Staff picks: The top 5 stories of the week in Colorado Politics
The news of the week in Colorado Politics ran to and from Washington, with the visit of congressional Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, while Gov. John Hickenlooper made a pitch to Washington on healthcare.
These are the stories out staff thinks you should keep in mind in the days and weeks ahead:
5. Dierdorff, we hardly knew you
Trevor Dierdorff came in as a “political outsider,” and now he’s headed back outside. He said in an e-mail Thursday he’s stepping down as chairman of the El Paso County Republican Party, the GOP’s largest county chapter. Dierdorff said he wants to focus on his family and business.
4. Pelosi tells women to grab their greatness against Trump
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi was in Denver last week to speak on an Emerge Colorado panel. She said women should fight back against President Trump by running for office and seizing their power.
3. Gardner says there’s Colorado gold in cybersecurity
As the World Wide Web becomes an increasingly dangerous place for individuals, businesses, governments and elections, cybersecurity is an increasingly vital industry, says Sen. Cory Gardner. Colorado is well-positioned to cash in.
2. Washington West – could this really happen?
Momentum is building to relocate the federal headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Reclamation from D.C. to Denver. That would get them closer to the vast majority of assets they protect, but can Colorado politicos close the deal?
1. Governors roll out HickCare
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper teamed up with Ohio Gov. John Kasich to present a bipartisan healthcar
e proposal for Congress to consider when it returns from its August recess next week. The proposal preserves the individual mandate to buy health insurance, but it strengthens the partnership between state and federal government on the issue. Will it fly? We’ll find out next week when Hick goes to Washington to present it.
Colorado allocates $7.5M for food assistance program for women and children amid federal shutdown
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 4 hours ago
The federal government shutdown prompted the Colorado General Assembly’s budget writers to take action on Tuesday, allocating additional funds to the Women, Infants & Children (WIC) food program. The state portion of the federal program falls under the Department of...
Colorado lawmakers trade blame over federal government shutdown, call on the other side to bend
Ernest Luning
ernest.luning@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 3 hours ago
Colorado’s Democratic and Republican lawmakers dug in Wednesday, as the federal government entered its first shutdown in nearly seven years after Congress failed to approve rival stopgap spending plans put forward by the two parties the night before. Both sides...
For now, shutdown’s impact is minimal on Colorado government, though officials say state will see ripple effects if it persists
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 5 hours ago
Colorado officials do not not expect to see major impacts on Colorado-run programs or its workforce for the first week of the federal shutdown, though the state stands to feel the strain, particularly if the stoppage goes into the second...
Parents, advocates sue Gov. Jared Polis, Colorado health agency over cuts to autism services
Marissa Ventrelli
marissa.ventrelli@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 7 hours ago
The Colorado government is facing a lawsuit from a behavioral health association over cuts to autism funding. After the passage of the Congressional budget in July, Gov. Jared Polis and lawmakers had cut more than $250 million from the state...
10th Circuit orders resentencing after government concedes man’s serious probation violation cannot stand
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 7 hours ago
The Denver-based appeals court granted an unusual joint request between the prosecution and the defense on Wednesday, directing a judge to resentence a man who was incorrectly found guilty of a severe probation violation. There are multiple classifications of federal...
10th Circuit clarifies when hardship to child can halt parent’s deportation
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 8 hours ago
The Denver-based federal appeals court clarified on Monday that immigration judges, when deciding whether to halt a person’s deportation because of hardship to their child, should consider whether the child meets the age threshold at the time of the decision,...
Colorado governor proposes to keep Rocky Mountain National Park open amid potential government shutdown
Thelma Grimes
thelma.grimes@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 13 hours ago
With a federal government shutdown looming, Colorado’s governor is proposing to use local funds to keep open one of the state’s biggest attractions — Rocky Mountain National Park. In a statement to Colorado Politics on Tuesday, Gov. Jared Polis said,...
Colorado labor agency says it’s ready to assist federal workers affected by federal shutdown
Marissa Ventrelli
marissa.ventrelli@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 13 hours ago
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment’s Unemployment Insurance Division said it is prepared to assist federal workers living in the state who have been furloughed due to the federal government shutdown. Some 54,300 federal workers live in Colorado, according...
Colorado will help furloughed federal workers claim unemployment benefits
Mark Samuelson Special to The Denver Gazette
mark.samuelson@denvergazette.com
Updated 13 hours ago
As civilian federal workers in Colorado wait for word as to whether they will be furloughed by a federal government shutdown, the state’s Department of Labor and Employment is reaching out to aid workers in claiming unemployment benefits. The agency,...
Colorado business confidence continues to fall under Trump administration
Bernadette Berdychowski
bernadette.berdychowski@denvergazette.com
Updated 13 hours ago
An economic measurement tracking the sentiment of business leaders across Colorado continues to lean negative, according to a new report from the University of Colorado Boulder. The Leeds Business Confidence Index –- a measure of how business leaders across Colorado...