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Colorado Affordable Housing Law Could Cut Off Funding to Most Cities Without Urgent Fix
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado Affordable Housing Law Could Cut Off Funding to Most Cities Without Urgent Fix

By Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun The problem stems from a provision in Proposition 123 that was supposed to hold local governments accountable for increasing the supply of affordable housing. The vast majority of local governments in Colorado could be barred from receiving affordable housing funding through Proposition 123 for the next three years unless the state legislature steps in to prevent it. The problem stems from a provision in the 2022 ballot measure that was designed to hold local governments accountable for increasing the supply of affordable housing. To remain eligible for the $350 million a year that the measure generates, cities and counties must show that they’re increasing their local supply of affordable housing by 3% a year. But h...
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Colorado Lawmakers Debate Future Of Utilities Commission And Energy Policy
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Pueblo Today, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Debate Future Of Utilities Commission And Energy Policy

By Pueblo Today Staff | Pueblo Today Decision could impact clean air, water, and energy costs for residents. Colorado lawmakers are considering whether to reauthorize the state's Public Utilities Commission, which regulates energy, water, and other utilities. Advocates argue the commission plays a crucial role in promoting clean energy and protecting vulnerable communities from pollution, but past decisions have also favored the interests of investor-owned utilities over the public. Why it matters The Public Utilities Commission's decisions have a direct impact on air quality, water quality, and energy costs for Colorado residents, especially in communities like Pueblo and Commerce City that already face higher levels of pollution and health issues. Reauthorizin...
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Colorado House panel advances immigration bill after hours of testimony
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado House panel advances immigration bill after hours of testimony

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice After hours of testimony that moved between legal arguments, the House Judiciary committee advanced a sweeping immigration bill Tuesday. House Bill 26-1276 passed the committee on a 6–5 vote. The "Protect Safety of Individuals Who Are Immigrants" bill, sponsored by Reps. Elizabeth Velasco and Lorena García, focuses on how state and local entities interact with federal immigration enforcement through information sharing, task-force reporting, detention oversight and the use of public resources. Velasco told the committee the bill grew out of what sponsors saw as gaps in existing law. "This bill was written in response to issues…as well as growing concerns that we are seeing across Colorado and the nation," she said. That includ...
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Colorado Lawmakers Reject ICE Oversight Bill After Bipartisan Pushback
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Reject ICE Oversight Bill After Bipartisan Pushback

By Taylor Dolven and Olivia Prentzel | The Colorado Sun Local police chiefs opposed the bill. Two Democrats voted with Republicans to reject it. Colorado lawmakers rejected a bill Tuesday that would have required state and local police to intervene when federal immigration agents use excessive force. The bill would have also prohibited state and local police officers from hiding their identities, subjected federal officers to state criminal and civil penalties and required police officers to attend training on immigration enforcement. Two Democrats — Rep. Chad Clifford of Centennial and Rep. Cecelia Espenoza of Denver — joined the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee to kill House Bill 1275 after hours of testimony against it from police...
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The grassroots upset: How 3,320 volunteers pushed three child-focused measures onto Colorado’s ballot
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

The grassroots upset: How 3,320 volunteers pushed three child-focused measures onto Colorado’s ballot

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Three citizen-led ballot initiatives—focused on youth medical procedures, girls’ sports and child trafficking penalties—are now officially headed to Colorado’s November 2026 ballot, a result supporters say wasn’t supposed to happen. That final step came this week, when Propositions 109 and 110 were certified, joining Proposition 108 after a campaign that gathered more than 500,000 signatures statewide. For Erin Lee, executive director of Protect Kids Colorado, the moment lands as something bigger than a successful petition drive—it’s the end of a campaign many didn’t think would get this far. The campaign they said couldn’t work Asked about the process, Lee called it “the hardest, most impossible thing” she’s ever taken on. She s...
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Colorado Democrats Push Measure Targeting ICE Use of Vehicle Tracking Systems
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Democrats Push Measure Targeting ICE Use of Vehicle Tracking Systems

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER–A bill imposing new restrictions on police access to vehicle location surveillance data cleared a Colorado Senate committee on Monday, with one Democrat sponsor making no bones that the legislation is in significant part aimed at federal immigration enforcement. Senate Bill 26-070 bans law enforcement agencies from accessing databases containing historical vehicle locations without first obtaining a warrant. The bill also prohibits any sharing of data with third parties, including via Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requests. Such databases include those used by companies like Flock Safety, Motorola, and Axon, which utilize cameras, license plate readers, and cellular networks in public intersections to assist police in...
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Bill Opening Door To Lawsuits Against Immigration Officials Clears Colorado Senate
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kdvr.com, Approved, State

Bill Opening Door To Lawsuits Against Immigration Officials Clears Colorado Senate

By Jacob Factor | KDVR DENVER (KDVR) — A Colorado bill that would open the door for lawsuits against immigration officials who injure people in the state passed the Colorado Senate Tuesday morning, moving one step closer to becoming law. Senate Bill 26-005, “Rights Violation in Immigration Enforcement Remedy,” states that it is meant to protect Coloradans constitutional rights during civil immigration enforcement. The bill comes amid heavily scrutinized federal immigration operations throughout the U.S., including a recently ended crackdown in Minnesota in which immigration officials killed two American citizens and injured more. SB26-005 creates a cause of action for people injured during civil immigration enforcement actions “by another person who, whether ...
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Electric school buses and winter limits: What physics has to say
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Electric school buses and winter limits: What physics has to say

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project So, about those electric school busses… It's been so mild here in Colorado, I wonder if this has been noticed, but I saw the NY Post article below and thought I'd share.It details some parental complaints out of New York about the mandated electric busses. Quoting the lede:"Parents in Western New York are raising alarms over cold rides and breakdowns after officials mandated that all school bus purchases must be electric by 2027."The problem's not hard to figure out. It's so fundamental that it goes all the way down to energy conservation (and something I've touched on more than once in the past -- see "Related" below).For an internal combustion engine, the heat in the compartment is either waste heat from t...
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Colorado’s immigration folly: Taxpayer dollars fueling a broken system
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s immigration folly: Taxpayer dollars fueling a broken system

By Rep. Ken DeGraaf | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice As the state representative from House District 22 in Colorado Springs, I see daily how federal immigration enforcement and state policies affect families in El Paso County. President Trump’s 2024 reelection brought a secured southern border after the Biden era’s chaos, when 8 to 11 million people entered illegally—the largest surge in U.S. history.  That influx overwhelmed communities nationwide, including Colorado. While federal policy now prioritizes removing criminal aliens, Colorado Democrats have enacted legislation that rewards illegal immigration with generous taxpayer-funded benefits, all while ignoring the burden on law-abiding citizens. Deportation data from 1993 to 2022 show enforcement is bi...
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