Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Business Regulation

Lawmakers Attempt End Run Around TABOR With New Tax Bills
Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Lawmakers Attempt End Run Around TABOR With New Tax Bills

By: Mike Rosen | Complete Colorado The governor and progressive Democrats that dominate the state legislature and every statewide office in Colorado have been masterful ― if not ethical and honest ― in devising devious schemes to circumvent the TABOR amendment in the Colorado Constitution.  That’s the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, passed by a 1992 voter-initiated ballot measure that bypassed the legislature. It limited government spending and barred the legislature from increasing taxes or imposing new ones without the consent of the voters. Democrats have always despised TABOR. Their favorite ploys have included misrepresenting taxes as “fees” and funding spending programs through tax credits. Because those credits reduce government revenues, they’re the equivalent of...
Democrats Push Sweeping Tax Plan Reversing Federal Tax Benefits For Colorado Business
TSS Colorado, Approved, State

Democrats Push Sweeping Tax Plan Reversing Federal Tax Benefits For Colorado Business

By: Ed Sealover | TSS Colorado Democratic legislators are poised to unveil a quartet of bills next week that could decouple Colorado law from hundreds of millions of dollars in new federal tax breaks, end tax exemptions on downloadable-software sales and rein in several long-standing corporate deductions. The bills, written in cooperation with the Colorado Fiscal Institute, are largely a reaction to last year’s federal passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that offered significant corporate tax breaks and blew a hole in Colorado’s budget, CFI policy manager Caroline Nutter said. Because Colorado conforms its tax code to federal code, any cut in income produced by federal changes reflects in revenue reductions to the state government as well, leading to a $1.2 billion l...
State commission blocks bid to expand public review into minor business emissions changes
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

State commission blocks bid to expand public review into minor business emissions changes

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project New emissions rules for minor modifications gets (thankfully) voted down. There’s something noteworthy towards the end of the Sum and Substance article linked at bottom.** The part I want to focus on begins under the heading “A debate over minor modifications”. Don’t make the same (initial) mistake I did and take it from the words that the debated would be minor! The minor modifications here refer to a change in a factory or plant’s process which might slightly alter the amount of pollution they emit. Quoting the article: “APCD [Air Pollution Control Division] staffers, for example, wanted to change the current permitting process for minor modifications — facility upgrades at major-emitt...
Gov. Polis Reassesses AI Regulations After Business Backlash
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Gov. Polis Reassesses AI Regulations After Business Backlash

By: Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics For the second time in as many years, Gov. Jared Polis has appointed a working group to address the issues around the state’s 2024 law on artificial intelligence. The law, which Polis signed despite major misgivings last year, is still not ready for prime time. The implementation date for the new law, as set by lawmakers in the August special session, was moved from Feb. 1, 2026, to June 30, 2026, providing a little more time for the tech industry and consumer groups that have been at odds over the law to come to a consensus. Whether that’s doable is another question, given that the first working group spent the last half of 2024 trying to work out differences. The working group’s final report indicated more areas of disagreem...