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Were Colorado voters sold a bill of goods on Props LL and MM?
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Were Colorado voters sold a bill of goods on Props LL and MM?

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Sold a bill of goods on Props LL and MM? Part 1 The Complete Colorado piece by Nash Herman linked first below poses an interesting question with its first line. Quoting: “Were Colorado voters duped into passing Propositions LL and MM based on false information?”The answer is not a simple one. The question itself isn’t. If voters had perfect information, would they have voted differently? Was anything done intentionally? If there were omission/mistakes with no intent, how did they come about?Perhaps most important of all, what lessons can we take for the future?Getting anywhere close to an answer to the above will require three posts, all of which will be today. I’ll summarize my thoughts on the questions and...
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Minnesota’s Medicaid Scandal Shows Why Colorado Must Tighten the Guardrails
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Minnesota’s Medicaid Scandal Shows Why Colorado Must Tighten the Guardrails

By Cory Gaines | Complete Colorado To say Minnesota has had some fraud going on is an understatement. I don’t know that I’ve seen it mentioned much in local media, but it’s a big national story. Colorado should beware taking its turn in this barrel. First, some brief background. Minnesota sought (and received) Medicaid waivers during COVID to use taxpayer dollars to fund things like subsidized housing for recipients, which ended up an impetus for massive fraud. An MPR News article gives some context, but the sheer size of the numbers are what really popped out to me: “According to the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office, DHS [Minnesota Department of Housing Stabilization] had initially predicted the housing stabilization program would cost about $2.6 mill...
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Wolf Reintroduction Costs Mount as Colorado Faces Another Budget Shortfall
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Approved, Aspen Times, State

Wolf Reintroduction Costs Mount as Colorado Faces Another Budget Shortfall

By: Ali Longwell | The Aspen Times A Joint Budget Committee briefing looked at how Parks and Wildlife has spent general fund allocations on wolves. To implement Colorado's voter-mandated reintroduction of gray wolves, the state legislature annually allocates $2.1 million as well as additional funds for compensating ranchers for wolf-related livestock losses. Colorado Parks and Wildlife/Courtesy Photo Colorado lawmakers continue to raise questions about the cost of the state’s wolf reintroduction during the early phases of the annual budgeting process for 2026. On Tuesday, Dec. 9, the Joint Budget Committee was briefed by committee staff on the 2026 budget for the Department of Natural Resources, which includes Colorado Parks and Wildlife.  It’s the second step in th...
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Voters Misled on Colorado Ballot Measures LL and MM as Costs Outpace Promises
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Approved, Complete Colorado, State

Voters Misled on Colorado Ballot Measures LL and MM as Costs Outpace Promises

By: Nash Herman | Complete Colorado Were Colorado voters duped into passing Propositions LL and MM based on false information? It certainly looks that way based on a recent Joint Budget Committee (JBC) hearing on the Department of Education’s budget request for the coming fiscal year where some enlightening information was revealed about the Healthy School Meals for All (HSMA) program (the relevant discussion began at the 9:38 am mark).  Background on ‘free’ school lunch As I previously explained, HSMA, also known as the “free” school lunch program, was created via Proposition FF in 2022 and was quickly recognized as financially unsustainable in just its first year of operation.  The legislature responded by asking voters to save the program by de-TABORi...
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Child-care costs surge under Biden-era rule and state law, forcing counties to freeze CCCAP
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Child-care costs surge under Biden-era rule and state law, forcing counties to freeze CCCAP

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s child-care system is staring down a financial hit driven by new federal mandates from the Biden administration. The rules were pitched as a way to make child care more affordable nationwide, but they shift the cost burden onto states—leaving Colorado to absorb millions in unfunded requirements at a time when access is already tight. A new analysis from the Common Sense Institute shows what this means for families: fewer available slots, county-level enrollment freezes, and real consequences for Colorado’s workforce. The change came from the Federal 2024 CCDF Final Rule that rewrites how states run child-care assistance programs. Under the new rule, families can’t be asked to pay more than 7 percent of their income,...
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Commissioner Daniel: It’s Time for Fiscal Common Sense in Colorado
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The Business Times, Approved, Commentary, Local

