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Tag: Democrat Lawmakers

Green: Report card for Colorado’s collapse under one-party rule—straight F’s across the board
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Approved, Commentary, PJ Media, State, Top Stories

Green: Report card for Colorado’s collapse under one-party rule—straight F’s across the board

By Stephen Green | PJ Media Colorado's economic report card is in, and my beloved home state — formerly a solid A and B student — just flunked every subject.  Once upon a time, Colorado was a devilishly weird purple state — home to moderate-to-conservative Republicans like Ben Nighthorse Campbell and Tom Tancredo, idiosyncratic Democrats like Gary Hart and Richard Lamm, and (outside the Denver-Boulder Axis) a healthy libertarian streak. It was such a swirl that one of those famous Republicans, Campbell, was originally a Democrat. That all began to change around 2008 when my purple state went deep blue for Barack Obama. By 2018, the hope'n'change was locked in. The last Republican to win statewide office was in 2016, when Heidi Ganahl was elected to the University of Colora...
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“YIGBY” bill to let churches build housing on their land fails without Senate support
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Approved, Colorado Politics, State

“YIGBY” bill to let churches build housing on their land fails without Senate support

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The campaign known as "YIGBY" - "Yes in God's Backyard" - to allow churches, school districts, colleges, and universities to build affordable housing on their land failed in the waning days of the Colorado legislative session.  House Bill 1169 would have required local governments to allow residential development on land owned by those institutions. The bill has sat in the state Senate, awaiting debate, since it cleared the Senate's Local Government and Housing Committee on March 27.  On Monday, its sponsors, Sens. Tony Exum, D-Colorado Springs, and Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, acknowledged the bill didn't have the votes to pass and asked that it be laid over to May 8, the day after the session's end, which effectively would kill ...
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“Burn it to the ground”: Rep. Keltie’s political metaphor for a Phoenix to rise from Capitol corruption
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Approved, Colorado Times Recorder, State

“Burn it to the ground”: Rep. Keltie’s political metaphor for a Phoenix to rise from Capitol corruption

By Erik Maulbetsch | Colorado Times Recorder As the legislative session comes down to its final days, one freshman Republican has harsh words for her Democratic colleagues. State Rep. Rebecca Keltie (R-Colorado Springs) in a Sunday evening interview on a libertarian podcast called her fellow legislators evil, soulless, and corrupt, before saying she thinks Colorado needs to be burned to the ground so Republicans can rise from the ashes. “I’ve never seen a group of people that are so … for lack of a better term, evil. I feel it when I come in there. I pray as soon as I enter the building. As soon as I enter that room, I pray. While I’m in there, I’m praying. I’ve never prayed so much in my life. … I went in there with an open mind of respect,” said Keltie. “I have lost — for almos...
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Backlash ignored: Senate approves HB25-1312 without parental rights protections
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Backlash ignored: Senate approves HB25-1312 without parental rights protections

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Proponents hail the bill as a civil rights milestone for transgender youth. But Republicans say it strips parental rights, embeds compelled speech into law and threatens custody in future court cases. After weeks of public backlash, failed compromise efforts, and a marathon Senate floor debate, Colorado lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to HB25-1312 – a bill that critics say severs parents from decisions about their children’s identities in school. The bill passed its final Senate vote on Tuesday with no additional debate or amendments. The House voted to concur with all Senate amendments and repassed the bill without further changes, sending it to Governor Jared Polis. The final version no longer includes the family court and out-of-s...
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“Parents Last”: Senate Democrats Advance HB25-1312 Despite Mass Opposition, Custody Concerns
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

“Parents Last”: Senate Democrats Advance HB25-1312 Despite Mass Opposition, Custody Concerns

By Tori Ganahl | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s controversial “Kelly Loving Act” is one step away from becoming law, after the state Senate advanced HB25-1312 in a party-line vote Monday night. The bill passed 23-12 following hours of floor debate—nearing an end to a legislative saga that’s drawn over 700 would-be testifiers, more than 17,000 emails from concerned constituents, and ongoing warnings from legal experts, parents, and educators. The bill started as an expansion of the Colorado Anti-discrimination Act (CADA), aiming to add gender identity and expression as protected categories in schools, courts, and beyond. Even after key changes, Republicans say it still threatens parental rights and opens the door to new legal trouble for those who disagree with progressive gender pol...
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Enos: If parents can’t challenge books or protect embryos, who will?
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Approved, Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Enos: If parents can’t challenge books or protect embryos, who will?

