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Tag: Jared Polis

There’s a Vacancy on Colorado’s Transportation Investment Board. You Should Apply.
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

There’s a Vacancy on Colorado’s Transportation Investment Board. You Should Apply.

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project A reader sent in a tip about an upcoming vacancy at CTIO. Before getting more on that, let’s back up and talk about what CTIO is. The first link below is to their “About” page, but in brief they’re one of the copious number of enterprises (government “businesses”) that do so much of Colorado’s work. Quoting their page: “The Funding Advancement for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery Act (Part 8 of Article 4, Title 43, Colorado Revised Statutes), otherwise known as FASTER, created the Colorado High Performance Transportation Enterprise (HPTE), now doing business as the Colorado Transportation Investment Office (CTIO), in 2009 as an independent, government-owned business within CDOT. CTIO has the legal re...
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Polis-Backed Bill Redirects $300 Million In TABOR Refunds To Close Budget Gap
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Polis-Backed Bill Redirects $300 Million In TABOR Refunds To Close Budget Gap

By Nash Herman | Complete Colorado One of Governor Polis’ key requests to balance the state budget using Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) refunds passed out of the legislature and now awaits his signature.  House Bill 26-1419 will recoup almost $300 million in overcollected revenue that would otherwise be returned to Colorado taxpayers, if the measure can withstand legal challenges.  TABOR roulette As previously explained, from the first discussions of the governor’s TABOR refund recoupment proposal, legislative staff voiced their concerns to the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) about the measure’s legality.  While bill proponents remain adamant that the retroactive changes to tax collections caused by the passage of the federal One Big B...
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Colorado Democrats Drop Effort To Limit Natural Gas Ballot Proposal
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Democrats Drop Effort To Limit Natural Gas Ballot Proposal

By Taylor Dolven | The Colorado Sun The initiative would give Coloradans a “right to natural gas” in the state constitution. State Democratic lawmakers abandoned their effort to blunt the potential impact of a proposed ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to give Coloradans a “right to natural gas.” Colorado House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, Assistant Majority Leader Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver, and Sen. Lisa Cutter, D-Littleton, had pledged Friday to introduce a bill that would ensure the amendment doesn’t threaten public safety or local air quality. They would have had to introduce the bill on Monday in order to have enough time to get it passed by the end of the legislative session on Wednesday. Republican House members asked t...
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New Federal Tax Credit Could Expand Colorado School Choice Options
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, Commentary, State

New Federal Tax Credit Could Expand Colorado School Choice Options

By Brenda Dickhoner | Commentary, The Colorado Sun State lawmakers made the right move to postpone legislation that would have created barriers for the program. Colorado lawmakers have been working to close a budget gap of more than $1.5 billion, and programs that students and families rely on are under pressure. At the same time, a new federal tax credit gives Colorado a chance to bring substantial philanthropic dollars into education without drawing from the state’s general fund. The Education Freedom Tax Credit allows taxpayers to receive a federal tax credit of up to $1,700 annually for charitable contributions to scholarship-granting organizations that support K-12 students. Essentially, the program encourages private giving to step in where public fun...
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Polis Faces Decision On Bill Allowing Lawsuits Against Immigration Agents
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Polis Faces Decision On Bill Allowing Lawsuits Against Immigration Agents

By Lucas Brady Woods | The Colorado Sun The measure would allow lawsuits in state court over alleged constitutional violations by federal immigration agents. The state legislature passed a bill Thursday that allows Colorado residents to sue federal immigration officers in state court over alleged constitutional rights violations. Supporters say the measure, Senate Bill 5, would fill a gap in the law that largely does not include a pathway for challenging conduct by federal officials, including immigration authorities like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE. The bill still needs to be signed by Gov. Jared Polis before it becomes law “We’re creating a circumstance where, if ICE is violating your constitutional rights by unlawfully search...
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Senate Democrats Advance Plan To Redirect Millions In TABOR Refunds
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Senate Democrats Advance Plan To Redirect Millions In TABOR Refunds

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Despite objections from legislative staff and Republican opposition, Senate Democrats on Friday moved forward with a proposal to reroute $306 million in taxpayer refunds. Already, critics are preparing to sue over the proposal that seeks to take $300 million in Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refunds over the next two years to cover what Democratic lawmakers believe is an overpayment from a previous fiscal year. House Bill 1419 won preliminary approval from the state Senate on Friday. It now awaits a final vote in the chamber and will then go back to the House, which must concur with any amendments adopted. The alleged overpayments in 2024–25 TABOR refunds were never reflected in the state’s 2024–25 budget because they stemmed ...
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Colorado Businesses Could Catch Break On Credit Card Swipe Fees
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado Businesses Could Catch Break On Credit Card Swipe Fees

By Rae Solomon | The Colorado Sun Bill to exempt sales taxes from swipe fees heads to Gov. Jared Polis as industry warns of legal fights and consumer impacts. A proposal to reduce credit card swipe fees has whipped up a frothy, multi-million-dollar lobbying fight at the State Capitol this year, pitting the banking industry against retailers, restaurants, and other businesses. It passed the legislature Wednesday and now heads to the governor’s desk. Senate Bill 134 concerns the interchange fees, or swipe fees, that merchants pay to the banks every time a customer pays with a credit card. Currently, those fees are calculated as a percentage of the total charge, sales tax and all. The proposal, which passed the House on a 44-20 vote, would remove sales taxes from t...
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Colorado Wolf Program Costs Taxpayers More Than $1 Million In Livestock Claims
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Wolf Program Costs Taxpayers More Than $1 Million In Livestock Claims

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics After paying more than $700,000 in March to ranchers for livestock lost to wolves, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission is poised to approve two additional claims totaling $262,000 at its meeting this week. Those approvals would bring total payouts to about $970,000 with another $56,000 in claims rejected across the March and May meetings. And that figure only reflects claims requiring commission approval. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) staff can sign off on claims under $20,000, and the state’s wolf‑depredation website shows that, in 2025, the agency received 32 such claims totaling $47, 142.55, ranging from $88.50 to $3,500. That’s a total of $1.072 million for 2025 alone. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT...
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Democrats Advance Bill Sidestepping Citizen Led Push To Prioritize Roads And Bridges
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Democrats Advance Bill Sidestepping Citizen Led Push To Prioritize Roads And Bridges

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics The battle over road funding intensified at the state Capitol this week, where legislators are seeking to negate an initiative that supporters say is sorely needed but which critics insist would divert money from other state priorities. Supporters of the initiative questioned the timing of new legislation that emerged in the waning days of the legislative session. They also wondered about how much feedback sponsors sought, insinuating the House bill was crafted without input from the road construction industry. At stake is roughly $700 million in state dollars. Introduced last week, House Bill 1430 would take effect only ifInitiative No. 175 passes in November. The initiative would require that transportation-...
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Colorado Lawmakers Move To Extend Coal Plant Operations As Energy Prices Rise
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E&E News, State

Colorado Lawmakers Move To Extend Coal Plant Operations As Energy Prices Rise

By Jason Plautz | E&E News A plan to postpone the retirement of the Ray Nixon Power Plant comes as Colorado wrestles with its climate targets. CLIMATEWIRE | Colorado lawmakers are poised to extend the life of a coal plant three years beyond a state-mandated retirement deadline — a backtrack that underscores Colorado's growing tension between climate goals and energy affordability. Under state law, Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) was required to shutter the Ray Nixon Power Plant by the end of 2029, part of the state’s effort to fully move away from coal power by 2031 and run a 100 percent renewable energy grid by 2040. But the process of replacing the plant with renewable sources has proven more expensive and time-consuming than anticipated, and CSU h...
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