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Colorado Voters Will Decide Right To Natural Gas in November
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Voters Will Decide Right To Natural Gas in November

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics A citizen initiative that seeks to enshrine the right to natural gas has qualified for the November ballot, Colorado’s election office confirmed on Thursday. Petitions containing signatures for Initiative No. 177 were turned in to the Secretary of State’s Office for review in late June. On Thursday, the Secretary of State’s Office said 146,165 of the 189,508 signatures collected were valid, surpassing the threshold. The initiative from Advance Colorado establishes consumers’ right to purchase natural gas for cooking and heating their homes and businesses, as well as the right of distributors and utilities to sell natural gas to homes and businesses. “Natural gas is a clean, reliable and affordable form of energy...
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Two measures. Two opposite answers. One Colorado income tax rate.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Two measures. Two opposite answers. One Colorado income tax rate.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado voters may face a choice in November between two measures that couldn't disagree more about the state income tax. One would replace the flat rate with a graduated system and raise close to $2 billion a year. The other would make it illegal to raise the rate at all. Neither one is a new idea. And the differences between them go deeper than the rate. What each one does Colorado's income tax has been flat since 1987, meaning everyone pays the same percentage regardless of what they earn. The rate is currently 4.40 percent. Initiative 195, backed by a coalition led by the Bell Policy Center, would replace that with six brackets.  The Legislative Council Staff, which produces nonpartisan fiscal analys...
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Fields: ‘If politicians won’t do it, the people still can’
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Approved, Commentary, denvergazette.com

Fields: ‘If politicians won’t do it, the people still can’

By Michael Fields | Commentary, Denver Gazette Grassroots Coloradans made their voices heard in 2024. The year was marked by voters across the political spectrum demanding commonsense reforms to address real-world problems — including sky-high property taxes and soaring crime rates — that the far-left Legislature wanted to duck. It was a reminder to elected officials that the people are ultimately in charge. The citizen initiative process acts as a safety valve when the men and women we elect are disconnected from the everyday concerns and challenges facing their constituents. Too often legislators are ideologically resistant to reforms that are urgently needed. READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are t...
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