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The Capitol flagpole is not a friendship bracelet
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

The Capitol flagpole is not a friendship bracelet

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s State Capitol is not a festival stage. It is a civic altar of sorts, the place where law is made, rights are protected, and citizens who disagree about nearly everything are still supposed to recognize one another as equals under the same authority. That is why a flagpole on Capitol grounds is never “just symbolic.” It is government speech, rendered in cloth and wind. Governor Jared Polis’ decision to hoist Canada’s flag over the Colorado State Capitol for the second-annual “Colorado-Canada Friendship Day” was therefore not appropriate, even if Canada is a friendly neighbor and a major trading partner. The problem is not Canada. The problem is the office. In March of last year, the Governor’s office framed t...
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PUC sunset bill would allow backroom commissioner talks and expand state override of local land use decisions
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

PUC sunset bill would allow backroom commissioner talks and expand state override of local land use decisions

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project HB26-1326 PUC Sunset Bill There is finally firm policy to share about the Sunset Bill for the Public Utilities Commission. HB26-1326’s bill page is linked first below. I had heard some rumors so it’s good to have some specifics to examine. I wanted to get this out there faster than I had time to digest, so don’t expect more than a quick rundown of the things that I find concerning. I will be watching the bill and hoping to speak against what I’m about to share with you. If you have concerns of your own that you want to share, please speak up. In broad strokes, this bill continues the PUC for a while forward, but (as is their wont) the sponsors couldn’t help tossing in some extra goodies. Some fees go up,...
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Colorado House committee kills bill requiring abortion providers to offer adoption information
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado House committee kills bill requiring abortion providers to offer adoption information

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice A bill that would have required health care providers to inform women about adoption before performing abortions will not move forward this year after a sharply divided hearing at the Colorado Capitol. Lawmakers on the Colorado House of Representatives Health and Human Services Committee voted March 10 to postpone indefinitely Colorado House Bill 26-1105 following testimony from witnesses who framed the proposal in dramatically different ways — from a measure supporters said would expand options to one critics argued would insert the state into private medical decisions. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Ava Flanell, Rep. Scott Slaugh and Sen. Lynda Zamora Wilson, would have required health care providers to offer information ab...
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HB 26-1246: Protecting Coloradans from rising power costs and a broken system
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

HB 26-1246: Protecting Coloradans from rising power costs and a broken system

By Rep. Ken DeGraaf | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Editor's update: House Bill 26-1246 is scheduled to be heard in the House Energy & Environment Committee today, Thursday, March 12, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. in the Old State Library. Coloradans may listen live at leg.colorado.gov/agenda/committee/202622308545820. Colorado is facing a turning point in energy policy. For years, families and businesses across our state have watched their electricity bills rise while our landscapes are increasingly carved up by massive transmission projects stretching from horizon to horizon. Forests, prairies, farms, and communities are being cut apart in the name of electrification and “grid modernization.” Meanwhile, the people paying the price are the very citizens the system is su...
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State Audit Finds Billion Dollar Accounting Errors In Colorado Unemployment Program
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

State Audit Finds Billion Dollar Accounting Errors In Colorado Unemployment Program

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Colorado’s state auditors found serious issues with the accounting practices of the unemployment insurance division of the Department of Labor and Employment, concluding the agency underestimated and overestimated figures to the tune of billions of dollars. The auditors labeled the problems with its most serious concern — a “material weakness,” an indication of a significant flaw in financial reporting. That could create the possibility of a “material misstatement in the financial statements — one that auditors, regulators, and management can’t overlook.” The auditors found errors that required accounting adjustments, such as an overestimate in payments owed to claimants to the tune of $1.5 billion, when it should have been only...
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Caldara Makes Case for Independent Oversight of Colorado Election Audits
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Caldara Makes Case for Independent Oversight of Colorado Election Audits

By: Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado This part will disappoint angry people on Twitter: Relax. Put the pitchforks down. I am not relitigating the 2020 election, or mail ballots, or even Tina Peters. But I am saying people don’t trust elections like they used to. And here in Colorado we can do a rather simple thing to reverse that. And progressives should want it most. Saving democracy is all the rage now, and as far as political slogans go, it’s a pretty damn good one. But saving democracy isn’t just about protecting Colorado from President Donald Trump, whatever that vagary means. It’s about fortifying our democratic institutions so the voters’ true will is clearly and verifiably stated. This is where I’d usually rant about how the legislature...
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All 66 Colorado Democrat Lawmakers Press Polis To Reject Clemency For Tina Peters
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

All 66 Colorado Democrat Lawmakers Press Polis To Reject Clemency For Tina Peters

By: Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun The letter warned that clemency would be a gift to conspiracy theorists and risks undermining the safety of future elections. All 66 Democrats in the Colorado legislature signed onto a letter Wednesday urging Gov. Jared Polis not to reduce the prison sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, a missive that escalates the party’s near-universal disapproval of Polis’ posture toward the case.  “This is about the security and assuredness of our elections,” the letter said. “This is about the future of our democracy, and of free and fair elections in our nation. We ask you to stand with us in safeguarding the future.” The letter says that clemency is “for those who have taken accountability for their crimes, understand ...
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Before he was a congressional candidate, Manny Rutinel was calling animal agriculture “horrific”
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Before he was a congressional candidate, Manny Rutinel was calling animal agriculture “horrific”

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Manny Rutinel spent the better part of six years calling animal agriculture a "horrific, exploitive industry." Rutinel entered the legislature through an appointment in 2023 when Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet resigned from the District 32 seat. Less than two years later, he was filing paperwork for Congress. He's the money leader in a Democratic primary that national strategists are watching closely. Federal Election Commission filings put him at $2.5 million raised—almost as much as Republican incumbent Rep. Gabe Evans. Cook Political Report has it as a toss-up. The seat flipped once already—it could flip again, and the House majority may well come down to it. Evans runs cattle on the side. Has for years. Back at the...
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Colorado Democrats defeat bills on girls’ sports fairness and malpractice timelines for gender treatments
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado Democrats defeat bills on girls’ sports fairness and malpractice timelines for gender treatments

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado lawmakers earlier this week heard testimony that moved between two questions tied to the state’s ongoing debate over transgender policies. One centered on medical treatments performed years earlier and whether patients should have more time to file malpractice claims. The other focused on school athletics and whether girls’ sports programs should be limited to biological females. Physicians spoke about long-term medical outcomes. Detransitioners described treatments they received as minors and the consequences they say followed years later. Athletes and parents weighed in on fairness in girls’ sports. Both questions came before the House State, Civic, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. ...
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Wolf Advocates Push Stricter Rules Before Wolves Can Be Killed For Livestock Attacks
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Wolf Advocates Push Stricter Rules Before Wolves Can Be Killed For Livestock Attacks

By: Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Wolf advocates want to make it harder to legally kill reintroduced wolves and ensure ranchers first exhaust a detailed list of nonlethal hazing methods. It’s the latest in a debate between animal protection groups and hunters that is coming to a head this spring in various venues.  The Center for Biological Diversity says Colorado Parks and Wildlife regulations don’t do enough to protect animals. Hunting groups want the status quo. The fight has already played out at the Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting last week when the center introduced a petition to ban the sale of commercial fur in Colorado. They’re also backing a bill to ban the killing of beavers on Colorado public lands.   The center said no...
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