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Judge Orders Griswold to Turn Over Records Tied to Taxpayer-Funded Consulting
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Judge Orders Griswold to Turn Over Records Tied to Taxpayer-Funded Consulting

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado A Denver District Court judge has given Secretary of State Jena Griswold until Thursday to comply with an open records request, or she could be held in contempt. The records involve consulting work, paid for with public funds. Griswold's office says it doesn't have the documents and it refuses to ask the consultant for them, claiming that would impose an undue "burden." Instead, the Secretary of State's office sent four employees and the Attorney General's Office sent three attorneys to court. The consultant was brought in two years after Griswold became Secretary of State. The office had become a revolving door. Griswold was on her second deputy secretary, third chief legal counsel and fourth chief of staff. An invoice in the court record ...
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Colorado Progressive Tax Plan Raises Long-Term Bracket Creep Concerns
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Progressive Tax Plan Raises Long-Term Bracket Creep Concerns

By Nash Herman | Complete Colorado Proponents of a progressive state income tax claim that it will give most Coloradans a break on their taxes.   Those familiar with history, inflation, and bracket creep see a much different long-term picture.   Repeating history The US adopted a federal income tax in 1913, justified by the claim that only about one percent of the population would pay the tax in its earliest years.  Does this sound familiar?   Proponents of Initiative 195, the ballot measure to switch Colorado’s 4.4 percent flat income tax rate to a progressive tax, are adamant that the measure is fair because 97 percent of filers will receive a tax cut.  READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT COMPLETE COLORAD...
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Bennet Agrees To Settlement Over Improper Campaign Spending On Travel
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Bennet Agrees To Settlement Over Improper Campaign Spending On Travel

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet’s gubernatorial campaign has agreed to pay a $7,433 fine for using his Senate campaign account to pay for gubernatorial campaign travel expenses. The July 31 settlement includes an admission by Bennet and his campaign that they violated state campaign finance laws. The settlement is tied to multiple complaints filed last year. The complaints said Bennet traveled for his gubernatorial campaign in 2025, paying for it with funds from his U.S. Senate campaign account. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Judicial Performance Commissions Flag Three Colorado Judges Ahead of November Election
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Judicial Performance Commissions Flag Three Colorado Judges Ahead of November Election

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics Of the 123 Colorado judges standing for retention on the November ballot, citizen-led performance commissions found that three did not meet the required performance standards. However, in an unprecedented move, the commission charged with evaluating Supreme Court and Court of Appeals members stepped in to issue its own narrative after it concluded the local performance commission in northeastern Colorado violated the rules in a “serious” manner when it gave an unfavorable review to one judge. Under Colorado’s system of selecting judges, the governor appoints new judges from a short list created by citizen-led nominating commissions that screen and interview applicants. Judges serve for at least two years before voters dec...
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Montezuma County Sheriff Declines to Enforce Colorado Gun Law Citing Constitution and Costs
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

Montezuma County Sheriff Declines to Enforce Colorado Gun Law Citing Constitution and Costs

By: Robert Garrison | Denver7 CORTEZ, Colo. — Montezuma County Sheriff Steven Nowlin announced Monday that his office will not participate in a new Colorado gun law, citing funding, staffing and constitutional concerns. Senate Bill 25-003, which took effect Aug. 1, adds new requirements for purchasing certain semiautomatic firearms, including obtaining a five-year eligibility card from a local sheriff's office and completing an in-person safety course. “As a Colorado Sheriff, and every member of the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office, each of us has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Colorado, and perform the duties of the Office of Sheriff in Colorado by protecting those rights for all citizens in Montezum...
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Victor Marx Selects Retired Marine George Markert For Lieutenant Governor
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Victor Marx Selects Retired Marine George Markert For Lieutenant Governor

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics Colorado Republican gubernatorial nominee Victor Marx named George Markert, a retired Marine colonel, as his running mate for lieutenant governor Friday morning, saying the former U.S. Senate candidate will bring “exceptional character, proven leadership and a lifetime of serving others” to the ticket. Marx is facing Democratic nominee Phil Weiser, the state’s attorney general, and independent candidate Greg Lopez, a former Republican congressman, in the race to succeed Democratic Gov. Jared Polis next year, who faces term limits. The announcement comes nine weeks before county clerks can start sending out mail ballots for the Nov. 3 election. Last week, Weiser announced thathis choice for the No. 2 position was Jefferso...
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Convention of States has a Colorado bill ready for 2027. It still has no sponsor.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Convention of States has a Colorado bill ready for 2027. It still has no sponsor.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Convention of States Action (COSA) says more than 62,000 Coloradans have signed its petitions calling for a constitutional convention to impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit its power, and set term limits for Congress.  The organization has a draft bill ready for the 2027 legislative session.  Its representatives have met with senior policy staff in the Governor's Office.  According to Michael Forbis, a 20-year Army veteran and Colorado Springs resident who volunteers on COSA Colorado's Legislative Liaison Team, House Republican staff distributed an earlier version of the proposal to the caucus's 22 members. What it does not have is a single Colorado legislator willing to spons...
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Polis Celebrates Education Gains But Healthcare Access, Crime And Budget Challenges Remain
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Polis Celebrates Education Gains But Healthcare Access, Crime And Budget Challenges Remain

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette Colorado officials said they have something to celebrate this week, in addition to the state’s sesquicentennial birthday on Saturday. U.S. News & World Report on Tuesday gave Colorado its top ranking for education efforts from pre-K to postsecondary, though it didn’t fare well in other areas, such as health access and crime. Gov. Jared Polis celebrated the announcement with a trip to the Farrell B. Howell ECE-8 School in east Denver.  U.S. News & World Report issued its annual best states rankings on Tuesday. Colorado earned its first place in education based on “increases in associate degree completion and attainment rates, as well as substantial growth in preschool enrollment enabled by the Colorado...
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Former GOP Congressman Greg Lopez Secures Spot on Colorado Governor Ballot as Independent
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Former GOP Congressman Greg Lopez Secures Spot on Colorado Governor Ballot as Independent

By: Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics Unaffiliated gubernatorial candidate Greg Lopez, a former Republican congressman from Elizabeth who left the GOP to run as an independent, has qualified for the ballot by submitting enough petition signatures, the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said Tuesday. He’ll face Democratic nominee Phil Weiser, the state’s two-term attorney general, and Republican Victor Marx, a first-time candidate who runs a Christian ministry in Colorado Springs, as well as several candidates who belong to minor political parties. Lopez and his pick for lieutenant governor, Taralyn Romero, a Jefferson County property rights activist and health care worker, needed to turn in 1,000 valid signatures from registered voters in each of the state’s eight co...
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Colorado Election Officials Allege Victor Marx Campaign Repeatedly Exceeded Donation Limits
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Election Officials Allege Victor Marx Campaign Repeatedly Exceeded Donation Limits

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado The Colorado Secretary of State's Office says the Republican gubernatorial nominee Victor Marx's campaign received nearly 200 illegal campaign contributions during the primary election. Campaign finance law caps individual donations at $1,450 to reduce the outsized influence of wealthy donors and prevent quid pro quo corruption. Colorado Secretary of State The Election Division received complaints alleging the Marx Campaign had repeatedly violated the law. It launched an investigation and found the campaign accepted 197 illegal contributions totaling more than $78,000 over the limit. It says he also accepted another $1,000 in illegal cash donations. Darcy Schoening filed the complaints against the campaign. She says Marx m...
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