth. “This isn’t a tr...
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Durango forum brings together Republican candidates ahead of caucus and assembly season
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Durango forum brings together Republican candidates ahead of caucus and assembly season

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Southwest Colorado Republicans won’t have to travel far to see candidates vying for statewide and federal races this month. On Feb. 13, in Durango, candidates will gather weeks ahead of the caucus and assembly season. The VFW Post 4031 will open its doors at 5:30. And the forum begins at 6. RMV, Southwest Republican Women and the La Plata County Republican Central Committee organized the event. No advance sign-up is required to attend. The night is split into three panels, covering statewide offices, the U.S. Senate race and the governor’s race. The forum will feature three separate panels, allowing voters to hear directly from candidates seeking different offices ahead of the Republican primary. ...
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A ‘county average’ for pretzels: Colorado’s next price-control creep
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

A ‘county average’ for pretzels: Colorado’s next price-control creep

By Rep. Ken DeGraaf | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice HB26-1012“A PERSON IS PRESUMED TO BE ENGAGED IN AN UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICE IF THE PERSON CHARGES A CAPTIVE CONSUMER A PRICE FOR AN ANCILLARY GOOD OR SERVICE THAT IS MORE THAN THE AVERAGE PRICE OFFERED FOR A COMPARABLE GOOD OR SERVICE SOLD IN THE COUNTY IN WHICH THE CAPTIVE CONSUMER PURCHASES THE ANCILLARY GOOD OR SERVICE” Welcome to bill #12 of over 700 to be considered and passed into law in 120 days of session. The Democrats keep piling on regulations that jack up costs for everyone, then act like the fix is squeezing vendors harder—instead of slashing the taxes, fees, and mandates they've created. They could drop sales taxes on basics, cut absurd airport fees, or repeal rules that inflate...
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Open letter warns HB26-1065 expands unelected power and state control
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Open letter warns HB26-1065 expands unelected power and state control

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project An open email to the sponsors of HB26-1065 and the House Finance Committee Members In keeping with earlier posts, I have been watching affordable housing legislation this session. One of the bills that came up in an earlier post is HB26-1065. I link to that bill first below. Mild in the impact, especially compared with efforts that take away local control and further reinforce the NGO/nonprofit/government complex, this bill is still concerning in what it sets up. My open letter to the committee is copied below the link. If it’s helpful to you in advocating on this issue, please feel free to use any part or the whole. Before I get to my email (and testimony if I can make the hearing) howe...
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Democrat Gov Jared Polis Sees Opportunity in Federal School of Choice Funds
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The 74, Approved, State

Democrat Gov Jared Polis Sees Opportunity in Federal School of Choice Funds

By Kevin Mahnken | The 74 "In Colorado, we trust the parents," Governor Jared Polis. The school choice proponent — and possible 2028 contender — is one of just two Democratic governors opting into a new federal scholarship tax credit. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis may be the Democratic Party’s single most prominent supporter of school choice.  In his life before politics, he co-founded two charter schools in his home state. During his time serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, he authored bipartisan legislation to expand high-performing charters, citing hundreds of thousands of families on waitlists nationwide. And now, in his last year as Colorado’s chief executive, he has even signed on to participate in the Trump admin...
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Colorado Teen’s Fatal Overdose Leads to Prison Time for Dealers and Boyfriend
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CBS News, Approved, State

Colorado Teen’s Fatal Overdose Leads to Prison Time for Dealers and Boyfriend

By Logan Smith | CBS Colorado Three Colorado residents are currently serving prison sentences following a 16-year-old girl's drug overdose.  Kaleb Hale bought six pills from a man and woman in Greeley on July 24, 2021, according to court documents. He brought the pills to a friend's home where he and his girlfriend, identified in the court documents only as "J.H.," crushed one pill and snorted a portion of it.  "Once at that residence," federal prosecutors stated in another court document, "J.H. decided to try what would be her first, and last, dose of fentanyl." Hale, then 20 years old, awoke around noon the next day. He had defecated himself and "J.H." had vomited on him, according to the document. She was unconscious and not breathing. He tried to r...
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Colorado Democrats Act to Preserve Existing Vaccine Framework Amid Federal Changes
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Democrats Act to Preserve Existing Vaccine Framework Amid Federal Changes

By: Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics At least 20 states have said they are using guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical associations when setting vaccine policies and immunization schedules, in some cases supplementing or diverging from recommendations issued by the Trump administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Colorado is already among the 20, but Democratic lawmakers this week also approved a bill that will require the state Board of Health to consider recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics and other groups, as well as from a federal advisory committee that was recently changed to include vaccine skeptics. Senate Bill 3...
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