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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 Legislators To Receive Raises During $1.5 Billion Budget Crisis
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Legislators To Receive Raises During $1.5 Billion Budget Crisis

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Colorado’s $1.5 billion budget deficit is driving widespread cuts across state services, including reduced reimbursement rates for Medicaid providers and steep income losses for families caring for relatives with intellectual and developmental disabilities. However, as those reductions take effect, an automatic pay increase for state lawmakers — triggered by a 2024 change in law — remains scheduled to begin in 2027. When Gov. Jared Polis signed House Bill 1333 on Monday, the measure included a salary increase for legislators. The bill does not reference this pay raise directly, nor is it mentioned in either of the bill’s fiscal analyses. The increased salary, along with higher per diem and mileage rates, is expe...
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Colorado Lawmakers Face Crunch Time With Hundreds Of Bills Still Pending
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Face Crunch Time With Hundreds Of Bills Still Pending

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette With just 10 days left in the 2026 session, Colorado lawmakers are staring down the final stretch of a crowded agenda, with 228 bills still unresolved and several major measures that have yet to even be introduced. Monday’s report from the Office of Legislative Legal Services shows that of the 619 bills introduced so far, 430 originated in the House and 189 in the Senate. The large gap between the chambers stems not only from their different membership sizes but also from the annual budget process. In February, the House introduced supplemental budget bills, and later it carried the Long Bill and its 64 accompanying “orbital” measures that adjust state law to keep the budget in balance. There are 228 bills still awaiting...
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SB26-147: A Great Idea Almost Certain to Be Vetoed
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

SB26-147: A Great Idea Almost Certain to Be Vetoed

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project     SB26-147: a great idea almost certain to be vetoed The CPR article linked first below was my first introduction to the bill SB26-147, which is linked second below. The focus of the article is on how the legislature is pushing back on Governor Polis’ micromanaging by requiring his staff to register and hold to the same rules as any other lobbyist would. Quoting from the article with link intact: “Currently, lobbyists are required to register a stance on any bills they’re trying to influence with the Secretary of State’s Office, which makes that information publicly available. Legislative liaisons doing the same type of work for state agencies or the governor’s office directly don’t have those dis...
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Lawmakers Move To Level Playing Field Between Lobbyists And State Agencies
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Colorado Public Radio, Approved, State

Lawmakers Move To Level Playing Field Between Lobbyists And State Agencies

By Rae Solomon | Colorado Public Radio Governor Jared Polis is strongly pushing back against a proposal that would treat legislative staff in his administration like any other lobbyist.  The primary job of those workers, called legislative liaisons, is to try to sway lawmakers and change legislation. They’re essentially lobbyists for the state government and the Polis administration, but they aren’t required to follow the same disclosure rules that govern most lobbyists.  A bipartisan bill moving through the statehouse would change that, a measure that appeared to ruffle feathers within Governor Jared Polis’s administration. “Staff members in the Governor’s office are not registered lobbyists, and it would be absurd to have them treated the same way,” ...
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Colorado Lawmakers Shift Strategy Push New Conversion Therapy Bill After Supreme Court Ruling
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Shift Strategy Push New Conversion Therapy Bill After Supreme Court Ruling

By Lucas Brady Woods | The Colorado Sun House Bill 1322 would allow patients to sue for damages if they suffer harm from conversion therapy, a controversial practice aimed at changing someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Dylan Scholinski creates their art in a creaky, old building in north Denver. A large studio space is packed with their work from over the years, including a set of mixed-media illustrations depicting dark, contorted figures. “This is like a hallway of the institution with the rooms, the room doors,” Scholinski said, flipping through several of them. The illustrations are based on Scholinski’s experience in psychiatric institutions as a teenager, where they underwent conversion therapy, a controversial practice meant to change some...
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Colorado Supreme Court Limits Reach Of Insurance Consumer Protections
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Supreme Court Limits Reach Of Insurance Consumer Protections

By Michael Karlik | The Denver Gazette The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the legislature’s consumer protections requiring insurance companies to take certain steps before they allege a policyholder failed to cooperate do not apply to any obligation specifically laid out in the policy. In 2020, the legislature changed state law to limit insurance companies’ ability to assert a failure-to-cooperate defense when they are sued for withholding benefits. Among other things, an insurer must give a policyholder time to address any specifically identified failures to cooperate in the claim investigation. Plaintiff Anthony Wenzell and the groups supporting him argued the law captures an insurer’s allegation of noncooperation across the board, including ob...
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New Federal Reforms Target Billions In State Fraud And Waste
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The Federalist, Approved, Commentary, National

New Federal Reforms Target Billions In State Fraud And Waste

By Christopher Jacobs | Commentary, The Federalist A recent congressional hearing showed the scope of the state waste, fraud, and abuse problem our nation faces. A recurring theme of public policy — one that leftists often ignore — is how people respond to incentives. If the federal government runs programs that give individuals carte blanche to steal, then some unscrupulous actors will exploit those weaknesses to do so. But those incentives go beyond individuals and also extend to the fight against waste, fraud, and abuse. In many cases, states have taken little action to crack down on fraud and waste within government programs because the federal government provides the bulk of the funding for said programs. If Washington gives states a blank check regardless of wh...
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Court Reinforces Limits On State Cooperation With Federal Immigration Requests
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Court Reinforces Limits On State Cooperation With Federal Immigration Requests

By Taylor Dolven | The Colorado Sun It’s the latest legal loss for the governor in a case brought against him for attempting to share information with federal immigration officials. A Denver judge Tuesday again barred Gov. Jared Polis from ordering state employees to comply with a subpoena from federal immigration officials for Coloradans’ personal information. The ruling marks the latest loss for the governor in the lawsuit brought against him to stop the sharing of information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the past year. The case was 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 an Apr...
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Polis Signs Letter Criticizing Colorado Business Climate Critics Say He Created
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Polis Signs Letter Criticizing Colorado Business Climate Critics Say He Created

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER – An open letter expressing concern over the number of businesses leaving Colorado and the inability of the state to attract others was recently sent to numerous Colorado elected officials. The several hundred business, technology, and civic leaders who signed the letter are asking for consideration in easing the regulatory burden that they say is the driving factor behind Colorado’s “deteriorating” foundation. That same letter was both sent to and signed by Gov. Jared Polis, the irony of which is not lost on State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer (R-Brighton) who points out that Polis is the man behind the pen that has caused much of the trouble the letter outlines. “Basically, he’s a hypocrite,” Kirkmeyer told Complete Colorado. “Th...
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