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Colorado Ballot Plan to Toughen Fentanyl Penalties Moves Forward
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Ballot Plan to Toughen Fentanyl Penalties Moves Forward

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Denver Gazette A proposed measure that would increase penalties for fentanyl manufacturing, distribution, and possession has collected enough signatures to qualify for the 2026 ballot, following several failed attempts by the state legislature to pass similar legislation. Backed by Advance Colorado, the ballot initiative would make the sale of any amount of fentanyl a Class 1 felony, punishable by up to 32 years in prison. It would also mandate court-ordered substance use treatment for individuals convicted of possession of up to one gram of fentanyl. On Thursday, family members who lost loved ones to fentanyl overdoses joined legislators and law enforcement officers at Denver’s Ralph Carr Courthouse to announce that the initiative had gathered...
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Voters Misled on Colorado Ballot Measures LL and MM as Costs Outpace Promises
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Approved, Complete Colorado, State

Voters Misled on Colorado Ballot Measures LL and MM as Costs Outpace Promises

By: Nash Herman | Complete Colorado Were Colorado voters duped into passing Propositions LL and MM based on false information? It certainly looks that way based on a recent Joint Budget Committee (JBC) hearing on the Department of Education’s budget request for the coming fiscal year where some enlightening information was revealed about the Healthy School Meals for All (HSMA) program (the relevant discussion began at the 9:38 am mark).  Background on ‘free’ school lunch As I previously explained, HSMA, also known as the “free” school lunch program, was created via Proposition FF in 2022 and was quickly recognized as financially unsustainable in just its first year of operation.  The legislature responded by asking voters to save the program by de-TABORi...
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Colorado chose Medicaid expansion and now the bill is past due
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado chose Medicaid expansion and now the bill is past due

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Our state is Medicaid (and government) poor Do you have a friend or relative that’s house poor? Truck poor? They live in (or own) something that’s beyond their means, and this financial decision makes their lives more difficult than it has to be? I read the Sun article linked first below recently and it struck me that our state is Medicaid poor. As a result of our state’s poor financial decisions, we have some fancy stuff, but we’re financially struggling right now. The thrust of the Sun’s piece is that our state’s budget gaps (the unhappy kind where we are short of money) are recurring and likely to continue to recur. Why? Medicaid’s a big reason, but there’s more to that picture. A couple of non-contiguous q...
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SBA brings disaster loan support to counties hit hardest by Elk and Lee fires
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

SBA brings disaster loan support to counties hit hardest by Elk and Lee fires

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Small businesses on the Western Slope are still digging out from the economic fallout of the Lee and Elk Fires—and the mudslides and debris flows that followed in August. The Lee Fire grew at a pace that stunned fire officials, blowing past 100,000 acres in about a week and briefly becoming the fourth-largest wildfire in Colorado history before later mapping placed it as the fifth-largest. Federal disaster loans are now available to help cover those losses, and the declaration extends across Garfield, Moffat, Rio Blanco and Routt counties, plus Utah’s Uintah County. Rio Blanco County—where the SBA will place its Business Recovery Center—has some of the highest exposure in the region. Local officials estimate more than 80 percent of the county...
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Colorado’s “Reform Paradox”: Falling Recidivism, Rising Violence, and the Real-World Cost of Dangerous Releases
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s “Reform Paradox”: Falling Recidivism, Rising Violence, and the Real-World Cost of Dangerous Releases

By Shaina Cole | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The Common Sense Institute’s October report shows Colorado’s three-year recidivism rate falling from about 52 percent in 2019 to near 31 percent in 2022. On paper that looks like improvement. In practice, the number tells only a small piece of the story.  CSI makes it clear that the number drops mostly because fewer people are going to prison at all. The state’s incarcerated population has shrunk, felony filings are down, and more defendants are getting funneled into diversion programs or handed PR bonds under Colorado’s evolving bail practices. When the state isn’t locking people up, fewer people return to prison later. That’s not a public-safety miracle. It’s just the math. Ask people who actually live here whether things...
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Colorado parents mobilize: New ballot efforts seek to strengthen safeguards for children
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Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado parents mobilize: New ballot efforts seek to strengthen safeguards for children

