Outside committees have spent more than $1.2 million on a handful of Colorado legislative races already this election cycle, highlighting the electoral fights that could determine how much power the majority Democrats will have in the Capitol for the next two years. The spending, most of it by party-aligned independent expenditure committees, largely targets nine … Read more
The Colorado Senate gaveled in Thursday morning and quickly gave final approval to a much-heralded property tax deal, ending a special session aimed at stopping a pair of ballot initiatives that would enact deeper cuts. The legislation now goes to Gov. Jared Polis for his signature — and is expected to prompt the conservative and … Read more
The Colorado General Assembly convened this morning for the third day of its special session on property taxes. It was called to provide additional commercial and homeowner relief as part of negotiations with conservative activists to avert deeper-cutting measures on the November ballot. The session will last at least through Thursday. This story will be … Read more
On a razor-thin 4-3 vote, the Westminster City Council this week knocked down a proposal that would have opted out of a new state law that prohibits firearms from being brought into local government buildings. But across town, members of the Aurora City Council gave initial unanimous approval to a similar ordinance — exercising a … Read more
When the city council in Cortez seated its first pregnant councilwoman a couple of years ago, the seven-member body scrambled to provide arrangements for mother and baby. “We set up a room in case we needed to stop the meeting to allow her to pump,” said Rachel Medina, who was appointed mayor of Cortez by … Read more
Money spent on lobbying in Colorado again hit a record high this year — but the tally only begins to hint at the ways the deluge steers policy through the statehouse. In all, the $69.6 million paid to Colorado lobbyists in the most recent fiscal year, which ended June 30 and included this year’s legislative … Read more
A bill framed as cleaning up state election law that became a new front in the fight over ranked-choice voting won Gov. Jared Polis’ signature Thursday afternoon — but not without Polis criticizing a controversial, last-minute amendment. The new law, passed as Senate Bill 210, makes largely technical and procedural changes to state election regulations, … Read more
More transparency is coming for Colorado’s delivery and ride-hail drivers. Gov. Jared Polis this week signed two bills into law that will mandate more extensive disclosures of ride details for drivers on platforms such as Uber, Lyft and DoorDash. SB24-075, dubbed the Transportation Network Company Transparency bill, mandates ride-hail companies divulge how much of the … Read more
Colorado campaign ads with audio, video and other content generated using artificial intelligence will need to feature prominent disclosures under a bill signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis over the weekend. The law, passed as House Bill 1147, likens “deepfakes,” or the use of AI to create false depictions of people doing or saying things, … Read more
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis put his signature on a sweeping school finance bill Thursday, changing the formula that funds the state’s public schools for the first time in decades and providing more than $80 million to districts in the next year. That cash influx will gradually increase over the next six years to half a … Read more
