Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

The Colorado Sun

Colorado’s $40.6 Billion budget is nearing final passage. Here’s what’s in it.
No Comments
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado’s $40.6 Billion budget is nearing final passage. Here’s what’s in it.

Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun After weeks of debate and over two dozen amendments, Colorado budget writers Wednesday put the finishing touches on a $40.6 billion budget that increases spending on state workers, health care services, K-12 and higher education. But the spending plan leaves a number of unanswered questions for the final month of the legislative session — including how the Democratic majority will pay for property tax cuts, a major priority for Gov. Jared Polis and top lawmakers. The budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which starts July 1, still has a few procedural hurdles to go, but no further changes are expected. The Joint Budget Committee on Wednesday rebalanced the budget after the House and Senate passed different versions over the last two weeks. READ THE ...
Read More
Colorado lawmakers approve bill to require landlords to complete serious repairs faster
No Comments
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado lawmakers approve bill to require landlords to complete serious repairs faster

Tatiana Flowers | The Colorado Sun The state legislature Tuesday gave final approval to a measure that aims to improve living conditions for renters across Colorado by closing “loopholes” that make it difficult to request repairs from landlords. Colorado has for years had a so-called warranty of habitability law on the books, which sets basic housing standards for landlords. But lawmakers and fair housing advocates have said the 2008 statute needs improvement because exceptions in the law make it difficult for residents to request action for serious issues such as mold, sewage leaks and rodent infestations. State lawmakers this week passed Senate Bill 94, which would require landlords complete repairs for most issues within 14 days, including things such as fixing loose ...
Read More
A new plan for the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park: Sell it to the State of Colorado
No Comments
Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

A new plan for the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park: Sell it to the State of Colorado

By Jason Blevins | The Colorado Sun The deal to sell the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park to an Arizona nonprofit has faded, so the state of Colorado is stepping in with a plan to buy the hotel.  The Colorado Educational and Cultural Facilities Authority, which helps nonprofit educational and arts groups fund capital projects, plans to take over ownership of the historic Stanley Hotel.  The authority will take the role as owner after the plan to sell the hotel to Arizona’s Community Finance Corp. fell through. Instead of selling to the Arizona group and taking ownership after as much as $450 million in bonds for renovating and upgrading the hotel are paid back, the Colorado Educational and Cultural Facilities Authority, or CECFA, will create a subsidiary and be...
Read More
Faith Winter, a top Senate Democrat, seeking treatment after appearing intoxicated at Wednesday meeting
No Comments
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Faith Winter, a top Senate Democrat, seeking treatment after appearing intoxicated at Wednesday meeting

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Assistant Senate Majority Leader Faith Winter, the No. 3 Democrat in the Colorado Senate, is seeking medical treatment for substance abuse, she told The Colorado Sun on Thursday. Winter is specifically seeking assistance with alcoholism.  The Broomfield lawmaker’s decision comes after she appeared to be intoxicated Wednesday evening as she attended a community hearing in Northglenn about a state plan to open a controversial mental health transitional living facility that could house people convicted of sex offenses. Winter’s speech was slurred and halting and she seemed to struggle to gather her thoughts. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
Read More
Colorado Democrats say property tax relief is coming. There’s no money in the state budget to pay for it.
No Comments
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Democrats say property tax relief is coming. There’s no money in the state budget to pay for it.

By Brian Eason | Colorado Sun With just a month left in the state’s legislative session, top Colorado lawmakers still haven’t come out with a plan to deliver promised property tax relief — but they insist one is coming. “This is still a very high priority,” Sen. Chris Hansen, a Denver Democrat who is leading the legislature’s tax discussions, said Tuesday. “I expect to pass a large property tax bill this session.” There’s just one problem. Unlike this time last year, there’s no money set aside in the budget to pay for it. That has left lawmakers with limited options — and difficult trade-offs — as they look to overhaul Colorado’s property tax code in the face of public outcry over rising tax bills. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN...
Read More
Democrats select Trisha Calvarese to be their nominee for the special election to replace Ken Buck
No Comments
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Democrats select Trisha Calvarese to be their nominee for the special election to replace Ken Buck

