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Tag: Fiscal Responsibility

Angela Lema’s commitment keeps District 51 Schools grounded in results
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Angela Lema’s commitment keeps District 51 Schools grounded in results

By Sara Fletcher | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Angela Lema stands as the embodiment of principled leadership and steadfast commitment in her role as a District 51 school board Director. Her contributions have had a meaningful effect on District 51 families and staff, underpinned by her extensive experience as a trade school owner and active community member for nearly twenty years. Throughout her career, Angela has guided countless young adults into the valley’s workforce, fulfilling the roles of mentor, teacher, and respected business owner. Significant Committee Work and Project Oversight Among Angela’s notable achievements is her dedication to committee work, particularly her three-year involvement with the Owners, Architect, and Contractors Special Committee. She pa...
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Colorado Democrats Push DOE to Restore $600M in Cancelled Energy Grants
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Just The News, Approved, State

Colorado Democrats Push DOE to Restore $600M in Cancelled Energy Grants

By: Elyse Apel | Just The News Colorado Democrats, including U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, joined together to sign a letter calling for the U.S. Department of Energy to restore over $600 million in funding for 38 Colorado-affiliated energy projects. Colorado Democrats joined together to sign a letter calling for the U.S. Department of Energy to restore over $600 million in funding for 38 Colorado-affiliated energy projects. In the letter, Colorado's U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, and Colorado U.S. Reps. Joe Neguse, Diana DeGette, Jason Crow and Brittany Pettersen argue the cuts are harmful to the state. “By cancelling over $600 million in energy-sector funding, much of which directly supported grid reliability, DOE is making it more di...
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Colorado must stop pushing unfunded laws on local governments, lawmakers say
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The Daily Sentinel, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado must stop pushing unfunded laws on local governments, lawmakers say

By Rick Taggart, Janice Rich and Matt Soper | Commentary, The Daily Sentinel When lawmakers pass a new bill, there’s one question we should all ask before we vote: Who’s going to pay for it? Too often, that question goes unanswered. Across Colorado, local governments are being asked to carry out new state laws — on everything from wildfire codes to building standards — without the funding to make them possible. These are called unfunded mandates, and they’ve quietly become one of the biggest threats to local budgets and the essential services people depend on. In Mesa County alone, these mandates now cost nearly $10 million each year. Statewide, the total is estimated at more than $360 million — money that could otherwise fund deputies, road repairs, or mental health programs. Ins...
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Fix It or Fund It: Inside the $361 million standoff over Colorado’s unfunded mandates
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Fix It or Fund It: Inside the $361 million standoff over Colorado’s unfunded mandates

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado counties say they’re done footing the bill for laws they didn’t fund. Citing a 1991 statute and more than $361 million in unfunded mandates, the Fix It or Fund It coalition is asserting that if the state won’t pay, local governments won’t comply. Mesa County Commissioner Bobbie Daniel didn’t set out to launch a statewide revolt. Two years ago, she created a spreadsheet to track state mandates that came without funding. The goal was to help department heads navigate budgeting headaches. But that quiet act of accounting has since grown into something far louder—a bipartisan movement spanning more than 36 counties, with local governments now invoking state law to declare state mandates “optional.” “We started this whole unfunded mandate...
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Why Ditching the Flat Tax Would Be Colorado’s Biggest Mistake
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Why Ditching the Flat Tax Would Be Colorado’s Biggest Mistake

By Jake Fogleman | Commentary, Complete Colorado The battle over Colorado’s future tax system has officially begun, and the stakes for families, businesses, and the state’s economy couldn’t be higher. Backed by a coalition of advocacy groups that consistently push for higher taxes as the solution to Colorado’s challenges, the Bell Policy Center submitted proposed language for the 2026 ballot that would overturn nearly four decades of sensible tax policy by abandoning Colorado’s flat-rate income tax and adopting a graduated tax system. Under their proposals, Colorado taxpayers would be forced to confront a new five-bracket tax system with marginal rates up to 9.5 percent, among the highest in the country. The proponents claim it’s about fairness, equity, and making t...
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Spending Is The Real Underlying Problem
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Spending Is The Real Underlying Problem

By Russ Minary | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice “Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.”  - Will Rogers Will Rogers (1879–1935) was an American humorist, entertainer and cowboy philosopher. He had no college degree, but he was smarter (and funnier) than most of the experts, economists and bureaucrats of his day, many of whom went broke in the Depression. Will had common sense which is uncommon today. This article will put a different and positive perspective on a problem that will eventually bankrupt all of us: SPENDING. Our nation is being slowly consumed by massive unsustainable DEBT. Debt doesn’t happen without spending. Spending is a problem with businesses, government – and many average Americ...
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Rep. Ken DeGraaf’s top 10 reasons for opting out
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Rep. Ken DeGraaf’s top 10 reasons for opting out

By Rep. Ken DeGraaf | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Editor’s note: On September 27, the Colorado Republican Party’s State Central Committee will vote on whether to opt out of the state-run primary election system established under Proposition 108. Rocky Mountain Voice is featuring perspectives from two prominent Republicans on opposite sides of the issue. “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.” — John F. Kennedy Closing the primary is the right thing to do, not ...
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How Special Was That Session?
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Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

How Special Was That Session?

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado (CHEC) Last Wednesday, on September 10th, we witnessed a political assassination. A young, courageous conservative was murdered in cold blood on the campus of Utah Valley University. Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was engaging students in conversation and debate when he was violently gunned down.  College campuses are supposed to be places of intellectual curiosity where ideas are explored, and students make up their own minds. This concept of free speech was something our country was founded on, but it seems that the Colorado legislative majority party does not want to hear differing thoughts. The message of the Kirk assassination was that if you don’t agree with progressive ideology, you should jus...
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Colorado Democrats push ‘progressive tax’ while low-income families already carry heavier burden
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado Democrats push ‘progressive tax’ while low-income families already carry heavier burden

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Progressive tax myths vs. reality. There's been a lot of noise about a bunch of progressive groups pushing a ballot measure to change our income tax structure from a flat tax (where all income brackets pay the same percentage) to a progressive one (where you pay more income tax as a percent and in absolute terms if you earn more).If you want an example article and some context, see the Sun article linked first below.I wanted to offer you a couple resources from a fiscally conservative (and frankly reality-based) perspective to counter what will likely be a blitz on the topic in the media and elsewhere. A couple resources to help you better advocate against this wrongheaded policy.There are two Complete Colorado op eds l...
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