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Colorado Road Funding Initiative Nears November Ballot After 180,000 Signatures Submitted
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Colorado Road Funding Initiative Nears November Ballot After 180,000 Signatures Submitted

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Gazette Organizers of a proposal seeking to dedicate hundreds of millions of dollars to road construction and maintenance have submitted signatures to state election officials in their campaign to put the initiative on the ballot this November. If officials certified the signatures as sufficiently meeting the threshold — organizers need 124,000 to be valid — the battle shifts to persuading voters to embrace or reject the ballot question. The measure, Initiative No. 175, would require that all transportation-related revenue be used exclusively for building and repairing roads and bridges, improving safety, conducting transportation planning and engineering, and supporting Colorado State Patrol operations. The battle over road funding ha...
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Colorado Springs Braces For Space Force Growth And Infrastructure Demands
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Colorado Springs Braces For Space Force Growth And Infrastructure Demands

By Mary Shinn | The Gazette As the Space Force prepares to double in size over the next five years, Peterson Space Force Base will need additional space and people to support the growth. The intense period of expansion is expected even as Space Command headquarters relocates to Huntsville, Ala., because it is a small piece of all the space operations in town. Peterson Space Force Base and Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station employ about 8,200 active-duty troops, civilians and contractors and have a combined payroll of $837 million, according to a Tuesday presentation by Col. Kenneth Klock, commander of the Space Base Delta 1. The combined economic impact of the two bases is about $2.6 billion, per the report. The entire Space Force employs about 10,000 people in specialized r...
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Colorado Ballot Measure Asks Voters To Forfeit Up To $7000 Per Taxpayer In TABOR Refunds
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Colorado Ballot Measure Asks Voters To Forfeit Up To $7000 Per Taxpayer In TABOR Refunds

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Gazette A Democratic‑backed proposal to direct money to K‑12 schools using Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights dollars is headed to the ballot, setting up a major debate over taxpayer refunds and long‑term education funding. If voters approve it, the average Coloradan would forfeit more than $7,000 in TABOR refunds over the next decade. Senate Bill 135 includes a provision to increase the TABOR cap by the amount the state spends on K-12 education, which currently sits at about $4.5 billion per year. Under the proposal, any funding beyond that would be allocated to services for students with disabilities and increased contractor hours. “We have worked hard to better the quality of education in Colorado and have made great strides in m...
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Trump DOJ Challenges Denver Over Longstanding Assault Weapons Ban
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Trump DOJ Challenges Denver Over Longstanding Assault Weapons Ban

By Deborah Grigsby | The Gazette Denver officials have rejected a U.S. Department of Justice demand that they repeal the city’s longstanding ban on assault weapons. “Our answer is hell no,” Mayor Mike Johnston told members of the press along with public safety leaders gathered at City Hall on Monday. “No, we will not roll back a common-sense policy that has kept weapons of war off of these city streets for 37 years. No, we will not put first responders at greater risk every time they respond to a dangerous incident. No, we will not go back to a time when folks are worried about walking into movie theaters, grocery stores, or public elementary schools.” “Our answer is hell no,” Johnston told members of the press. The demand, which arrived in the form of a ...
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Colorado Lawmakers Advance Broad Security Plan Following Nationwide Political Attacks
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Colorado Lawmakers Advance Broad Security Plan Following Nationwide Political Attacks

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Gazette Colorado legislators unveiled a 60‑page bill that would dramatically expand protections for elected officials, staff, and judicial employees, responding to a string of high‑profile attacks nationwide and growing safety concerns inside the state’s courthouses and Capitol. Introduced earlier this week, House Bill 1422 contains nearly 30 sections. Among those provisions is the establishment of an Administrator of Legislative Safety, a law enforcement officer who would serve as a point of contact for members and employees of the General Assembly to discuss matters of personal safety and work alongside the Colorado State Patrol. Because the bill was introduced without a fiscal note, its potential cost to the state remains unknown...
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$46.8 Billion Colorado Budget Reflects Rising Medicaid Costs and Hard Choices
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$46.8 Billion Colorado Budget Reflects Rising Medicaid Costs and Hard Choices

