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Last-minute voter? Your refund might be on the menu
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Last-minute voter? Your refund might be on the menu

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board Still sitting on your ballot? You’re not alone—Colorado’s full of last-minute voters trying to make sense of Propositions LL and MM before the drop box closes. Both deal with “Healthy School Meals for All,” a free lunch program with a not-so-free price tag. And depending how you vote, your refund might just end up on the menu. How we got here Back in 2022, voters approved Proposition FF, the “Healthy School Meals for All” program that promised every K–12 student a free lunch. It sounded simple until someone had to pay for it. The money came from a new tax on Coloradans earning $300,000 or more—along with wage hikes for cafeteria workers and a nudge to use more local ingredients. Fast-forward to 2025, and the legislature realized there’s e...
Colorado’s Competitive Edge Fades Under High Taxes and Regulation
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado’s Competitive Edge Fades Under High Taxes and Regulation

By: Nash Herman | Complete Colorado The non-partisan Tax Foundation just published its 2026 edition of the State Tax Competitiveness Index. Colorado — already in the bottom half of states for tax competitiveness — continues to slide in the rankings, and the current political trajectory will only exacerbate the situation. Colorado losing its edge  In last year’s index, Colorado placed 32nd in overall tax competitiveness, worse than all of the state’s immediate neighbors.  According to its subcategories, Colorado ranked 10th in corporate taxes, 18th in individual income taxes, 37th in sales taxes, 36th in property taxes, and 39th in unemployment insurance taxes.  This year, Colorado’s rank dropped to 33rd ...
Why Colorado’s Elections No Longer Belong to Its Voters
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

Why Colorado’s Elections No Longer Belong to Its Voters

By: Vince Bzdek | Commentary, The Denver Gazette Why is Michael Bloomberg, the former presidential candidate, three-term New York mayor and founder of the financial info firm that bears his name, spending millions on Colorado elections? The short answer: because he can. The liberal New Yorker has donated $2.7 million to support Denver’s flavored tobacco ban, Referendum 301, to be decided on Tuesday. Two of his donations to that campaign were the largest individual contributions in Denver history, according to an Axios analysis. Bloomberg is also the largest donor in the 2026 governor’s race, giving $500,000 to a super-PAC supporting U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet’s campaign. “This is a very large donation for a statewide race,” Seth Masket, professor of political sc...
Polis Sounds Alarm on Medicaid Spending: “We Can’t Fund Everything”
CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Polis Sounds Alarm on Medicaid Spending: “We Can’t Fund Everything”

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado Gov. Jared Polis released his budget request for next year, and Medicaid will take a big hit. The governor says the health insurance program for low-income Coloradans is growing at nearly twice the rate of the state government overall. Polis says, if the state doesn't slow the rate of growth, the program will crowd out everything but funding for schools in the next few years. In the state, 1.2 million Coloradans rely on Medicaid. The governor says none of them will lose coverage, but what that coverage looks like will change.  "There's two levers on Medicaid," Polis said during a press conference. "One is how many people you cover, and two is what you cover." Polis' budget request hones in on what services Medicaid covers. "There have bee...
The Colorado Pastor Rwanda Calls a Terrorist: Christine Coleman’s Fight for Truth and Faith
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

The Colorado Pastor Rwanda Calls a Terrorist: Christine Coleman’s Fight for Truth and Faith

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice When Pastor Christine Coleman opened a message from a friend in Belgium earlier this month, she didn’t expect to find her own name on Rwanda’s new Domestic Terrorist List. “She texted me and said, ‘Christine, they released a list of terrorists, and you are one of them,’” Coleman recalled. “At first, I was shocked. But then I had a deep joy—because when wicked people hate you, it means you’re doing good.” The document, issued on October 14, 2025, by Rwanda’s National Counter-Terrorism Committee, named twenty-five individuals accused of supporting or financing terrorism. It accused her of “supporting the FLN and inciting terror acts against Rwanda.” Coleman flatly denies the charge. “They cannot find one proof,” she said.&nb...
Judge Weighs Whether Colorado Can Restrict ICE From Warrantless Arrests
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Judge Weighs Whether Colorado Can Restrict ICE From Warrantless Arrests

By: Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics A federal judge heard testimony on Thursday from multiple noncitizens who were arrested by immigration officers in Colorado this year, and arguments from their attorneys that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is violating the legal standard for conducting warrantless arrests. The ACLU of Colorado and other law firms have asked U.S. District Court Senior Judge R. Brooke Jackson to issue a preliminary injunction holding ICE to the requirement in federal law that warrantless arrests only occur when officers have probable cause to believe someone is in the country illegally and they are a flight risk. “Masked, militarized ICE agents with flak jackets and long rifles are terrorizing neighborhoods across Colorado, ignoring their du...
Colorado Businesses Warn State Policies Threaten Economic Future
DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Businesses Warn State Policies Threaten Economic Future

By Dan Grossman | Denver7 The sentiment comes from the latest Colorado Businesses Roundtable fall outlook survey and points to Colorado's affordability issues and regulatory environment. DENVER — Colorado businesses said they’re almost twice as worried about our state’s economic future as they are about the nation’s. This is from the Colorado Business Roundtable survey that just came out. The survey asked 50 business executives about what’s concerning them. The responses point toward Colorado’s affordability issues and policies supporting workers. “What we've been seeing over time is really the layering on effect of regulation, rules for businesses that really add a cost of doing business to Colorado,” Colorado Business Roundtable President Debbie Brown said. “When the eco...
Colorado Leaders Urge Action as SNAP Deadline Nears and Health Enrollment Begins
kdvr.com, Approved, State

Colorado Leaders Urge Action as SNAP Deadline Nears and Health Enrollment Begins

By: Gabrielle Franklin | KDVR FOX31 DENVER (KDVR) — Open enrollment season kicks off in just a couple of days. SNAP benefits are set to run out at the same time on Nov. 1. Some leaders on Capitol Hill say Americans should prepare to be sticker-shocked by an increase in premiums. This is all coming with no deal on healthcare subsidies as Congress remains shut down. Open enrollment begins with no deal on healthcare We heard from both Democrats and Republicans representing Coloradans on Capitol Hill.They have different thoughts about how we got to this point and what could happen next. “This is going to impact everybody, even if you are on an employer-sponsored healthcare. That’s why we need to fix this,” said Congressman Jason Crow, a Democrat representing the state’s 6th ...
Colorado Parental Rights Group Pushes to Repeal Controversial Competency Law
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Parental Rights Group Pushes to Repeal Controversial Competency Law

By Marissa Ventrulli | Colorado Politics A group of parental rights advocates and Republican lawmakers is urging the Colorado legislature to repeal a 2024 law that made changes to the state’s competency procedures. Established over the summer, the group called “We The Parents” includes members of the Colorado Parental Advocacy Network and legislators from the more conservative wing of the Republican Party: Reps. Brandi Bradley of Littleton, Stephanie Luck of Penrose, and Ken DeGraaf of Colorado Springs. On its website, the organization describes itself as a group of parents and community leaders “who are done watching politicians ignore the voices of families.” “We’ve watched lawmakers strip away parental rights behind closed doors,” the group’s website says. “That ends now. We...

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