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State Budget Growth Cap Leaves Colorado With Tough Choices Ahead
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State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

State Budget Growth Cap Leaves Colorado With Tough Choices Ahead

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Providing the same level of government programs and services next fiscal year is predicted to cost $850 million more than the legislature will have available to spend. It’s one state budget crisis after another.  That’s the takeaway from quarterly economic and tax revenue forecasts presented Monday to the Colorado legislature by nonpartisan Capitol staff and the governor’s office.  The General Assembly just wrapped up a special session to plug a roughly $750 million hole in the state’s current budget caused by tax code changes made through congressional Republicans’ tax and spending bill, which was passed and signed into law in July. But more trouble is on the horizon in the form of what’s referred to as Colorado’s structural...
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How Special Was That Session?
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Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

How Special Was That Session?

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado (CHEC) Last Wednesday, on September 10th, we witnessed a political assassination. A young, courageous conservative was murdered in cold blood on the campus of Utah Valley University. Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was engaging students in conversation and debate when he was violently gunned down.  College campuses are supposed to be places of intellectual curiosity where ideas are explored, and students make up their own minds. This concept of free speech was something our country was founded on, but it seems that the Colorado legislative majority party does not want to hear differing thoughts. The message of the Kirk assassination was that if you don’t agree with progressive ideology, you should jus...
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State Triggers Emergency Prison Measures Due to Overcrowding
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The Gazette, Approved, State

State Triggers Emergency Prison Measures Due to Overcrowding

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Gazette Ongoing issues within the Colorado Department of Corrections have prompted the state to trigger its Prison Population Management Measures — a policy framework established in 2018 to address overcrowding. It marks the first time the measures have been put into effect. Under the law, the governor must implement the management measures if the state’s prison vacancy rate stays below 3% for 30 consecutive days, a threshold that was met on Aug. 16. The issue of overcrowding in the state correctional facilities has been a growing concern for months, with county sheriffs sounding the alarm in May over the shortage of prison beds, leading to increased strain on local jails. Facing a budget shortfall of over $1 billion, state lawmake...
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November ballot tax hike seeks to cover collapsing ‘free’ lunch program and SNAP
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

November ballot tax hike seeks to cover collapsing ‘free’ lunch program and SNAP

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER–Colorado voters are set to decide further hiking taxes on high-income earners to prop up the state’s dwindling “free” school lunch program as part of the November statewide ballot.  But under a recently amended version of the measure, any excess revenues would be used to also subsidize the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), more commonly known as food stamps. Colorado’s Healthy School Meals for All program began shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic, when the legislature fully funded “free” school meals for every kid in the public school system for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years. With funding set to end after the 2022, lawmakers asked Coloradans to approve Proposition FF, which raised taxes on Coloradan...
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Colorado’s unelected energy board moves to give Xcel control over your appliances
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s unelected energy board moves to give Xcel control over your appliances

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project, Substack Low energy, low carbon, and higher upfront cost energy codes are now complete I have written in the past about our state's model energy code.** Per the quote (with link left intact) coming from the link at bottom:"The Model Low Energy and Carbon Code, which is required by state law HB22-1362, becomes Colorado’s new minimum energy code on July 1, 2026. Any municipality or county that updates any of its building codes after that date must adopt the model code, or a code that will achieve greater energy efficiency and pollution reductions."That second sentence there is the operant one. Get ready to have this code forced upon your locality as soon as they update their building codes post 7/1/2026.I'll leave it to ...
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Polis Budget Cuts Threaten Health Care Access for Medicaid Patients
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Polis Budget Cuts Threaten Health Care Access for Medicaid Patients

By Brandon Richard | Denver7 Gov. Jared Polis says the cuts helped rebalance the state budget after Congress passed President Trump's tax bill DENVER — Coloradans may be forced to pay more and wait longer for health care treatment due to some of the budget cuts Gov. Jared Polis announced this week. Polis said the cuts were necessary to help rebalance the state budget after a Republican federal tax and spending bill, H.R.1. (One Big Beautiful Bill Act), reduced the state’s revenue and created a $783 million budget gap. "Unlike the federal government, we have to balance our budget,” Polis said. The governor made more than $250 million in cuts and redirected spending across departments. "What H.R.1 does in a way is it makes these cuts, and then it makes states be the bad guy...
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Polis Orders $252 Million in Cuts After Years of Overspending Strain State Finances
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State, Approved, The Gazette

Polis Orders $252 Million in Cuts After Years of Overspending Strain State Finances

By Marianne Goodland | The Gazette Lawmakers balk at some cuts, particularly reductions to health care provider rates. Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday signed an executive order, initiating the process to cut $252.5 million in cash and general funds from this year's budget, with the most significant impact on the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which administers Medicaid. Polis also signed into law a measure from the recently concluded special session that requires him to meet with the Joint Budget Committee to review the spending reduction plan.  That meeting was often tense, with the legislators who craft the state budget indicating they aren't going along with some of his cuts, particularly for Medicaid providers. Policymakers said the actions taken durin...
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Colorado Lawmakers Hand Polis Authority for $300 Million in Spending Cuts
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State, Approved, DENVER7

Colorado Lawmakers Hand Polis Authority for $300 Million in Spending Cuts

By Brandon Richard | Denver7 The governor could make up to $300 million in spending cuts as part of the Democrats' plan to fix the budget gap. DENVER — Colorado’s special session is over, but there’s still more work to do to address the state’s $783 million budget gap. Most of that work will fall to Governor Jared Polis. Colorado’s Democratic legislative leaders have a three-part plan to address the budget gap. They took care of one part of that plan during their six-day special session when they cut several corporate tax breaks. "I'm grateful my colleagues didn't shy away from this challenge,” said Senate President James Coleman, D-Denver. “We faced it head-on. We rolled up our sleeves. We acted like the adults in the room." But they’re leaving the other two parts of...
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Colorado absorbed 43,000 illegal immigrants in 2 years as taxpayers foot the bill
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Breitbart, Approved, State

Colorado absorbed 43,000 illegal immigrants in 2 years as taxpayers foot the bill

By Warner Todd Huston | Breitbart Colorado gained 43,000 illegal aliens in just two years, a report revealed. The estimated number of illegal aliens living in Colorado jumped from 160,000 in 2021 to more than 200,000 by 2023, according to the latest report by Pew Research Center. The largest number of those illegals ended up in and around Denver, the paper reported. The number has jumped even more in the years covered by the Pew report, according to the Denver News Gazette. The paper noted that city officials pegged the number of illegals entering Denver at 43,000, of which about 20,000 have remained living in the city. The Gazette also claimed that the influx of illegals has cost the taxpayers of the city of Denver at least $100 million. The D...
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Colorado GOP Says Special Session Fell Short as Democrats Claim Progress
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State, Approved, DENVER7

Colorado GOP Says Special Session Fell Short as Democrats Claim Progress

By Colleen Slevin | Denver7 Governor Jared Polis is expected to address the remaining $500 million budget gap in a presentation to the Joint Budget Committee on Thursday. DENVER — Colorado's special legislative session ended on Tuesday after six days. The success of the session depends on which state lawmaker you ask. Governor Jared Polis called the session on Aug. 6 to address the state's $1.2 billion budget hole, which he said was created by tax changes made in President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Act (H.R.1). According to the governor and fellow Colorado Democrats, Colorado will collect less revenue than expected when lawmakers approved the state budget in May. Some of that $1.2 billion revenue loss was absorbed by the state education fund and the affordable housing fu...
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