By Marianne Goodland | The Gazette The six-member panel of legislators in charge of crafting the state budget has now turned over its plan to the Colorado legislature, proposing to spend $1.5 billion more for the Medicaid program. The increase is driven by Medicaid costs, which forced the Joint Budget Committee to make cuts elsewhere. All told, House Bill 26-1410 proposes a state budget of $46.8 billion, with $17.3 billion coming from general funds, the revenue largely from corporate and individual income taxes, as well as from sales and use taxes. Notably, that general fund amount is 1.4% higher than the $17.1 billion in the 2025-26 budget. The 2025-26 budget, as approved by lawmakers a year ago, stood at $43.9 billion. It has changed significantly since...
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Colorado Faces Elevated Wildfire Risk As Conditions Outpace Historic Fire Seasons
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Colorado Faces Elevated Wildfire Risk As Conditions Outpace Historic Fire Seasons

By Nick Smith | The Gazette Colorado’s blistering, dry and breezy conditions have fire officials on edge as the state braces for a wildfire season forecast to be worse than during the Waldo Canyon fire in 2012. Officials warn that wildfires are becoming more frequent, more destructive and larger. “We are not looking good for fire this year,” Colorado Springs Fire Marshal Kris Cooper told the city council on Monday. “It’s got the fire department on pins and needles.” According to Tracy LeClair, a spokesperson for The Wildland Fire Management Section of the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, conditions are a “magnitude worse” than those ahead of major historic wildfires in the state, such as the Waldo Canyon and Black Forest fire...
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Federal Investigation Targets Colorado’s Prison Policies and Youth Facility Failures
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Federal Investigation Targets Colorado’s Prison Policies and Youth Facility Failures

By: Cleo Westin | The Gazette The U.S. Department of Justice opened an investigation into possible constitutional violations of Colorado prisoners through inadequate treatment and transgender housing policy, according to a release by the agency. The department’s letter of notice to Gov. Jared Polis on Monday identified housing “biological males” in female units in violation of religious freedom, inadequate medical care, excessive force and inadequate nutrition in youth facilities as matters it will investigate. The Department of Justice’s action to investigate aspects of an entire state’s prison system appears to be the first of its kind in 2025. It comes following a 2024 settlement on the treatment of transgender prisoners and several reports of inadequate care at prisons and you...
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State Leaders Should Pause Colorado Wolf Effort After Series of Blunders
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State Leaders Should Pause Colorado Wolf Effort After Series of Blunders

By The Gazette Editorial Board | Commentary, The Gazette Five years after Coloradans voted by a razor-thin margin to reintroduce wolves to Colorado, they are right to look at the job state officials and agencies have done and ponder whether this a dog that just doesn’t hunt. Amid criticism from pro-wolf advocates and anti-reintroduction ranchers alike, is it past time for a moratorium? The latest bungled bit in the state’s fumbling reintroduction saga is the “stepping down” — demotion, reassignment, whatever public-relations-friendly term you prefer — of former Colorado Parks & Wildlife Director Jeff Davis. Before the end of last month, and amid the holiday news haze preceding Thanksgiving, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources announced Davis “stepped down” and wa...
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Colorado Springs Districts Send Clear Message: Schools Exist to Educate, Not Indoctrinate
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Colorado Springs Districts Send Clear Message: Schools Exist to Educate, Not Indoctrinate

By The Gazette Editorial Board | The Gazette A blue wave that saw conservatives nationwide lose governors’ races, ballot initiatives and even school board elections appeared to have affected Colorado, as well. It was a setback in our state for candidates running on student academic growth against the union machine. But there was a bright spot — El Paso County — where reform-minded candidates swept Academy District 20’s three seats, won two of three contested seats in the ultra-competitive Colorado Springs School District 11, and won at least one of two seats up for grabs in School District 49. The second race in D49 remains too close to call.  All three El Paso County districts preserved their pro-education reform majorities. These victories, hard-fought and locally grounded,...
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