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Colorado Quietly Repeals Anti-ICE Loyalty Pledge Imposed on Lawyers Following Constitutional Scrutiny
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Just The News, Approved, State

Colorado Quietly Repeals Anti-ICE Loyalty Pledge Imposed on Lawyers Following Constitutional Scrutiny

By Greg Piper | Just the News Centennial State quietly eliminates anti-ICE loyalty oath it imposed on lawyers ahead of promised lawsuit. Justice Department still defending constitutionality of settlement gag orders even after SEC, CFTC disavow them. Colorado imposed a loyalty oath on lawyers as a condition of access to the state's court system, pledging they would not assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some federal agencies required defendants to accept gag orders as a condition of civil settlements, pledging they would not question the government's case, no matter how weak they thought it. These speech mandates, some going back more than 50 years, have come crashing down in recent weeks as The Centennial State opts against further cementing its reputation as ...
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Federal Challenge Puts Colorado AI Antidiscrimination Law on Hold
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Telehealth, Approved, State

Federal Challenge Puts Colorado AI Antidiscrimination Law on Hold

By: Julia Ivanova, PhD, MA | TeleHealth Key Takeaways Colorado’s first-in-the-nation AI law was significantly revised after legal challenges from Elon Musk’s xAI and the U.S. Department of Justice, highlighting growing tensions between AI oversight and innovation. The dispute could shape how healthcare AI is regulated nationwide, particularly for systems used in patient access, care management, insurance decisions, remote monitoring, and clinical operations. As federal AI policy remains fragmented, states are increasingly developing their own governance frameworks, creating compliance uncertainty for clinicians, healthcare organizations, and digital health companies operating across multiple jurisdictions. After the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed&n...
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Eleven Colorado lawmakers on the ballot first reached office through appointment
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Eleven Colorado lawmakers on the ballot first reached office through appointment

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Every Coloradan who feels ignored at the Capitol can take comfort in this: they have not one but two people assigned to listen. Your House member splits attention among roughly 92,500 residents. Your senator, among about 171,800. As ballots arrive across the state this week ahead of the June 30 primary election, some of those lawmakers earned their seat with less than 50 votes, and one with only 10—from a committee.  Among the names appearing on those ballots are 11 current lawmakers who were never elected to the seats they now hold. Some were selected by vacancy committees after lawmakers resigned. One was ultimately appointed by Gov. Jared Polis after a vacancy committee failed to submit paperwork before a statutory deadline. ...
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The conservation success story hidden in Colorado’s coal country
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GregWalcher.com, Approved, Commentary, State

The conservation success story hidden in Colorado’s coal country

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com In a popular Substack publication called Asterisk Magazine, a California physicist named Casey Handmer wrote a great piece titled “It’s 2024 and Drought is Optional,” about desalination technology. But he also touched on an even more fundamental point about how people don’t want to think about the importance of infrastructure. “The past century of prosperity has produced a culture happily ignorant of this weight-bearing infrastructure — a culture foreign to, if not hostile toward, the idea that humans can positively improve the natural environment.” Indeed, mankind is the only species that not only can improve the environment, but regularly does so, on purpose. That’s because people believe nature has its own intrinsic value, completely a...
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Whoever holds power, Colorado records should remain public
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Whoever holds power, Colorado records should remain public

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project CFOIC updates their CORA/Open Meetings guide CFOIC has been a great help to me in learning how to do public records requests (and they continue to be as I encounter issues with getting records, etc.). They recently updated their excellent guide on open records requests and open meetings law based on recent changes. It’s linked at bottom. If you are doing requests or thinking about it, bookmark it. In the spirit of paying forward the help I received, I am happy to help you in what ways I can if you are thinking of doing some records requests and/or if you have a topic you want to investigate but don’t know where to start. Message me or email through my newsletter. https://coloradofoic.org/op...
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From dope dealer to hope dealer: Detroit pastor Lorenzo Sewell brings message of redemption to Colorado
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

From dope dealer to hope dealer: Detroit pastor Lorenzo Sewell brings message of redemption to Colorado

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice He walked into church on April 18, 1999, with a bruised brow, money in his pocket, and murder on his mind. By the time he walked out, Lorenzo Sewell had given his life to Christ. That same day he went to his drug boss and quit. That day, and that decision, is the foundation of everything Sewell has built since.  The senior pastor of 180 Church in Detroit will bring his story of redemption and his message of civic faith to the RMV Freedom Fest, where he will speak on the main stage and give the invocation at the Mountain Majesty Gala on Saturday, June 27. A student of the street Sewell grew up on Detroit's east side in a home marked by abuse and instability. His father is in prison for murder. At age eleven, ...
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Colorado Consumers Push Back Against Xcel Rate Hike Proposal
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CPR News, Approved, State

Colorado Consumers Push Back Against Xcel Rate Hike Proposal

By: Ishan Thakore | CPR News Xcel Energy’s proposed deal to raise average residential energy bills by nearly 6% is running into a wall of opposition from Colorado consumer and environmental groups.  The proposed residential rate increase would be among the largest ever in the state, according to the Colorado Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate (UCA), which advocates for customers and is opposed to the deal. In November, the state’s largest utility petitioned state regulators at the Public Utilities Commission to let it increase how much it charges for electricity. Xcel hadn’t requested a major price hike to its customer base rates since 2022. Last year, the company said it needed to recoup around $356 million it spent to build new renewab...
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More Than 40,000 Coloradans Impacted As Cigna Leaves Individual Market
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

More Than 40,000 Coloradans Impacted As Cigna Leaves Individual Market

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette Another firm is withdrawing from the individual health insurance market, including for Colorado, effective Jan. 1, 2027. The move by Cigna Healthcare is part of the company’s overall plan to withdraw entirely from the Affordable Care Act market. It will impact individual health plans for 369,000 members in 11 states, according to a company announcement on April 30. In Colorado, Cigna provides individual health insurance to 40,853 members, according to the the state’s insurance office. Cigna joins five other insurers that have pulled out of Colorado since 2022. That doesn’t include two insurers that announced they were withdrawing from the individual market last year but rescinded that announcement two months later. ...
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Transportation Funding Showdown Continues Between Lawmakers And Initiative Backers
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Transportation Funding Showdown Continues Between Lawmakers And Initiative Backers

By: Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics The standoff over Colorado’s road‑funding initiative will continue after supporters declined state lawmakers’ request to withdraw the measure, while both sides signaled they are still willing to pursue a broader agreement ahead of the fall deadline. Initiative No. 175, backed by the coalition Restore Our Roads, would require that all transportation-related revenue be used exclusively for building and repairing roads and bridges, improving safety, conducting transportation planning and engineering, and supporting Colorado State Patrol operations. A petition for the measure received over 180,000 signatures and is currently being reviewed by the Secretary of State’s Office. To qualify for the November ballot, just over 124,000 of ...
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From coal transition to data centers: JOLT summit heads to Grand Junction
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

From coal transition to data centers: JOLT summit heads to Grand Junction

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Before JOLT became an annual summit, local leaders across Northwest Colorado were wrestling with a difficult question: What comes after coal? Now they’re holding their fourth summit, and this year’s program includes discussions on geothermal energy, data centers, critical minerals, electric cooperative power supplies, workforce development and Colorado River issues. "I don't think that with JOLT, the mission has changed," said Ray Beck, chairman of JOLT — Joint Organizations Leading Transition. "We're still trying to educate people on different sources of energy." Founded by local officials, educators and industry leaders, JOLT was created as Northwest Colorado communities searched for answers about economic transition and long-term op...
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