State House GOP office lands on a theme
Republicans are the minority caucus in the Colorado House. It’s a tough gig. In the year of the Trump presidential election victory, the House Republicans lost three seats, swelling the Democratic majority to nine seats. The chamber’s committees are naturally stacked against perennial favorite conservative proposals. Vote tallies are often lopsided; the results just as often predetermined.
House minority Communications Director Joel Maleka is clearly frustrated. The theme he has landed on for his regular dispatches isn’t subtle. Here are the five running posts from the “House GOP Latest News” box at the caucus website:
The Groundhog Day-effect works. It reads the way the committee hearings feel. The upside: Only nine weeks in the session left to go.
Government shutdown begins as nation faces new period of uncertainty
Associated Press
associated-press@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 10 hours ago
WASHINGTON • Plunged into a government shutdown, the U.S. is confronting uncertainty after President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep government programs and services running by Wednesday’s deadline. Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed, some potentially fired by the Trump administration....
Colorado officials ramp up finger-pointing as federal government shutdown’s midnight deadline looms
Ernest Luning
ernest.luning@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 14 hours ago
Members of Colorado’s congressional delegation on Tuesday blamed their counterparts across the aisle for failing to avert the federal government’s first full shutdown in almost seven years. Shortly before casting a vote against a Republican-led temporary spending bill to extend...
Denver elections worker who lost job after telling Jon Stewart about safety fears settles lawsuit
Associated Press
associated-press@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 16 hours ago
AP – A former Denver elections worker who says she lost her job after speaking to comedian Jon Stewart about her concerns for the safety of poll workers has settled a lawsuit alleging the city violated her First Amendment rights for $65,000, her lawyer...
‘A model example’: 10th Circuit OK’s Colorado’s non-discrimination requirement for universal pre-K
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 13 hours ago
The Denver-based federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that Colorado’s universal pre-kindergarten program does not violate the rights of religious preschool operators by requiring participating organizations to refrain from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, among...
Colorado governor proposes to keep Rocky Mountain National Park open amid potential government shutdown
Thelma Grimes
thelma.grimes@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 11 hours ago
With a federal government shutdown looming, Colorado’s governor is proposing to use local funds to keep one of the state’s biggest attractions — Rocky Mountain National Park. In a statement to Colorado Politics on Tuesday, Gov. Jared Polis said, “My...
Adams County distributes almost $6M in opioid settlement funds
Kyla Pearce
kyla.pearce@gazette.com
Updated 16 hours ago
Adams County commissioners passed a resolution Tuesday distributing almost $6 million in opioid settlement funds to 19 organizations throughout the county. This is the third round of grant funding from the Colorado Opioid Framework, which was created in 2021 to...
Report ranks Colorado best in nation in early childhood policies
Marissa Ventrelli
marissa.ventrelli@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 16 hours ago
A new report by a policy center based in Vanderbilt University has named Colorado the nation’s leader in early childhood resource availability for working parents. The average working parent with two children in Colorado has more than $56,000 in state...
Federal judge sides with Denver in Lisa Calderón’s retaliation lawsuit
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 17 hours ago
A federal judge last week concluded a critic of then-Denver Mayor Michael Hancock had not shown that the termination of her city contract amounted to retaliation for her speech. Lisa Calderón was a mayoral candidate and, for a time, the...
Self-Driving CDOT crash truck protects highway workers
Scott Weiser
scott.weiser@gazette.com
Updated 21 hours ago
Highway work zone crashes kill hundreds of people nationwide each year — two Colorado workers last year — but a new driverless, autonomous highway maintenance truck in Colorado aims to shield workers from deadly rear-end collisions by taking the hit...
Government shutdown could trigger furloughs in Colorado Springs, close Rocky Mountain National Park
Mary Shinn
mary-shinn@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 21 hours ago
A looming government shutdown could leave tens of thousands of employees in Colorado Springs without a paycheck and close many government services. A funding bill requires 60 votes to be adopted in the Senate. Senate Republicans only have a three-seat net majority,...