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Polis Signs Sweeping Colorado Law Changes Affecting Farms Schools And Public Office
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Polis Signs Sweeping Colorado Law Changes Affecting Farms Schools And Public Office

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Gov. Jared Polis signed 25 bills into law Monday, bringing changes that will affect workers, families, schools, and local governments across Colorado. The new laws deal with a range of issues – from overtime rules for farmworkers to limits on lawmakers holding multiple offices, along with school safety upgrades and new standards for dementia care facilities. These measures — some technical, others sweeping — reflect the wide array of issues lawmakers tackled during a session defined by tight budgets and competing priorities. No double-dipping As introduced, Senate Bill 59 would have prohibited state lawmakers — including newly elected members of the Colorado General Assembly — from holding a second elected office a...
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Citizenship requires more than showing up angry
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Undercurrent, Approved, Commentary, National

Citizenship requires more than showing up angry

By Michael Hancock | Commentary, Undercurrent Substack There is a strange contradiction in American life. We have never had more access to political information, yet we seem to understand government less. We have never had more ways to speak, yet we seem less capable of persuasion. We invoke rights constantly, yet we speak less often of duties. We demand accountability from every institution except, perhaps, ourselves. This is the condition of modern citizenship: loud, aggrieved, suspicious, emotional — and often poorly formed. The usual diagnosis is apathy. Americans do not vote enough. They do not attend local meetings. They cannot name their representatives. They do not understand the difference between a city council and a county commission, a school board and a state legislat...
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Trump DOJ Challenges Denver Over Longstanding Assault Weapons Ban
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The Gazette, Approved, Local

Trump DOJ Challenges Denver Over Longstanding Assault Weapons Ban

By Deborah Grigsby | The Gazette Denver officials have rejected a U.S. Department of Justice demand that they repeal the city’s longstanding ban on assault weapons. “Our answer is hell no,” Mayor Mike Johnston told members of the press along with public safety leaders gathered at City Hall on Monday. “No, we will not roll back a common-sense policy that has kept weapons of war off of these city streets for 37 years. No, we will not put first responders at greater risk every time they respond to a dangerous incident. No, we will not go back to a time when folks are worried about walking into movie theaters, grocery stores, or public elementary schools.” “Our answer is hell no,” Johnston told members of the press. The demand, which arrived in the form of a ...
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Counties forced to pay: State landfill mandates come without funding
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Counties forced to pay: State landfill mandates come without funding

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Funded mandates on county landfills? One of the consistent complaints coming out of municipal and local governments is the sheer number of unfunded mandates our state government puts on them. For some context on that, I link to an Advance Colorado report on them first below. Not all mandates come from the state legislature either. Sometimes they come from one of the copious unelected boards running more of the state than they should. A recent decision by the unelected Air Quality Control Council imposed significant costs on smaller, municipal landfills regarding methane controls. As usual, this mandate did not come with any dollars to help fund it. My state senator, B Pelton, has put forward a bi...
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Colorado Regulators Approve Aurora Area Wells Despite Fierce Community Opposition
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CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Colorado Regulators Approve Aurora Area Wells Despite Fierce Community Opposition

By Kelly Werthmann | CBS Colorado Colorado regulators on Tuesday cleared the way for a controversial oil and gas project near the Aurora Reservoir, following a yearslong battle by community members to block the plan. In a narrow 3-2 vote, the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission approved the permit for SM Energy's Sunlight-Long well development plan. The decision follows more than six hours of presentations and deliberations on Tuesday, marking the culmination of at least seven public hearings regarding the site's potential impact on the surrounding area. CBS The approval allows for fracking operations to move forward approximately 3,000 feet from the nearest homes. Members of the community group Save the Aurora Reservoir (STAR) have fought th...
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One Board, One Council, One Legislator at a Time
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

One Board, One Council, One Legislator at a Time

By Michael J Badagliacco, “MJB” | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice While attending the Colorado Republican Assembly in April 2026, I reflected on how Colorado fell to the radical far left. A conversation with a friend came to mind. It described the precise mechanism the left uses to convert our Constitutional Republic into a social democracy, contrary to the vision of the founders. The U.S. was founded as a Constitutional Republic with power rooted in local government, built from the bottom up rather than imposed from the top down. Although we look to the president for national leadership, the true foundation lies in town councils, school boards, and state legislatures.  Article IV, Section 4 of the United States Constitution guarantees to every state in the Union a...
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Colorado Senate Advances Bill to Ease Landfill Regulation Burden
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Senate Advances Bill to Ease Landfill Regulation Burden

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER – A bipartisan bill to backfill county governments for an unfunded methane emissions mandate is counting on money from existing state grant programs, which, according to Sen. Byron Pelton, is necessary to ensure Colorado counties don’t go bankrupt from the environmental rules put in place by unelected boards appointed by Gov. Jared Polis. Senate Bill 26-101, Local Government Landfill Methane Emission Reduction Regulations, will allow counties to use money from the community impact cash fund, air quality enterprise cash fund, and local government mineral impact fund “for the purpose of complying with landfill methane emission reduction requirements adopted by the air quality control commission, a division of the department of public h...
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Lone Tree Pushes Back Against State Control Over Local Zoning
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

Lone Tree Pushes Back Against State Control Over Local Zoning

By Tyler Melito | Denver7 The City of Lone Tree is prepared to use its Home Rule Charter to overrule state laws that limit local control over zoning, occupancy limits, and land use. LONE TREE, Colo. — The City of Lone Tree is calling out the state legislature for passing laws that narrow local control, specifically in areas pertaining to zoning, occupancy limits, and land use. In a recent post on the city's website, officials stated the state is passing laws in "areas traditionally governed at the local level." Lone Tree Mayor Marissa Harmon telling Denver7's Tyler Melito recent state laws are eroding the city's Home Rule Charter. The charter, passed by residents in 1998, acts as the city's constitution and gives the city the power to manage its own affairs. ...
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Colorado Regulators Override Local Denial To Advance Renewable Energy Grid
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, Local

Colorado Regulators Override Local Denial To Advance Renewable Energy Grid

By Mark Jaffe | The Colorado Sun The ruling was based on a statute used just 3 times in 21 years allowing regulators to override local land use decisions on electric and gas infrastructure projects. State utility regulators have overruled local land use decisions and cleared the way for Xcel Energy to build its $1.7 billion Power Pathway transmission line through Elbert County. The line will bring Eastern Plains wind and solar to the Front Range. The Elbert County Commission voted in June 2025 to deny Xcel Energy two key permits responding to protests by landowners and ranchers and an unwillingness by the utility to reroute the path, which cut through the heart of the county. The county commission and many landowners sought to have the route moved fa...
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Adams 12 Leaders Eye Cuts And Consolidation As Student Enrollment Numbers Fall By Thousands
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

Adams 12 Leaders Eye Cuts And Consolidation As Student Enrollment Numbers Fall By Thousands

By Sophia Villalba | Denver7 ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. — Adams 12 Five Star Schools — which serves all or parts of Broomfield, Federal Heights, Northglenn, Thornton, and Westminster — could soon see changes as enrollment continues to drop. Enrollment at the district has dropped by more than 6,000 students over the last decade. This school year, the district saw a decline of more than 1,300 students, the second-largest since 2020. It’s a trend all too familiar across the state. Denver7 spoke with Boulder Valley School District officials, who said they started seeing a decline in 2017. “Over the last 10 years, we've had about 3,600 fewer students than we had previously. As we project forward for the next five years, we're seeing about a 1,700-student decr...
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