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Three minutes at the microphone: What Colorado’s 2026 session really looked like
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Three minutes at the microphone: What Colorado’s 2026 session really looked like

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board From housing fights and election battles to late-night hearings and grassroots backlash, the 2026 session left many Coloradans questioning where decisions are really made. Arrive early. Sign up fast. Wait six hours. Get three minutes at the microphone. By April, Colorado citizens had learned the Capitol routine. Parents waited to testify on parental rights and gender policy bills. Survivors of child trafficking described years of trauma while lawmakers debated sentencing standards. Gun owners warned against expanding red flag authority to what Senate Bill 26-004 would ultimately define as “institutional petitioners”—a category now including schools, healthcare facilities and behavioral-health entities authorized to seek firearm se...
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State Regulators Override Elbert County To Advance Massive Power Line Project
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Local

State Regulators Override Elbert County To Advance Massive Power Line Project

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER–The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) recently sided with Xcel Energy in overriding Elbert County’s denial of a permit for the monopoly utility’s $1.7 billion power line project. The decision was based on a rarely used state statute. As previously reported by Complete Colorado, both Elbert and El Paso counties previously denied Xcel’s permit request to build a massive transmission line that slices directly through Colorado’s Eastern Plains. Colorado’s Power Pathway Project is 550-mile line connecting wind and solar energy generated in eastern counties to Denver metro-area communities. The project is a vital part of Governor Polis’ ambitious, though increasingly unrealistic mandate for 100% renewable energy ...
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Colorado Lawmakers Push Major Expansion Of Public Utilities Commission Authority
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Uncategorized, Approved, Complete Colorado, State

Colorado Lawmakers Push Major Expansion Of Public Utilities Commission Authority

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER – Colorado lawmakers are trying to introduce major changes to how the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) operates. The PUC, consisting of three members appointed by the governor, oversees numerous industries serving the public, from setting rates for your monthly electric bill to regulating Ubers. New legislation not only extends the PUC for another 11 years, but also introduces an onslaught of changes claiming to protect Coloradans.  However, according to critics, it adds additional burdens to an already over-regulated industry, takes transparency away from consumers and gives an already powerful board of unelected bureaucrats, even more power in other areas. Rideshare companies targeted House Bill 26-1326, Sunset ...
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Outside money floods Lakewood’s zoning fight—but voters aren’t budging
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, Local

Outside money floods Lakewood’s zoning fight—but voters aren’t budging

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project I wanted to offer some interesting updates on Lakewood’s zoning fight. I would also say that if this issue is near to your heart, and you’ve not yet, you might consider subscribing to the Lakewood Informer--an outlet that’s done incredible work covering this issue. In broad terms, as of the last update, a group of citizens pushing back on Lakewood City Council’s zoning mandates had successfully gotten enough signatures to put zoning on the ballot so residents of Lakewood could have a say on the issue.* Interestingly, per the second link below a blog entry for the Kim Monson radio show, the measure has drawn quite a bit of monied and big-name opposition, including that from out of state! Quoting from that l...
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Colorado Senate advances bill limiting local control over housing projects
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado Senate advances bill limiting local control over housing projects

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado lawmakers spent part of the week hashing out just how much the state should push new housing. The Senate approved House Bill 26-1001—after several amendments. Those amendments were agreed upon by the House the next day. Land that is already owned by institutions or the government is the main focus of the bill. If the measure is eventually passed into law, property owned by school districts, housing authorities, universities, transit agencies, and some nonprofit organizations may be eligible for a simplified approval process. Supporters say some of that property is sitting unused. If approvals were easier, they argue, some of it could be turned into housing. During the bill’s second reading, Senator Tony E...
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PUC sunset bill would allow backroom commissioner talks and expand state override of local land use decisions
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

PUC sunset bill would allow backroom commissioner talks and expand state override of local land use decisions

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project HB26-1326 PUC Sunset Bill There is finally firm policy to share about the Sunset Bill for the Public Utilities Commission. HB26-1326’s bill page is linked first below. I had heard some rumors so it’s good to have some specifics to examine. I wanted to get this out there faster than I had time to digest, so don’t expect more than a quick rundown of the things that I find concerning. I will be watching the bill and hoping to speak against what I’m about to share with you. If you have concerns of your own that you want to share, please speak up. In broad strokes, this bill continues the PUC for a while forward, but (as is their wont) the sponsors couldn’t help tossing in some extra goodies. Some fees go up,...
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Local control or state mandate: Colorado bill would override city prostitution laws
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ScottKJames.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Local control or state mandate: Colorado bill would override city prostitution laws

By Scott K. James | Commentary, ScottKJames.com The Colorado General Assembly wants to decriminalize commercial sex and block every city and county from prohibiting it. That is not reform. It is a statewide power grab dressed up as enlightenment. There are bad bills. There are misguided bills. And then there are bills that crawl out of the Capitol smelling like moral decay wrapped in legislative arrogance. This one is the latter. Under the gleaming gold dome of the Colorado State Capitol, Democrats in the Colorado General Assembly have decided that commercial sex is now so enlightened, so elevated, so philosophically superior that no city, no county, no community in the entire state of Colorado may forbid it. SB26-097 not only decriminalizes consensual...
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CMU student leaders press governor hopefuls on taxes, energy and rural control
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

CMU student leaders press governor hopefuls on taxes, energy and rural control

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice TPUSA chapter leaders from Colorado Mesa University opened Monday night’s gubernatorial forum with a question more typical of a legislative hearing than a campaign rally. Instead of easing into the forum, they went straight to TABOR. “How would you approach balancing Colorado’s budget while complying with TABOR? And what are your priorities when it comes to taxes, refunds and state spending during periods of surplus and economic stagnation?” Six candidates were at the forum that evening. Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer told the crowd she almost didn’t make the trip, saying she rearranged her Joint Budget Committee schedule and decided to “head on over to Grand Junction” when the weather held. Rep. Scott Bottoms of Colorado Springs share...
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Open letter warns HB26-1065 expands unelected power and state control
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Open letter warns HB26-1065 expands unelected power and state control

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project An open email to the sponsors of HB26-1065 and the House Finance Committee Members In keeping with earlier posts, I have been watching affordable housing legislation this session. One of the bills that came up in an earlier post is HB26-1065. I link to that bill first below. Mild in the impact, especially compared with efforts that take away local control and further reinforce the NGO/nonprofit/government complex, this bill is still concerning in what it sets up. My open letter to the committee is copied below the link. If it’s helpful to you in advocating on this issue, please feel free to use any part or the whole. Before I get to my email (and testimony if I can make the hearing) howe...
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When “affordable housing” means government-funded housing in Colorado
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State

When “affordable housing” means government-funded housing in Colorado

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Volker Housing, Part 1 During one of my public notice crawls for Logan County/Sterling, there was a notice about a developer applying for a grant from the state to turn an empty parcel of land into an affordable housing development. That notice in full can be found in the first link below, but the pertinent bit is quoted here: “Volker Housing Partners, LLC will submit an application to the Colorado Division of Housing (DOH). The purpose of this application is to request up to $2,000,000 in funding to develop 54 rental homes at 777 N 4th Street in Sterling, CO. “ A reader sent me an email and suggested that I look in on this company a little, and I agreed. If they’re pulling down $2 million, wha...
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