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New History Exhibit Explores the Triumphs Trials and Transformation of Colorado
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

New History Exhibit Explores the Triumphs Trials and Transformation of Colorado

By Nicole C. Brambila | The Denver Gazette After three and a half years in Colorado, I knew the state had mountains and sunshine. What I didn’t know was how often Colorado has reinvented itself. Or why Colorado is the way it is. After a 90-minute tour with Katherine Mercier — a historian who developed the “38th Star” exhibition at the History Colorado Center — I began to understand the why. Colorado celebrates its 150th anniversary as a state on Aug. 1. I’ve always thought of Colorado as a blue state. But that wasn’t the case in the years before statehood. Politicians viewed Colorado through a very different lens — as a place more likely to send Republicans to Congress and the White House. This political reality shaped Colorado’s long ...
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Colorado Offers Tax Relief for Residents and Businesses Hit by Wildfires
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kdvr.com, Approved, State

Colorado Offers Tax Relief for Residents and Businesses Hit by Wildfires

By: Breana Sinclair | KDVR MESA COUNTY, Colo. (KREX) — Due to multiple wildfires burning throughout the state, including the Gold Mountain, Elk and Snyder Fires, Governor Jared Polis and the Department of Revenue (DOR) announced extended deadlines and state tax relief options for affected individuals and businesses. Since Polis declared an emergency for the Aspen Acres, Ferris, Gold Mountain, Willow, Sharpe, Poitrey Canyon, Snyder, Green Ridge and Big Sheep Fires, the residents in the following counties are eligible: Dolores, Montezuma, Lake, Mesa, Pueblo, Custer, Ouray, Las Animas, Baca, Routt, San Miguel and Huerfano counties. The list of eligibility may expand based on any new emergency declarations. With the announcement, DOR extende...
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The case for Flock cameras: A proven tool Colorado shouldn’t abandon
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

The case for Flock cameras: A proven tool Colorado shouldn’t abandon

By Booker Lightman | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Police departments across Colorado have installed AI-powered Flock cameras to help them catch criminals. Not everyone is grateful. The fiercest opposition has come from the political Left, often driven by fears the cameras will aid ICE. These concerns led Denver to drop its contract with Flock, while a bill in the state legislature that would have required warrants for most searches of license plate data died in April after pushback from law enforcement.  Some on the Right have joined the anti-Flock crusade, concerned about the cameras’ supposed threat to privacy. Flock critics often claim the cameras are unnecessary and that the proper solution to crime is to hire more police officers. The people best placed to ...
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Colorado’s dirty voter roll: Final observations
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s dirty voter roll: Final observations

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice  After six installments examining Colorado's voter registration system, Mike O'Donnell closes his series with additional observations from his review of the public voter roll and his final thoughts on what he believes should change to strengthen election integrity in Colorado. Errata By wandering through the public Colorado voter roll and grouping registrants by addresses OR by accessing the powerful (and free) ELLY program to identify potential anomalies, there are plenty of things that need to be fixed or cleaned up on Colorado’s voter roll.  And although the Secretary of State makes it more than challenging than it needs to be to clean up the voter roll, it doesn’t hurt to ask questions of county clerks or pu...
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New Report Finds Colorado Children Face Growing Financial and Education Challenges
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

New Report Finds Colorado Children Face Growing Financial and Education Challenges

By: Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics Despite having one of the country’s highest median incomes, Colorado families are struggling to afford essentials like food, housing, health care and child care. That’s according to the Colorado Children’s Campaign, which released its annual Kids Count report recently. It provides an overview of how the state’s infants, children and teens are faring compared to previous years. The report is broken down into four categories: economic security, health, K-12 education and early childhood. “The data remind us of what is at stake and who is relying on us to pay attention,” Heather Tritten, president and CEO of Colorado Children’s Campaign, said in the report. “This is a moment when data matter. In difficult times, c...
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High Housing Costs Put Colorado Business Growth at Risk
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Colorado Public Radio, Approved, State

High Housing Costs Put Colorado Business Growth at Risk

By Sarah Mulholland | CPR News Colorado’s businesses are at risk of losing their competitive edge to companies in other states and it comes down to whether people can afford to live here, according to a report from the Romer Institute of Evidence-based Policy. The reasons behind the state’s economic headwinds are multifaceted, but one thing is clear. The housing crunch is making it harder to recruit workers, the report found. The analysis looks at Colorado’s economy relative to Arizona, North Carolina, Texas, Utah and Washington. The states were chosen because they overlap Colorado’s economy based on region or industry, and they compete for talent, investment and business location decisions, according to the Denver-based nonprofit policy group that bears the name ...
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Medicaid Commission Begins Review as Colorado Spending Continues to Climb
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Medicaid Commission Begins Review as Colorado Spending Continues to Climb

By: Nash Herman | Complete Colorado Colorado’s interim Commission on Medicaid has begun meeting to address the explosive growth of the state’s health care spending.  Related concerns are also on the table, such as the management of the Department of Healthcare Policy and Financing (HCPF) and fraud, waste, and abuse.  Are legislators attacking these problems from the correct angles? Let’s find out.  Faulty premises The most recent Commission meeting raised questions about the government’s priorities in addressing Medicaid and the state budget.  A recurring theme of discussion —nothing new, yet one that actually exacerbates the very problem the Commission is attempting to address — is the idea that the health care fun...
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Colorado’s primary audit is underway. Here’s what it checks—and what it doesn’t
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s primary audit is underway. Here’s what it checks—and what it doesn’t

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Before Colorado's June 30 primary results become official, counties across Colorado must complete one of the final steps required by state election law: a post-election risk-limiting audit. Mesa County completed its audit Tuesday. "Mesa pulled 115 with zero discrepancies," Mesa County Clerk Bobbie Gross told RMV. The audit compares randomly selected paper ballot cards with how the voting system recorded the votes on them. It does not review every part of the election. What the audit checks Colorado law requires a risk-limiting audit after every primary, general, coordinated, recall and congressional vacancy election. State law describes it as a statistical audit intended to reduce the risk of certifying an incorrect election outc...
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Polis’s auto insurance roadmap is working. It’s also avoiding the hard part.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Polis’s auto insurance roadmap is working. It’s also avoiding the hard part.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Last November, Governor Jared Polis stood before cameras and announced a Roadmap to Reduce Auto Insurance Premiums. Colorado had the fifth-highest auto insurance rates in the nation. His administration had a plan. Eight months later, the state has hit most of its targets — and Colorado is still fifth. Polis built the roadmap around enforcement, education and infrastructure — plus legislation he had already signed. What it doesn't do is ask the legislature for anything new. There would be a public dashboard so Coloradans could watch it happen. Most targets were met. The ranking hasn't moved. What the roadmap doesn't address is a separate question, one that insurance industry analysts say explains why Colorado pays more ...
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The Tina Peters trial became a fight over whether the system could withstand public inspection.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

The Tina Peters trial became a fight over whether the system could withstand public inspection.

By Joe Oltmann | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The American people have been told, over and over, to trust institutions that have not earned that trust. Not Republican institutions. Not Democratic institutions. Not federal agencies. Not state bureaucracies. Not corporate vendors. Not partisan prosecutors. Not judges who hide behind procedure while the public asks basic questions. Not media outlets that decide in advance who the villain is and then write every story backward from that conclusion. That is the frame through which the Tina Peters case should be understood. The establishment version says Tina Peters is an “election denier” who let an unauthorized person access Mesa County, Colorado election equipment. That is the sanitized institutional story. The people’s...
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