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Tag: Jared Polis

Food Shaming Concerns Delay Colorado Plan to Ban Soda Purchases With Food Stamps
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Food Shaming Concerns Delay Colorado Plan to Ban Soda Purchases With Food Stamps

By: Jennifer Brown | The Colorado Sun The SNAP rule change was delayed by a state board after a 7-hour hearing including fierce opposition from the governor’s fellow Democrats, Hunger Free Colorado and Save the Children. A plan to prohibit Coloradans from using food-assistance benefits to buy soda and sugary fruit juices was stalled Friday by a state board after opponents argued it was an overreach that could harm the dignity and autonomy of low-income families. The rule would ban the use of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, called SNAP, to buy soda as well as juices with added sugars or artificial sweeteners. Gov. Jared Polis won approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the “healthy choice” rule in August, but needed...
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Congress Investigates Colorado Medicaid After Reports Of Fraud And Improper Payments
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Congress Investigates Colorado Medicaid After Reports Of Fraud And Improper Payments

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette A congressional committee is probing reports of waste, fraud and abuse in Colorado’s Medicaid program, citing recent stories outlining over-billing in transportation spending and alleged improper payments in autism services. The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce has sent a letter to Gov. Jared Polis and the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Finance, seeking, among other things, audits and processes in place to comply with federal laws The March 3 letter, signed by committee Chair Rep. Brett Guthrie, a Republican from Kentucky, and two subcommittee chairs, pointed to problems that they said surfaced in Minnesota, such as over-billing, falsified records, identity theft and phantom claims in Medicaid social s...
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Nine-year sentence questioned: Peters’ attorneys cite contrast with Lewis case
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Nine-year sentence questioned: Peters’ attorneys cite contrast with Lewis case

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Tina Peters’ attorneys said Wednesday they appreciate Gov. Jared Polis taking a look at her clemency request, pointing to what they believe is a sentencing disparity. Peters’ attorneys shared the statement with RMV after Polis posted about the case of former state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis while talking about clemency. They said that contrast between Lewis’ and Peters’ case is central to their clemency request. “Tina Peters is grateful to Governor Polis for considering her request for clemency,” the statement said. The defense team also echoed a comment Polis made in a recent social media post about fairness in the justice system. “As the governor said, Justice in Colorado and America needs to be applied evenly,...
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Same Colorado law, different outcomes: Probation in Denver, prison in Mesa County
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Same Colorado law, different outcomes: Probation in Denver, prison in Mesa County

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice In Colorado, the same felony statute led to two very different courtroom outcomes. One walked away with probation. Peters is now serving a prison sentence that stretches close to a decade. The case against Peters unfolded under Colorado’s statute on attempting to influence a public servant—§ 18-8-306, the same law used in the prosecution of former Colorado state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis. In Denver District Court, jurors convicted Lewis on four felony counts tied to forged letters submitted during a Senate ethics investigation. The Mesa County verdict came with far steeper consequences. Peters received a prison sentence totaling nine years. Gov. Jared Polis referenced the Lewis sentencing this week while ...
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From ethics complaint to felony conviction: How forged letters ended a Colorado lawmaker’s career
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

From ethics complaint to felony conviction: How forged letters ended a Colorado lawmaker’s career

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice The investigation that ended former Colorado Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis’ political career did not begin with police or prosecutors. It began inside her own office. It ended in a Denver courtroom. There, jurors found the former lawmaker guilty on four felony counts tied to letters submitted during a legislative ethics investigation. The workplace dispute had become a criminal case. No prison sentence followed. The judge handed down two years’ probation, 150 hours of community service and a $3,000 fine. Months earlier, aides had begun raising complaints about how Jaquez Lewis ran her office. They accused her of mistreating staff and assigning work unrelated to legislative duties. Those complaints quickly reached S...
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Rural Lawmakers Reject Polis Backed Pesticide Restrictions
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Rural Lawmakers Reject Polis Backed Pesticide Restrictions

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics A proposal to limit the use of neonicotinoid-coated crop seeds collapsed in the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee last week, as rural lawmakers, including two Democrats, joined Republicans to reject what they called an expensive, impractical mandate on farmers. Senate Bill 65 would have required farmers to obtain permission from third-party evaluators before using crop seeds coated with neonicotinoid pesticides, also known as neonics. But the committee’s rural lawmakers, including two Democrats, weren’t persuaded that the program sponsored by Democratic Sens. Katie Wallace of Longmont and Cathy Kipp of Fort Collins was the right step, killing the bill in a 2-5 vote last week. Wallace claimed farmers are p...
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$7.2 Million in Federal Climate Dollars to Fund Colorado Building Efficiency Projects
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

$7.2 Million in Federal Climate Dollars to Fund Colorado Building Efficiency Projects

By Scott Weiser | The Denver Gazette The Colorado Energy Office awarded $7.2 million Wednesday to help owners of large buildings across the state pursue high-impact projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions through improved energy efficiency and electrification. The grants, drawn from federal Climate Pollution Reduction Grant funds authorized under the 2022 Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act and awarded to Colorado by the Environmental Protection Agency, support 15 projects through the Large Building Decarbonization Showcase Grant Program, CEO officials said. The awards go to building owners already meeting requirements under Building Performance Colorado standards and include five major implementation retrofits and 10 high-level planning efforts. The g...
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State approval to farm? Lawmakers debate new limits on seed and pest control
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

State approval to farm? Lawmakers debate new limits on seed and pest control

By Sen. Byron Pelton | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s farmers and ranchers already face significant challenges, including volatile commodity prices, rising input costs, labor shortages, and unpredictable weather. They should not also have to contend with a state legislature that increasingly seeks to regulate how they protect crops and livestock.  Yet that is precisely what Senate Bills 26-062 and 26-065 represent: a top-down attack on agriculture that increases costs, undermines private property rights, and signals deep disrespect for the men and women who feed our nation and the world. A Direct Hit on Practical Pest Control SB26-062 would significantly restrict the sale and use of common rodenticides and glue traps. While intended to pr...
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Colorado Regulatory Climate Draws Scrutiny After Palantir Relocates Headquarters to Florida
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado Regulatory Climate Draws Scrutiny After Palantir Relocates Headquarters to Florida

By Vanessa Rutledge | Commentary, Complete Colorado The technology company Palantir recently announced it is relocating its headquarters from Denver to Miami. This is not a minor startup leaving quietly. Palantir is the largest public company headquartered in Colorado when measured by market capitalization. It is one of the most prominent and profitable artificial intelligence companies in the country. In explaining its reasoning, Palantir made no bones about what prompted the move. In its 2025 10-K filing, the company stated: “In addition, Colorado has passed a Consumer Protections for Artificial Intelligence bill introducing state-level oversight of ‘high-risk’ AI systems, which mirrors language and several provisions appearing in the EU AIA.” That is a dir...
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Colorado should drop its membership in the California Clean Car Cartel. 
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado should drop its membership in the California Clean Car Cartel. 

By Sean Paige | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice President Trump's recent repeal of the "endangerment finding"—a Barack Obama-era rule that handed the federal government absolute power to regulate almost anything that emits CO2 emissions, in response to the alleged climate crisis—marks a potential turning point for Colorado.  Why?  Because it gives Colorado an opportunity, an invitation, to decouple from California clean car mandates we've been operating under for years.  Most Coloradans probably don't know that their state’s "clean car" mandates are written by an unelected board of all-powerful ecocrats called the California Air Resources Board (CARB.)  But why would most Coloradans know this, since it was never debated by the legislat...
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