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Trisha Calvarese, a former congressional and campaign staffer, was selected Monday by a Democratic vacancy committee to be the party’s nominee for the June 25 special election that will determine who serves out the term of Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Buck in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District.  “I will fight to defend Social Security, to get the government out of reproductive choices and freedoms, I will work to create paths to well paid union jobs and apprenticeships right out of high school,” Calverese told committee members. “We can flip this seat.” Calvarese faces steep odds in the special election. The 4th District, which includes Douglas County and Loveland and spans the Eastern Plains, is highly favorable to Republicans. Buck,...
Read More
House Bill 1363: Does it make charter schools more transparent, or is it a ‘blatant attack’?
No Comments
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

House Bill 1363: Does it make charter schools more transparent, or is it a ‘blatant attack’?

By Erica Breunlin | Colorado Sun A bill from a group of liberal Colorado Democrats aimed at increasing transparency and accountability at  charter schools has sparked major opposition, including from Gov. Jared Polis, bipartisan education groups and parents and students. The lawmakers who introduced House Bill 1363 this month say they value charter schools and simply aim to hold them to the same level of scrutiny that public schools face. “School choice is rooted in informed decision-making,” said Rep. Lorena Garcia, a bill sponsor and a Democrat from unincorporated Adams County. “If charter schools are not willing to be open and transparent and support informed decision-making within the parent population, then it begs the question of, what are they actually trying to h...
Read More
Colorado lawmakers reject proposed ban on new oil and gas drilling after 2030
No Comments
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado lawmakers reject proposed ban on new oil and gas drilling after 2030

By Mark Jaffe | Colorado Sun A bill to ban new oil and gas drilling in Colorado after 2030 — which sparked a spate of industry TV ads with dire warnings — was rejected Thursday by a bipartisan majority of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee after a marathon hearing. The legislation, Senate Bill 159 — sponsored by two Democratic senators, Kevin Priola, of Henderson, and Sonya Jaquez Lewis, of Boulder County —  would have required state oil and gas regulators to stop issuing new drilling permits starting in 2030, with those permits to be used by 2032. Faced with projections of potentially severe impacts of climate change and the Front Range’s continuing struggles to curb ozone pollution, the bill was a necessary step to transition to cleaner energy,...
Read More
List of orphan oil and gas wells swells to more than 1,000 in Colorado as small operators abandon the state
No Comments
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

List of orphan oil and gas wells swells to more than 1,000 in Colorado as small operators abandon the state

By Mark Jaffe | The Colorado Sun The number of orphan wells in Colorado has topped 1,000 — a four-fold increase in four years — as the state takes over 358 wells from two defunct oil and gas companies this spring. The Energy and Carbon Management Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry and operates the state’s orphan well program, is adding the 339 wells of Dallas-based Omimex Petroleum and 19 wells from Centennial-based Chemco Exploration. The ECMC is also seizing $205,000 in bonds from Omimex — about $604 per well — and $60,000 in bonds from Chemco, equal to $3,158 for each well. The commission estimates that on average it takes $10,000 to $40,000 to plug and abandon a well and $100,000 for site remediation. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN...
Read More
Colorado lawmakers reject request to hire state lawyers to prosecute gun crimes in federal court
No Comments
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado lawmakers reject request to hire state lawyers to prosecute gun crimes in federal court

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun The Colorado lawmakers who write the state’s budget rejected a request from the governor and attorney general to hire a group of lawyers to be loaned out to the federal government to prosecute gun crimes in federal court. The Joint Budget Committee voted twice earlier this month to reject the proposal, which would have set aside hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire as many as four attorneys, as it finalized the budget for debate before the full legislature in the coming weeks.  The latest vote to sideline the request was 3-3, with Democratic Rep. Emily Sirota of Denver joining the two Republicans on the JBC last week to block the spending. (Tie votes on the JBC result in proposals being rejected.) READ THE FULL STORY AT T...
Read More