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Federal judge recommends dismissing school districts’ lawsuit over transgender sports rules
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Federal judge recommends dismissing school districts’ lawsuit over transgender sports rules

By Eric Young | Colorado Politics A judge has recommended dismissing a federal lawsuit filed by multiple school districts against the Colorado Attorney General’s and Civil Rights Offices over their policies dictating students’ participation in athletics and activities based on their biological sex rather than gender identity. Last spring, District 49, later joined by Colorado Springs D-11, Academy D-20, Education ReEnvisioned BOCES and El Paso County charter schools, filed the lawsuit against the two state bodies plus the Colorado High School Athletics Association (CHSAA) over what they allege to be discrimination against female student athletes by allowing transgender students to participate in activities that align with their gender identity. The small, rural school ...
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A new session, same defiance: How Colorado’s immigration policy put ideology over enforcement
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

A new session, same defiance: How Colorado’s immigration policy put ideology over enforcement

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado lawmakers are walking into the 2026 session with the budget already tight. They’re also bracing for more legal fights with Washington. New bills tied to ICE enforcement are moving early, including one that would expand the state’s ability to sue over immigration-related rights claims. That push comes as Colorado is already in federal court over immigration laws passed last session. In Senate Appropriations on April 11, Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer zeroed in on SB25-276's price tag, asking whether its costs would come out of the legislature's roughly $7.5 million set-aside for new mandates and litigation risks. The answer was a quick "Yes"—no hesitation, no alternative funding source offered. Democrats introduced Senate Bill...
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Homelessness Isn’t Just About Rent: Denver’s Spending Tells a Bigger Story
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Homelessness Isn’t Just About Rent: Denver’s Spending Tells a Bigger Story

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Denver once bought a motel to help move people off the street. Two years later, it made headlines for trying to sell that same property for ten dollars.  Denver’s homelessness debate almost always circles back to housing. Rents are high. Wages trail behind. Even when Denver adds housing, the gap doesn’t seem to close. From there, the “it’s housing” argument almost writes itself. But recent data suggest the drivers run deeper than housing alone. A January 2026 analysis from the Common Sense Institute looked at homelessness trends across the country and found that while housing affordability matters, it is not the strongest factor tied to homelessness — especially when it comes to people living on the...
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Feds Unveil Colorado River Options as States Miss Agreement Deadline
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Feds Unveil Colorado River Options as States Miss Agreement Deadline

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Two months after the seven states of the Colorado River basin failed to reach consensus on managing the waterway, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation issued a set of proposed alternatives. The alternatives are familiar concepts, including “no action” — an unlikely scenario — and certain levels of coordination, including voluntary measures, among the states. One option is driven by the historical, natural flow at one of the reservoirs. Current operating guidelines for the river that supplies water to seven states, 40 million people, 30 tribes and 5.5 million acres of agricultural land will expire at the end of 2026.  On Jan. 9, the Bureau issued a draft Environmental Impact Statement that evaluates five operational alterna...
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Polis Says Colorado Police Can Work With DEA Despite Sanctuary Law
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Polis Says Colorado Police Can Work With DEA Despite Sanctuary Law

By The Denver Gazette Gov. Jared Polis on Friday insisted that local law enforcement officers in Colorado can — and should — work with federal drug enforcement authorities to go after criminal activity. An official of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency earlier said Colorado’s “sanctuary” laws, notably its prohibition against cooperating with federal authorities on illegal immigration matters, are having a “chilling effect” on law enforcement’s ability to pursue drug cartels operating in the state. “There’s always a matter of making sure local line officers are educated in our laws and that they know that they’re able to work with our federal partners on criminal matters,” Polis told The Denver Gazette. “So, it doesn’t shock me that there are some line officers somewhere ...
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State Prison Investigates Incident Involving Tina Peters at La Vista Facility
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DENVER7, Approved, State

State Prison Investigates Incident Involving Tina Peters at La Vista Facility

By Stephanie Butzer | Denver7 Colorado Department of Corrections spokesperson Alondra Gonzalez-Garcia confirmed to Denver7 that the incident happened on Sunday and nobody was injured. Tina Peters, a former Mesa County clerk who was sentenced to nine years behind bars for her role in an election security breach in 2021, was involved in an incident with another inmate at La Vista Correctional Facility over the weekend. Colorado Department of Corrections spokesperson Alondra Gonzalez-Garcia confirmed to Denver7 that the incident happened on Sunday and nobody was injured. "The Department can confirm that inmate Tina Peters was involved in an incident with another inmate at the La Vista Correctional Facility on January 18, 2026, in which no one was injure...
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Colorado Air Regulators Seek Steep Fee Increases to Fund Rising Regulatory Demands
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Air Regulators Seek Steep Fee Increases to Fund Rising Regulatory Demands

By Scott Weiser | The Denver Gazette Colorado’s air quality agency plans to raise charges for air pollution permits and emissions reports for businesses that release even modest amounts of contaminants, potentially increasing fees by 65-70% over two years to generate $13.5-$14 million, according to state budget documents. The Air Pollution Control Division has proposed updates to two existing regulations. The changes would increase fees for annual pollution reports that detail a facility’s emissions output, permit processing and yearly emissions fees, while cutting some duplicate paperwork. The proposals aim to help fund the division’s work reviewing submissions and enforcing clean air standards, according to the agency. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE DENVER GAZET...
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SB26-005: Colorado Bill Opens State Suits for ICE-Related Rights Violations—Even Against Private Actors
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

SB26-005: Colorado Bill Opens State Suits for ICE-Related Rights Violations—Even Against Private Actors

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado lawmakers have introduced Senate Bill 26-005—legislation that would allow lawsuits in state court when an individual claims their rights under federal law have been violated as a result of civil immigration law enforcement. This bill creates a new state-level cause of action tied specifically to immigration enforcement activity. Its reach is broad. The text applies to “any person whether or not under color of law,” language pulled directly from the bill as introduced. The prime sponsors of the bill are Sen. Mike Weissman, Sen. Julie Gonzales, Rep. Javier Mabrey, and Rep. Yara Zokaie. It has been sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee—which Weissman chairs. That matters. He will be able to control how f...
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Colorado’s prisons are on the verge of total collapse. 
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s prisons are on the verge of total collapse. 

By Ahnaf Kalam | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado's prisons are on the verge of total collapse. As of late 2025, state facilities are operating at nearly 98% capacity, while being severely understaffed. Men's prisons alone are projected to run out of beds entirely in the next fiscal year unless drastic measures are taken to reduce the population or add capacity. Inmates are backing up into county jails which were never designed or funded for long-term state housing, while prison staff face mandatory overtime, burnout, and reduced security and rehabilitation programs. And yet, amid this crisis, the Colorado Department of Corrections has found it in its budget to staff a full-time, taxpayer-funded practitioner of "gender-affirming care" for prison inmates. ...
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Watch closely: The PUC sunset hearing could reshape Colorado energy policy
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Watch closely: The PUC sunset hearing could reshape Colorado energy policy

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Watch for the PUC sunset hearing. Not only will it be a chance to weaken local control, DORA wants less transparency for them.I will be watching and posting (from what my state senator B Pelton said, it should be late February or early March), but I wanted to put a bug in your ear to watch for the Public Utilities Commission's sunset hearing in front of the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee.As I wrote [last week], there are rumblings about changing the mission of the PUC to perhaps grease the skids for state-level siting of renewables.The PUC sunset hearing will be the time that they do this, but there are other things I've heard. I wrote back last year about a CFOIC article showing the Department o...
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