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Tag: 75th Colorado Legislature

Hunter: ‘Real people doing real things’—NoCo Legislative Wrap-Up rallies the grassroots
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Hunter: ‘Real people doing real things’—NoCo Legislative Wrap-Up rallies the grassroots

Drake Hunter | Commentary, RMV NE CO Newsroom, Rocky Mountain Voice Last night’s Northeast Colorado Legislative Wrap-Up at Rez Church in Loveland wasn’t just a review of bills and budgets—it was, for many of us, a clear-eyed call to civic action. Several hundred attendees gathered to hear from elected officials representing Colorado’s northeastern counties, including a few rising voices in the state’s Republican ranks. Among them were Reps. Ryan Gonzalez and Carlos Barron, two principled young leaders quickly gaining traction with voters across Colorado. The event was thoughtfully organized by NoCo Wrap-Up, marking its inaugural year. Well-coordinated and engaging, it was also refreshingly focused on substance over spectacle. It set a high bar and laid the foundation for what many...
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Polis ignored GOP lawmakers’ warnings—and now Colorado faces massive federal funding cuts
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Polis ignored GOP lawmakers’ warnings—and now Colorado faces massive federal funding cuts

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Colorado's House Republican leadership is criticizing Democratic Gov. Jared Polis for not heeding their advice against enacting legislation that could lead to the state losing federal funding. Earlier this week, Polis announced that the state created a dashboard to track funds that are either being cut or are at risk from the Trump administration, as well as the state's efforts to protect those funds through legal action. As of June 19, about $76 million in federal funding has been cut, and another $56 million are at risk. Over $282 million has been reinstated across state agencies.  The dashboard currently shows federal funding tied to nine of the state's 20 agencies. It does not yet include the largest source of f...
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Enos: CHEC’s 2025 Homeschool Freedom Report exposes the good, the bad—and the ugly
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Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Enos: CHEC’s 2025 Homeschool Freedom Report exposes the good, the bad—and the ugly

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado The CHEC 2025 Homeschool Freedom End-of-Session Report is now published and linked in this blog post. It is a sampling of twenty-eight bills from the legislative session — a total of 657 bills were introduced in the Colorado House of Representatives and the Colorado Senate, with an additional 75 House and Senate Resolutions. This was a large volume of legislation for the 120-day annual session. The report is divided into six sections: Home Education, Education, Parental Rights, Life, Families/Healthcare, and Religious Liberty. Several bills could appear under more than one section, but they were placed under the most pertinent category. Also included is a Legislative Voting Grid for twenty-four of the bills,...
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Hardin: Why the NRA-ILA legislative roundups matter more than ever
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Hardin: Why the NRA-ILA legislative roundups matter more than ever

By Amanda Hardin | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Last week, Rocky Mountain Voice partnered with the NRA-Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) to host two critical Second Amendment Legislative Roundups—first in Lakewood, then in Fort Morgan. These events weren’t just a chance to hand out bumper stickers and shake hands; they were about mobilization. Colorado’s gun owners are facing unprecedented legislative attacks, and what we saw in those rooms was the beginning of a serious response. The first event took place on June 10 at Bristlecone Shooting, Training & Retail Center in Lakewood. Over 45 citizens gathered to review the flurry of anti-gun bills that crossed the governor’s desk this year, including the newly signed Senate Bill 25-003. Attendees walked away not only wit...
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Justice on hold: Lawmakers race to fix Colorado’s rape kit backlog
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Top Stories, Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Justice on hold: Lawmakers race to fix Colorado’s rape kit backlog

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice A backlog of 1,369 untested sexual assault kits at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation delays justice and drives significant costs, per a June 2025 report from the Common Sense Institute. Authored by former Denver DA Mitch Morrissey and Senior Analyst Erik Gamm, the report estimates clearing this backlog could prevent 1,481 crimes—including 1,030 sexual assaults—and save Colorado $234.7 million.  The Yvonne “Missy” Woods scandal, involving manipulated DNA in over a thousand cases since 2014, worsened this crisis, exposing gaps in CBI’s processes.  Two bills, HB25-1275 and SB25-304, address these issues, as Rep. Matt Soper (R-Delta), co-sponsor of HB25-1275, detailed in a Rocky Mountain Voice interview. The Wo...
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Enos: Colorado’s war on parental rights isn’t over—it’s escalating
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Approved, Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Commentary, State

