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One window for public input: PUC delays all gas-case comments until January 14
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Approved, Colorado Accountability Project, Commentary, State

One window for public input: PUC delays all gas-case comments until January 14

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Save your comment for the PUC til January I have to fix an earlier goof. In an earlier newsletter (see the first link below), I invited people to sign up for the Dec 10th PUC meeting to speak about their recent natural gas decision. I have since learned that if you are planning on speaking to the PUC on the 10th, you are not allowed to speak about this particular issue. Before talking about why, let me first remind you (and encourage you) to save your comments for January. You should still have the opportunity to speak up January 14th virtually, so I encourage you to do so. Details on how to sign up for that meeting will be forthcoming along with my prepared testimony on or about January 10th. Returning to the pres...
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Colorado chose Medicaid expansion and now the bill is past due
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado chose Medicaid expansion and now the bill is past due

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Our state is Medicaid (and government) poor Do you have a friend or relative that’s house poor? Truck poor? They live in (or own) something that’s beyond their means, and this financial decision makes their lives more difficult than it has to be? I read the Sun article linked first below recently and it struck me that our state is Medicaid poor. As a result of our state’s poor financial decisions, we have some fancy stuff, but we’re financially struggling right now. The thrust of the Sun’s piece is that our state’s budget gaps (the unhappy kind where we are short of money) are recurring and likely to continue to recur. Why? Medicaid’s a big reason, but there’s more to that picture. A couple of non-contiguous q...
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Colorado’s Land Board swaps agriculture for a revenue experiment
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s Land Board swaps agriculture for a revenue experiment

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Acquiring the Lake Fork Ranch to expand “conservation opportunities”. I saw an interesting press release from our Governor recently. It’s linked first below.Quoting:“The Colorado State Board of Land Commissioners (State Land Board) has approved the acquisition of the approximately 800-acre Lake Fork Ranch, located just west of Leadville in Lake County.”Governor Polis, DNR Director Dan Gibbs, and State Land Board Director Nicole Rosmarino all gushed about the new acquisition. To save space, I attached their quotes from the press release as screenshot 1. The quotes here, touting success for rural communities (Polis) and preserving agricultural use (Gibbs), put me in mind of an earlier rundown of the Nat...
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How a CPR survey of 400 Coloradans on illegal immigration became “statewide opinion”
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

How a CPR survey of 400 Coloradans on illegal immigration became “statewide opinion”

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project CPR’s media malpractice To say that CPR’s coverage leans left is to say that the sky is blue. The CPR article linked first below didn’t just lean left, however. It was so noteworthy for getting some basics so wrong that it merits the title media malpractice. There was a recent article by CPR which questioned (I think you could probably go as far as to use the verb “downplayed”) claims by ICE that their agents are facing more and more assaults and threats. That article is linked second below for your perusal. This more recent article, the one linked first below and by a different reporter, follows that earlier effort thematically by focusing largely on what they (the reporters and those interviewed) see as e...
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Colorado’s “green” rules aren’t about the planet—they’re about control
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s “green” rules aren’t about the planet—they’re about control

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Being a good steward of the earth means doing it their way One of my pet theories about statists (adherents to a political system in which the state has substantial centralized control over social and economic affairs per the Oxford Dictionary) is that while they say their objective is to make the world more inclusive or green or whatever, what they really want is to control you. It’s not inclusive if you don’t do it my way. It’s not green if you don’t do it my way. I reject this notion wholeheartedly. I believe it is perfectly possible to be a decent person who wants to include everyone without doing it their way. I believe it’s possible to be a good steward of this earth and the beings living on it without do...
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Cracks in Colorado’s left: Democrat infighting spills into the headlines
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Cracks in Colorado’s left: Democrat infighting spills into the headlines

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Colorado Sun follows Democrat dark money?! Like a Yukon fur trapper making his semi annual visit to town to see the store, bar, and brothel, the Sun recently decided to delve into Democrat dark money. Their story is linked first below and details a Vail conference some Democratic state lawmakers recently had.The conference was put on and attended by a group of lawmakers going by the name the Opportunity Caucus. This caucus is set up as a nonprofit and doesn’t reveal its donors, though it also gets funding from its legislator members. The Opportunity Caucus was helped (incubated?) by one of Colorado’s copious lefty nonprofits, One Main Street.Why would the Sun pick these groups to investigate and report on out of all the...
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When lawmakers silence citizens, who holds them accountable?
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

When lawmakers silence citizens, who holds them accountable?

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Does legislative immunity mean CO legislators who cut people’s testimony off face no personal consequence? The Colorado Politics article below details a recent Federal appeals court hearing to determine what limits a legislator could place on a citizen’s speech without facing consequences. The case at hand stems from a couple of hearings back in the regular 2024 legislative session. The plaintiffs in the suit allege that lawmakers who cut off the mics of those trying to testify on bills relating to gender issues were illegally censoring them.** Quoting the article: “The plaintiffs have argued that Democratic committee chairs inappropriately cut them off while they were testifying because the witnesses re...
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Opt-in vs opt-out: The parental rights debate over the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Opt-in vs opt-out: The parental rights debate over the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Where do you land as a parent: opt in vs. opt out? The article below is about a recent Douglas County school board decision about participation in the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey. This is a survey that, quoting the article, includes topics such as “... physical activity, mental health, tobacco and substance use, and school safety and bullying. The high school survey includes demographic questions about sexual orientation, sexual health and sexual violence questions.” It also has questions on teens’ perceived access to guns. The board didn’t vote to not participate, they moved the decision to take it from opt in to opt out. Going forward, parents will have to allow their students to participate rather than rememberin...
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Colorado’s “wildlife threat” plan could threaten agriculture instead
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s “wildlife threat” plan could threaten agriculture instead

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project I smell a Rosmarino I had a couple readers bring a recent US Forest Service (USFS) draft assessment about the Comanche National Grasslands (SE Colorado) to my attention. I didn’t have time to get to it, but I was happy to see that Rachel Gabel of the FencePost did. The reality is that she did a better job than I could have hoped to. Her lengthy rundown on the issue is linked below and is well worth reading. This is particularly the case if you are worried about efforts at conservation and species restoration spilling over into (or being used intentionally for) a way to stop other uses of public lands. I’ll leave it to you to get the details, but from what I read, this assessment smacks of the kinds of rewilding/co...
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La Jara land deal raises questions about public access and state priorities
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

La Jara land deal raises questions about public access and state priorities

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Selling La Jara to conservation groups and the Feds, including a swap with CPW? I had a reader send me a heads up on the State Land Board’s (SLB) La Jara land deal. The reader had heard about it in a CPW meeting because CPW could be involved in the land swap. I wanted to push this out quick so you have a chance to sign up and speak (or email) prior to the October 15th State Land Board meeting. As such, I can’t go into huge amounts of depth or summarize. I can give you the information that’s publicly out there so you can look and decide for yourself. As a quick overview, the SLB is charged with management and leasing of the state’s publicly-owned lands with the mission of getting as much revenue from them as the...
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