Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Tag: Budget Shortfall

Colorado Lawmakers Act to Preserve Medicaid Access to Planned Parenthood
No Comments
State, Approved, DENVER7

Colorado Lawmakers Act to Preserve Medicaid Access to Planned Parenthood

By: Robert Garrison | Denver7 Republicans opposed the measure, citing the state’s $1.2 billion budget shortfall. DENVER — Democrats in the Colorado House of Representatives on Sunday passed Senate Bill 25B-2, which would restore Medicaid funding, using state money, for reproductive health care providers, namely Planned Parenthood. The 43-19 party-line vote comes after Republicans in Congress passed what is dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which excluded Planned Parenthood from federal Medicaid reimbursement for reproductive health care services. Existing federal law prohibits the use of Medicaid funds for most abortion-related services. SB 25B-2 aims to preserve access to services like cancer screenings, STI testing, and birth control consultations for Medicaid recipie...
Read More
Colorado House Approves Six Tax Bills During Special Session
No Comments
kdvr.com, Approved, State

Colorado House Approves Six Tax Bills During Special Session

By Nate Belt | KDVR Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — On Saturday, the Colorado House of Representatives passed six bills to address the state’s budget shortfall. The special session was called after a $1.2 billion loss of revenue from changes in tax laws in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which Democrats say the bills passed are a fix for what they call an unnecessary gap in the budget, while Republicans feel they weren’t given enough room to debate. “We passed a revenue package that closes corporate tax loopholes, which I think is the most responsible way to address the shortfall that we are experiencing,” said Rep. Yara Zokaie. Rep. Jarvis Caldwell tells FOX31 that the bills passed on Saturday hurt the average person. “Every single bill we’ve seen here come through during the spec...
Read More
Budget Gaps Lead to Layoff Notices for Denver Employees
No Comments
Local, Approved, kdvr.com

Budget Gaps Lead to Layoff Notices for Denver Employees

By Kim Posey | KDVR Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — After weeks of uncertainty, Denver employees are now finding out if they will be laid off. Mayor Mike Johnston’s office said impacted employees would be notified Monday and Tuesday. The mayor’s office announced Monday that the city is eliminating 928 positions out of about 11,000, in an effort to deal with a $200 million budget shortfall. But only 171 of those are layoffs, as another 645 are vacant positions that won’t be filled, and 92 are positions that will be transferred to alternate funding sources. Alvin Tafoya, the former deputy director of the Financial Empowerment Division, says he was one of the workers laid off. Tafoya said his department was told to work from home today, and he was let go during a virtual meeting at 9 a.m. ...
Read More
As businesses flee downtown Denver, Johnston points to falling homicide rate
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Local, Top Stories

As businesses flee downtown Denver, Johnston points to falling homicide rate

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Mayor Mike Johnston has been pointing to a 44% drop in homicides in the first half of 2025, calling it proof his crime plan is making a difference. The figure is a sharp improvement from last year, but it’s recent and doesn’t show where things stood before the pandemic. In the city’s core, the gains are harder to find. A report from the Common Sense Institute shows murders in District 6, the downtown police district, have risen 133% since 2020. Aggravated assaults, drug crimes, public disorder, and larceny are also up. While some neighborhoods have seen improvement, downtown has not kept up the same pace. Citywide Gains, Downtown Losses Data from DenverCrimes.com shows citywide violent crime down more than 30% from last...
Read More
They built the budget bomb: Now Colorado Democrats say President Trump lit the fuse
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

They built the budget bomb: Now Colorado Democrats say President Trump lit the fuse

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board They built the budget bomb. Now they say Trump lit the fuse. Colorado Democrats want you to believe they’re victims of the Big Bad Federal Budget Bill. That the state’s $1.2 billion shortfall just... happened. Like a pothole after a snowstorm. Nothing to do with how they’ve governed. Governor Polis says, "The Trump Administration is withholding needed funds from our classrooms," and Senate President James Coleman warns, "There’s no avoiding the fact that these cuts will hurt Colorado families." Convenient. But here’s the part they don’t mention: Colorado’s fee-based revenue—the stealth tax that doesn’t require a vote—blew through the roof to $25.8 billion last year.  That’s right. More than half of the entire state budget now come...
Read More
Daniel: Colorado’s Budget Crisis Wasn’t an Accident — It Was a Choice
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Daniel: Colorado’s Budget Crisis Wasn’t an Accident — It Was a Choice

By Bobbie Daniel | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s budget isn’t just strained — it’s revealing the true priorities of our state’s leadership. While seniors and disabled veterans wait to see if Colorado will uphold a constitutionally guaranteed property tax exemption, Governor Polis was busy polling Coloradans about spending $28 million on a pedestrian bridge in downtown Denver. The result? Over 87,000 people participated in just five days — 93.9% voted “no” and only 3.8% said yes. That kind of public input is rare in state spending these days. If more of our budget decisions had that level of transparency, we might not be staring at another billion-dollar deficit. The crisis we’re in today wasn’t caused by bad luck or global economics. It was the result of del...
Read More
Progressive Spending Comes Due as Colorado Faces Billion Dollar Shortfall
No Comments
State, Approved, DENVER7

Progressive Spending Comes Due as Colorado Faces Billion Dollar Shortfall

By Brandon Richard | Denver7 News State lawmakers will likely return to the Colorado Capitol for a special session to address the budget shortfall. DENVER — For the second time this year, Colorado is facing a massive budget shortfall, and the legislature’s top Democratic leaders blame President Donald Trump’s "big, beautiful bill." State budget officials released new projections on Wednesday, showing the current budget is suddenly $1.2 billion in the red. “Right now, we don’t have the cash to pay our bills,” Colorado budget director Mark Ferrandino told lawmakers. "We are talking about a budget and a revenue shortfall equivalent or greater than what we saw during the Great Recession." Some lawmakers were left shell-shocked and worried for Coloradans struggling to make it. ...
Read More
Denver City Council braces for layoffs, deep cuts—but Mayor Johnston delays details
No Comments
Approved, Denverite, Local

Denver City Council braces for layoffs, deep cuts—but Mayor Johnston delays details

By Kyle Harris | Denverite Here’s what Denver City Council members said at their big budget meeting. The Denver City Council met atop Lookout Mountain at Golden’s Boettcher Mansion last week to plan for the 2026 budget. The elected leaders knew they would likely need to make cuts — but nobody knew just how bad the city’s fiscal situation might be. “I’ve been hearing rumors of layoffs and furloughs,” Councilmember Stacie Gilmore said as the all-day meeting began on Friday. The city’s rumor mill is spinning furiously, with some employees fearing budget cuts up to 30 percent, Gilmore said. That would be an extraordinarily high number for an overall budget cut, considering city revenues shrank by 9 percent amid the 2008 financial crisis. Asked for more detail, Gilmore reiterated...
Read More

FD863768-0ACF-495E-9D21-2EF784DFFA6B[1]

Join us at RMV's Freedom Festival

Click Here for Tickets!

This will close in 0 seconds