Enos: Colorado’s war on parental rights isn’t over—it’s escalating

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado Colorado is on a roll. Violating religious liberty and compelling free speech are two issues that Colorado Courts have already been reprimanded for. Our Courts lost two civil rights lawsuits – Masterpiece Cake Shop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission and 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis – in addition to being overturned by the United States Supreme Court in the decision that was supposed to throw Donald Trump off the 2024 Colorado Presidential Election ballot. Now, we are doing it all over again. On Friday, May 16th, Governor Polis quietly signed HB25-1312, Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals, into law. There was no ceremony or statement from the Governor, just an administrative signature. When...
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Restaurants win relief as Colorado bill leaves wage hikes to local control
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Approved, Axios, State

Restaurants win relief as Colorado bill leaves wage hikes to local control

By John Frank | Axios Denver The nasty fight at the Colorado Capitol over how much to pay tipped restaurant workers ended in a standoff this week. The big picture: Gov. Jared Polis signed the Restaurant Relief Act into Colorado law on Tuesday, with backing from the Colorado Restaurant Association and other major industry organizations. Why it matters: The result is a victory for the opposition, which mounted an aggressive campaign against the legislation, though it gives cash-pinched restaurant owners another chance to make their case at the local level. Threat level: The state's restaurant industry faces a crisis, with as many as 200 closing statewide last year — a majority of which operated in Denver — partially prompting the legislative proposal...
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Chamber report flags 200K Colorado regulations as “excessive or duplicative”
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Approved, Colorado Politics, State

Chamber report flags 200K Colorado regulations as “excessive or duplicative”

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics Colorado's regulatory framework took the center stage during this year's legislative session, where lawmakers clashed over proposed measures that — depending on who is asked — either benefit workers or create new burdens on businesses. Behind these two competing frameworks are the Colorado Chamber of Commerce and the Colorado Fiscal Institute. On the one hand, the chamber and its allies argue that regulations have increased significantly over the past decade, putting up unnecessary barriers for businesses. On the other hand, the Colorado Fiscal Institute and its supporters maintain that the rules are essential to protect workers and consumers from harmful practices. One of the most frequently cited statistics during the session...
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Gazette editorial board: Colorado’s green agenda is pricing out homeowners
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Approved, Commentary, denvergazette.com, State

Gazette editorial board: Colorado’s green agenda is pricing out homeowners

The Gazette editorial board | Denver Gazette Colorado’s governor and Legislature may claim they want more affordable housing — but they aren’t about to let it stand in the way of their headlong rush toward green energy. Their zero-emissions-at-any-cost dogma seems to trump all other policy priorities. Which helps explain why the state’s Energy Code Board is poised to impose extreme energy standards — even more stringent than those already in effect — on new home construction. The pending rules would turn the screws on wide-ranging aspects of the building code — and are projected to add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home in Colorado. That’s right — it’ll add $25,000 to $35,000, by one estimate, in what is already the most expensive state for housing that is not ...
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Tech industry outcry stalls Colorado’s AI law as Congress weighs ban on state regulations
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Approved, DENVER7, National, State

Tech industry outcry stalls Colorado’s AI law as Congress weighs ban on state regulations

By Brandon Richard | Denver7 DENVER — U.S. Congress is considering banning states from regulating artificial intelligence for the next 10 years, adding uncertainty to the future of Colorado’s AI law. In 2024, Colorado became the first state to pass a comprehensive law regulating artificial intelligence. “A.I. in general is just changing so rapidly all the time,” said State Rep. Brianna Titone, one of the prime sponsors of Senate Bill 24-205. Titone said SB24-205 aims to protect consumers from AI systems they may unknowingly come across. “You’re trying to get a job, get a loan, legal decisions, getting into college,” said Titone. “If there’s an AI system making those decisions on behalf of that entity, how is that affecting you? Do you even know that this AI system is be...
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