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado (CHEC) The Government Shutdown in our nation is now over as of last Wednesday, November 12. Our military, TSA workers, air traffic controllers, and federal workers are beginning to receive their paychecks that were due last month. In Colorado, 33,707 federal workers have been on furlough since the shutdown began. That is an incredible amount of people affected in our state, likely due to the large size of our military population here. Additionally, Colorado’s election results have furthered the class warfare in our state by raising taxes on higher earners to pay for universal school breakfasts and lunches, which are given to every child, regardless of need. Proposition MM also funnels some extra ca...
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Western Slope Wins State Support In Long Fight To Preserve Shoshone Water Control
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Western Slope Wins State Support In Long Fight To Preserve Shoshone Water Control

By: Shannon Mullane | The Colorado Sun The Colorado Water Conservation Board approved a proposal to use two powerful Colorado River water rights to help the environment. GOLDEN — In a momentous decision for the Western Slope, state water officials unanimously approved a controversial proposal to use two coveted Colorado River water rights to help the river itself.  Members of the Colorado Water Conservation Board voted to accept water rights tied to Shoshone Power Plant into its Instream Flow Program, which aims to keep water in streams to help the environment. The decision Wednesday is a historic step forward in western Colorado’s yearslong effort to secure the $99 million rights permanently. But some Front Range water providers pushed back during the hearings, worried ...
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Colorado Drug Bust Exposes Cartel Ties After 1,000 Pounds of Meth Seized
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Just The News, Approved, State

Colorado Drug Bust Exposes Cartel Ties After 1,000 Pounds of Meth Seized

By Natalia Mittelstadt | Just the News Of those indicted, 11 have been arrested, while four others remain at large. Fifteen people have been indicted in Colorado after roughly 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine was seized following a two-year investigation into a drug trafficking organization from Mexico operating in the state, according to federal officials. Of those indicted, 11 have been arrested, but four others, including the organization’s alleged leader, are still free and believed to be in Mexico, according to the Colorado U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Associated Press reported. Drug Enforcement Administration special agent in charge Dave Olesky said in a Wednesday news conference that the investigation revealed ties “to elements in Mexico involving the Sinaloa and Ja...
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Griswold Leads Democratic Secretaries of State Pressing DOJ and DHS Over Federal Use of Voter Data 
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Griswold Leads Democratic Secretaries of State Pressing DOJ and DHS Over Federal Use of Voter Data 

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold is leading a group of Democratic election officials challenging the Trump administration over how federal agencies are using requested voter roll data. Their concerns are detailed in a four-page letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The U.S. Department of Justice issued requests earlier this year for state-wide voter registration lists from multiple states, including Colorado.  In several cases, DOJ asked for “the full, unredacted statewide voter registration list, including registrants’ dates of birth, state driver’s license numbers, and last four digits of Social Security numbers.” Colorado’s request is documented in a May 12 lette...
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Advocates Urge State Leaders To Protect Vulnerable Residents From Budget Reductions
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Advocates Urge State Leaders To Protect Vulnerable Residents From Budget Reductions

By: Colette Bordelon | Denver7 For the second year in a row, Colorado is staring down a daunting budget deficit — and the governor believes cuts to Medicaid are one solution to balancing the budget. DENVER — With a budget deficit looming over the State of Colorado next year, one program in particular is under the microscope: Medicaid. A special session tackled some of the anticipated $1.2 billion budget shortfall, which was created in part by tax changes made in President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Act (H.R.1). As a result, Colorado will collect less revenue than expected when lawmakers approved the state budget in May. Some of that $1.2 billion revenue loss was absorbed by the state education fund and the affordable housing fund. Around $300 million that...
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