Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Tag: Jared Polis

Speak up or step back: Why critics say Coloradans must engage with CPW now
No Comments
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Speak up or step back: Why critics say Coloradans must engage with CPW now

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Depending on where you get your news, you are probably by now aware that the CPW Commissioners, in a meeting that I’ve heard referred to as a “shit-show” by more than one person, voted to accept a petition by a monied, out of state group. If you missed it or want to hit the high spots again, I put a FencePost article on the meeting. That is the first link below.This vote came over the recommendations against the petition by their own director and other CPW employees.Why? From where I stand the reason’s pretty simple: the CPW Commissioners have been (by design from the governor’s office) “captured” by animal rights and environmental groups.This is not just an impression I have pulled out of thin air. Over and over w...
Read More
Judge Deals Polis Another Loss In ICE Subpoena Dispute
No Comments
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Judge Deals Polis Another Loss In ICE Subpoena Dispute

By Taylor Dolven | The Colorado Sun Alawsuit filed against Gov. Jared Polis after he attempted to comply with a subpoena from federal immigration officials will continue despite the governor’s efforts to get the case dismissed, a Denver judge ruled Monday. In his ruling, Denver District Judge A. Bruce Jones said Polis’ request to end the case was “untethered to any rule of procedure supporting the relief requested” and cited an “absence of any legal authority.” The ruling marks another loss for the governor in the case first brought last June by Scott Moss, the former director of the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics at Colorado’s Department of Labor. Moss alleged Polis directed him to comply with a subpoena from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement r...
Read More
Colorado Medicaid Chief Resigns Amid Bipartisan Outcry Over Costs And Mismanagement
No Comments
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Medicaid Chief Resigns Amid Bipartisan Outcry Over Costs And Mismanagement

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette Colorado’s top Medicaid official stepped down on Monday, just as a bipartisan bloc of state senators prepared to formally urge Gov. Jared Polis to remove her over what they called years of mismanagement, waste and costly errors inside the state’s largest agency. One legislator seeking the resignation of Kim Bimestefer, executive direct or of the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, called the leadership change a “necessary step toward accountability.” Bimestefer had been under fire from critics, who questioned how health officials have remained in their roles amid what they described as mismanagement at the state Medicaid program, which is beset by allegations of fraud, abuse and runaway spending. The program’...
Read More
Polis pushes for new prison as critics question Colorado spending priorities
No Comments
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Polis pushes for new prison as critics question Colorado spending priorities

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Does Colorado need to open (or build) a new prison? Governor Polis’ office seems to think so. Per the Sun article linked at bottom (quoted with links left intact): “Gov. Jared Polis’ office told state lawmakers Wednesday that Colorado must immediately move to open a new prison to handle projected growth in inmate numbers, a revelation that comes as the legislature is cutting social services to address a $1 billion state budget shortfall and despite the General Assembly’s pushback on much smaller funding requests for more beds at existing prisons.” Given what I’d seen before about asking for more beds, I’m betting wanting a whole new prison made some jaws drop alright. I’ll leave it to you to read th...
Read More
Polis Moves Colorado Into WHO Network After US Withdrawal
No Comments
DENVER7, Approved, State

Polis Moves Colorado Into WHO Network After US Withdrawal

By Óscar Contreras | Denver7 The move is the latest in a series of actions Colorado has undertaken amid shakeup in federal health policy. DENVER — Colorado has been accepted into a network of more than 360 institutions as the state seeks to stay ahead of emerging public health threats following the withdrawal of the U.S. from the World Health Organization earlier this year. “We are thrilled to join the World Health Organization’s GOARN network, especially during a time when federal public health guidance is becoming less consistent,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement Wednesday. “Disease does not stop at borders, and this partnership helps ensure Colorado is better prepared to protect people and respond quickly to emerging threats.” The WHO’s Global Out...
Read More
Colorado Lawmakers Weigh $500 Million In Cuts As $1.5 Billion Deficit Looms
No Comments
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Weigh $500 Million In Cuts As $1.5 Billion Deficit Looms

By: Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The legislature’s Joint Budget Committee is working through a list Wednesday of about 150 suggestions to cut as much as $1.5 billion in general fund dollars out of next year’s budget. The largest on the list prepared by JBC staff is $198 million in cuts to the funding for the annual senior and disabled veterans homestead exemption. Funding for the homestead exemption has to come out of general fund dollars in the 2026-27 budget because the state does not have a Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights surplus that would normally cover that cost. The other side of the issue is Gov. Jared Polis’ support for a proposal to allow Pinnacol Assurance to privatize, with the hopes that half of the funds Pinnacol would pay the state as a result ...
Read More
The Democrats who funded Colorado’s 611% Medicaid overrun are running for Congress
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

The Democrats who funded Colorado’s 611% Medicaid overrun are running for Congress

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado is staring down a $1 billion budget hole. Disabled kids are losing healthcare. Dental benefits are getting capped at $750 a year. Two Democrats who helped create and fund Cover All Coloradans are now asking voters to send them to Congress. Shannon Bird stepped away from the statehouse to run full-time. That sets up a primary between Bird and Rep. Manny Rutinel in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, with Republican incumbent Gabe Evans waiting in November. It started with HB22-1289 in 2022, opening Medicaid-style coverage to children and pregnant women who otherwise met eligibility but didn’t qualify because of their immigration status. Bird voted yes. The early estimate was $14.7 million for the fiscal year, tied to an expe...
Read More
Polis Administration Faces Lawsuit Over Keeping Minors In Custody After Judges Ordered Release
No Comments
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Polis Administration Faces Lawsuit Over Keeping Minors In Custody After Judges Ordered Release

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics Colorado officials are facing a lawsuit alleging the state kept minors in juvenile detention for days or months after judges ordered them released, largely because appropriate foster or community placements were not available. Two minors facing juvenile delinquency charges sued Gov. Jared Polis and the director of the state’s Department of Human Services, alleging the state is incarcerating children despite judges’ orders to release them to the community. The state refused to comment on the litigation, though a spokesperson said the safety of children under its care is a top priority. The lawsuit, filed by a coalition of civil and disability rights advocates on behalf of defendants known only as Isaac N. and Tony S., alle...
Read More
Colorado Budget Gap Swells To $1.5 Billion As Lawmakers Brace For Cuts
No Comments
DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Budget Gap Swells To $1.5 Billion As Lawmakers Brace For Cuts

By Nick Coltrain | Denver7 New forecasts set the stage for the final push on the state budget. DENVER — The fiscal picture for Colorado’s state government has somehow gotten even murkier — and potentially much worse. Lawmakers walked into Thursday’s key economic forecasts pessimistic about what the reports would tell them about the state budget. They walked out of it with one forecast warning they now needed to close a $1.5 billion deficit in the next week or so, an increase over the $1 billion prediction from just a few days earlier. That does not account for some cuts the committee has proposed but not yet finalized. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT DENVER7
Read More
Colorado Lawmakers Clash Over Prison Spending As State Budget Tightens
No Comments
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Clash Over Prison Spending As State Budget Tightens

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette The Polis administration is asking for hundreds of millions of dollars to expand the state’s prison system, just as Colorado’s legislators are bracing for a worsening fiscal outlook. The request sets up a clash over priorities at a time when the state faces a nearly $1.5 billion shortfall. The administration is seeking to add prison beds amid overcrowding, though advocates on both sides of the spectrum disagree over its cause. Some advocates have argued that the crisis is partly the result of a backlog of inmates awaiting parole placement. Others maintained that the “crisis” resulted from Democrats’ policies that ultimately seek to release offenders back into communities. On Wednesday, the governor asked budget writers f...
Read More