Commissioner Daniel: It’s Time for Fiscal Common Sense in Colorado

By Bobbie Daniel | Commentary, The Business Times In the business world, there’s one principle that separates success from failure: You can’t spend what you don’t have. If a company tried to launch a dozen new initiatives without funding them, investors would walk, creditors would call, and the board would be out by morning. Yet somehow, that’s exactly how the State of Colorado has been operating. Each year, new laws are passed that sound good on paper but come with no money to make them work. Those costs get quietly pushed down to local governments — and ultimately to taxpayers. We call them unfunded mandates, and they’re the public-sector version of bad business. Here in Mesa County, we’ve been tracking these costs for two years, and the numbers tell the story. This year alon...
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Colorado Counties Push Back on Polis Over Costly ‘Unfunded Mandates’
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Counties Push Back on Polis Over Costly ‘Unfunded Mandates’

By: Allie Jennerjahn | Denver7 In Mesa County alone, Commissioner Bobbie Daniel tracked down almost $10 million a year in unfunded mandates. DENVER — More than 40 Colorado counties have voiced concerns to Governor Jared Polis about laws being passed without funding. They claim it's putting a burden on local governments, and in some cases, leave taxpayers to foot the bill. The concern started in Mesa County when Commissioner Bobbie Daniel started to notice "unfunded mandates" getting brought up constantly when discussing budget. "I asked, 'Anyone tracking this? Is this something that we're, collectively as an organization, tracking?' And no, and we weren't at the time," Daniel said. "And so I said, "Let's continue looking at this. Let's track it and see what we come up with.'"...
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Last-minute voter? Your refund might be on the menu
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Last-minute voter? Your refund might be on the menu

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board Still sitting on your ballot? You’re not alone—Colorado’s full of last-minute voters trying to make sense of Propositions LL and MM before the drop box closes. Both deal with “Healthy School Meals for All,” a free lunch program with a not-so-free price tag. And depending how you vote, your refund might just end up on the menu. How we got here Back in 2022, voters approved Proposition FF, the “Healthy School Meals for All” program that promised every K–12 student a free lunch. It sounded simple until someone had to pay for it. The money came from a new tax on Coloradans earning $300,000 or more—along with wage hikes for cafeteria workers and a nudge to use more local ingredients. Fast-forward to 2025, and the legislature realized there’s e...
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Hospitals on life support: Report says 70% of Colorado facilities losing money
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Hospitals on life support: Report says 70% of Colorado facilities losing money

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Denver Gazette Nearly 70% of Colorado hospitals ended 2024 with “unsustainable” margins, according to a new financial report from the Colorado Hospital Association. Tom Rennell, the group’s senior vice president of financial policy and data analytics, said hospitals’ expenses are outpacing their revenue, as an increasing number of Colorado patients are losing their insurance coverage, partially due to the post-pandemic Medicaid unwind. “Over the last several years since the COVID times and through the high inflationary times, hospitals have been experiencing some significant econmic turbulence,” Rennell said. “We don’t have the full picture yet, but I can tell you that what we’re seeing so far in 2025 is that there has been even more of a deterioration a...
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Colorado’s “Budget Crisis” Rings Hollow Amid EV Giveaway Surge
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s “Budget Crisis” Rings Hollow Amid EV Giveaway Surge

By: Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado Colorado’s governor just made this statement “The market has made it clear, EVs (electric vehicles) are here to stay.” I agree with him. Electric cars, unlike 8-track tapes and rotary-dial phones, will continue to be available to consumers for a long, long time. Cool. But why he made the statement puzzles me. He did so while touting his decision that the state will increase one of its subsidies to buy a new EV from $6,000 to $9,000. Wait a second. Which one is it? Has the market made clear electric vehicles are “here to stay”? Or do we need to increase the EV subsidy by a third to keep its market alive? And it begs another question: If the state is in a budget crisis, why spend our very scarce money buying people cars instead...
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