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado The majority in the Colorado General Assembly seems to have caught the attention of the Trump Administration. The U.S. Department of Education spokeswoman Julie Hartman told the Daily Signal that “Children do not belong to the government. They belong to parents.”  Then, on March 28th of this year, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon sent a letter to educators that included the following statement: “Under President Trump’s leadership, my Department will no longer passively accept school officials’ hostility to parental involvement. The Department stands with parents in exercising their rights to the full extent of the law.” This may be news to Colorado’s General Assembly. On April 21st, the Colorado House S...
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Sanctuary showdown: Colorado Democrats pass bill while feds sue
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Approved, kdvr.com, National, State

Sanctuary showdown: Colorado Democrats pass bill while feds sue

By Heather Willard | Fox31 DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado’s Democratic lawmakers are pushing ahead on immigration bills despite the U.S. Department of Justice filing a lawsuit Friday to challenge those laws. One of those measures, SB25-276, “Protect Civil Rights Immigration Status,” that lawmakers are pushing forward on, focuses on protecting civil rights and immigrant communities in Colorado and was passed by the House on Saturday after amendments were made. The vote was made along party lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed. The proposed measure includes a slew of actions that are designed to protect the civil rights of immigrants, including: Repealing the requirement for an affidavit stating that an undocumented person has applied for lawful presen...
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Final week at the Capitol: Democrats target TABOR, transparency and immigration enforcement
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Approved, DENVER7, State

Final week at the Capitol: Democrats target TABOR, transparency and immigration enforcement

By Brandon Richard | Denver7 DENVER — With under a week to go before they adjourn this year’s legislative session, Colorado lawmakers still have a lot of work ahead of them. Dozens of bills are still under consideration, including several controversial proposals. “It feels like 80% of the work happens in the last two weeks,” said State Rep. Meg Froelich, D-Englewood. “Our budget was pretty late in being finalized, and so, nothing can really move until we know how much money we're working with, or in this case, how much money we're not working with.” Froelich is one of the primary sponsors of Senate Bill 25-161, which would reform the Regional Transportation District (RTD). The bill cleared its second-to-last vote in the Colorado House of Representatives on Thursday. “Th...
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“Sitting on a powder keg”: Opponents slam SB25-276 for shielding illegal aliens, risking federal funds
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Approved, CBS Colorado, State

“Sitting on a powder keg”: Opponents slam SB25-276 for shielding illegal aliens, risking federal funds

By Shaun Boyd | CBS News Colorado A bill aimed at protecting undocumented immigrants in Colorado has created a firestorm at the Colorado State Capitol. Supporters say it's about protecting the constitutional rights of everyone regardless of citizenship. Opponents, including Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell, say it would protect dangerous criminals. He says if the bill becomes law, his deputies will have to choose between enforcing state law and losing federal funding or enforcing federal law and facing thousands of dollars in fines. Mikesell says lawmakers are presenting a false narrative. "I want to dispel rumors and myths that really the legislators are presenting in testimony," he said. He says he has worked with federal immigration agents for nearly three decades and...
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“Drawing the line”: School boards warn HB25-1312 oversteps on parental rights, brings policy chaos
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

“Drawing the line”: School boards warn HB25-1312 oversteps on parental rights, brings policy chaos

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Board members say the bill risks punishing parents, stripping local authority, and forcing schools into the middle of contentious custody battles More than 70 school board members and education leaders have signed a letter urging lawmakers to reject HB25-1312, also known as the Kelly Loving Act. Jason Jorgenson, secretary of the District 11 Board of Education and a lead organizer of the opposition letter, said HB25-1312 “risks encouraging youth to pursue a path of gender transition without appropriate parental involvement.” Andrea Haitz, president of the District 51 Board of Education, warned that the bill “risks placing schools in an even more precarious legal position, especially when parents disagree on matters like gender identity or p...
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