Littleton indefinitely postpones measure to increase housing density

Littleton indefinitely postpones measure to increase housing density

A proposal to pave the way for denser housing types across what have long been traditional single-family suburban neighborhoods in Littleton has hit a hard roadblock, with the City Council voting to postpone consideration of the measure indefinitely. Tuesday night’s vote to set aside the proposed amendment to the city’s land use code was 6-1, … Read more

New Colorado hotline will help get kids back in school after being arrested

New Colorado hotline will help get kids back in school after being arrested

Michelle Villanueva’s son was just 11 when Douglas County school resource officers handcuffed him and put him in a patrol car, leaving the sixth-grader for two hours before booking the boy, who has autism, into juvenile jail for poking a classmate with a pencil. After the August 2019 incident, Villanueva no longer felt comfortable sending … Read more

Colorado Senate leaders strip Sonya Jaquez Lewis of aide privileges

Colorado Senate leaders strip Sonya Jaquez Lewis of aide privileges

State Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis was stripped of legislative aides this week by chamber leaders following new allegations about her treatment and management of staff. Jaquez Lewis, a Longmont Democrat, had faced previous allegations of staff mistreatment. She was removed from a bill concerning wage theft protections during the regular legislative session earlier this year … Read more

Colorado legislature campaign finance reports show priority races

Colorado legislature campaign finance reports show priority races

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

Colorado Senate passes property tax deal, sends to Gov. Jared Polis

Colorado Senate passes property tax deal, sends to Gov. Jared Polis

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

Colorado legislative updates as property tax deal passes House

Colorado legislative updates as property tax deal passes House

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

Aurora says yes, Westminster says no to guns in city buildings

Aurora says yes, Westminster says no to guns in city buildings

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

Colorado leads the nation in the share of women leading at the municipal level

Colorado leads the nation in the share of women leading at the municipal level

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

Lobbyists in Colorado legislature paid nearly $70 million in last year

Lobbyists in Colorado legislature paid nearly  million in last year

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

Polis signs election bill with amendment to limit ranked-choice voting

Polis signs election bill with amendment to limit ranked-choice voting

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