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By Marianne Goodland THE GAZETTE Measures on how Colorado conducts its elections are among 207 new laws taking effect Friday. Contributions now will be limited for candidates seeking county offices, whether commissioner, sheriff, treasurer, surveyor or coroner. House Bill 1007 was sponsored by Rep. Emily Sirota, D-Denver, and Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, D-Arvada, and signed April
By Brian Eason THE COLORADO SUN By the end of the new fiscal year, Colorado state lawmakers will have pumped a record-setting $1.7 billion extra into transportation over a two-year stretch, with over $1 billion more on the way. But they also made history in another way, to little fanfare: For the first time, lawmakers
By Tom Turner MONTROSE PRESS I pay pretty close attention to politics for a couple of reasons: first of all, democracy requires an informed electorate, and I personally see it as a civic responsibility; and secondly, in my position at Community Options, it is extremely important that I develop and maintain positive relationships with local
By Erica Meltzer CHALKBEAT For a third year, 10 Colorado lawmakers have convened to try to find a fairer and more effective way to fund the state’s schools. Nearly everyone agrees that Colorado’s 25-year-old school finance formula is outdated and inefficient — and there are plenty of ideas about how we could do better —
By Joe St. George FOX 31 DENVER Coloradans could be getting a refund check from the state. According to the latest economic analysis, Colorado’s economy is booming to such an extent that automatic refunds have been triggered. Under TABOR (Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights), if the state generates too much revenue from taxes, Coloradans are entitled to
By Christopher Osher THE COLORADO SUN Lawmakers on Wednesday rejected Gov. Jared Polis’ request that they free up $3 million to hire more mental health professionals in schools, but agreed to spend $407,000 extra on training school administrators on how to conduct threat assessments. The Polis administration said in budget requests that the money was
By Joey Bunch COLORADO POLITICS State Sen. Rachel Zenzinger has been named legislator of the year by Alliance Colorado. The alliance is a nonprofit organization that serves and advocates for people with developmental disabilities. The annual award recognizes those lawmakers “who demonstrate a steadfast commitment to Coloradans with intellectual and developmental disabilities and the community
By Christopher Osher THE COLORADO SUN A decade ago, when Colorado officials surveyed school districts about then-Gov. Bill Ritter’s big idea to put full-day kindergarten in every school, support wasn’t unanimous. School administrators in Telluride, one of the state’s wealthier resort towns, were dismissive of the full-day kindergarten priority from the governor back then, according to
By Jesse Paul THE COLORADO SUN Marijuana sales tax collection since recreational sales began in 2014 in May surpassed $1 billion, Colorado officials said Wednesday. That’s a major milestone for a burgeoning industry, which has sold more than $6.5 billion in that time period. Colorado now has almost 3,000 licensed marijuana businesses and more than
By Kati Weis CHALKBEAT Supporters of stronger LGBTQ policies waited together for six hours to explain why the Jefferson County Public Schools board should update its anti-discrimination practices. In small groups at the microphone, they made their case. “I do feel like the policies could be updated,” said Lisa Lee, a Jeffco teacher who is