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Colorado Budget Shortfall Sparks Questions Over Spending Priorities
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Budget Shortfall Sparks Questions Over Spending Priorities

By Rep. Scott Bottoms | Commentary, Complete Colorado The Colorado House of Representatives recently received the unwelcome news that the state faces a $1.5 billion shortfall as they craft the state’s budget for fiscal year 2026-27. This troubling development comes on top of last year’s $750 million deficit. The shortfalls are odd because overall government spending has increased dramatically: since 2019 (the year Democrats took over the House, Senate, and governor’s office), Colorado’s population has increased by 4.4%, while at the same time, the state’s annual budget has increased by 43.6% (roughly 10 times the rate of population growth). Think about that. Fiscal malpractice In the midst of these fiscal straits, you’d think legislators...
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Colorado Democrats defeat bills on girls’ sports fairness and malpractice timelines for gender treatments
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado Democrats defeat bills on girls’ sports fairness and malpractice timelines for gender treatments

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado lawmakers earlier this week heard testimony that moved between two questions tied to the state’s ongoing debate over transgender policies. One centered on medical treatments performed years earlier and whether patients should have more time to file malpractice claims. The other focused on school athletics and whether girls’ sports programs should be limited to biological females. Physicians spoke about long-term medical outcomes. Detransitioners described treatments they received as minors and the consequences they say followed years later. Athletes and parents weighed in on fairness in girls’ sports. Both questions came before the House State, Civic, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. ...
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Rep. Bottoms’ HB 1145, prohibiting trafficking of minors into state for reproductive services, killed in committee
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Rep. Bottoms’ HB 1145, prohibiting trafficking of minors into state for reproductive services, killed in committee

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice Rep. Scott Bottoms may have learned Tuesday that perception is indeed reality. Despite multiple attempts to position his House Bill 25-1145 as another attempt to hold accountable child traffickers he has witnessed operating over two decades, his bill was shredded in the House's Judiciary Committee for surface concerns it was rather an anti-abortion, anti-transgender bill. "This is a bill trying to stop trafficking and the abuse of our children," said Bottoms, a Colorado Springs pastor. "This is another shot at just trying to put these people in jail." The bill would prohibit the taking, or trafficking, of a minor across state lines into Colorado for the purpose of reproductive health-care services. It was postponed indefinitely by a 7-4 pa...
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Gun owners, 2A advocates asked to ‘stand up and fight’ during first caucus event
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Gun owners, 2A advocates asked to ‘stand up and fight’ during first caucus event

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice LOVELAND — A collection of state legislators, advocates and gun dealers gathered here Saturday at The Gallery Range & Restaurant in an effort to unify the state's 2nd Amendment supporters. "This is the first step we are a taking as a caucus," said state Rep. Ryan Armagost, who with Rep. Scott Bottoms chair the newly-formed 2nd Amendment Caucus in the Colorado House. "We're trying to get the word out on a lot of levels," Bottoms added. "What does it mean to be a firearms owner in Colorado?" They were joined by freshmen Reps. Rebecca Keltie, in El Paso County's District 16, and Larry Don Suckla, from the eight-county District 58 on the Western Slope. "I'm not just a gun advocate," Keltie said. "I support the 2nd Amendment. I believe i...
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Rep. Scott Bottoms declares to church, ‘I am going to run for governor’
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Rep. Scott Bottoms declares to church, ‘I am going to run for governor’

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice Rep. Scott Bottoms, rated as the second-most conservative member of the Colorado General Assembly, has indicated he will seek the Republican Party's nomination for governor. "I am going to run for governor," Bottoms told members of the Church at Briargate before beginning his weekly Sunday morning sermon. Bottoms, in addition to serving El Paso County in District 15 in the Colorado House, is lead pastor at the Church at Briargate in Colorado Springs, and indicated a desire for the church to hear his announcement first. "If I don't get elected, nothing changes, except probably 4-5 bitter sermons for the next few weeks after that," Bottoms said. He is rated by Colorado Liberty Scorecard as one of three legislators among 100 in 2024 to hav...
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