What’s on the chopping block?
Some of the big-ticket budget items that are awaiting a decision by the Joint Budget Committee, and their cost:
? Full-day kindergarten: $220 million increase
? Holding the budget stabilization factor, the debt to K-12 education: $572 million
? Public Employees Retirement Association: $225 million
? Senior property tax homestead exemption: $163.5 million
? Second year of reinsurance for the state’s highest risk policyholders: $59.7 million
? Transportation payment: $50 million
? Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, part of implementing last year’s Senate Bill 181: $1 million
Appellate court slap downs in Trump cases highlight mounting tension in the judiciary
Jack Birle, Washington Examiner
jack.birle.washington.examiner@gazetteedit.wpenginepowered.com
Updated 47 minutes ago
The Trump administration has won key reversals of lower court rulings against it in appeals courts — many of which have sharply rebuked the district court’s earlier rulings, highlighting growing tensions within the judiciary. Since January 2026, federal appeals courts...
10th Circuit warns lawyers after finding fake case in filing
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 3 hours ago
The Denver-based federal appeals court warned attorneys to be more careful last month after discovering one lawyer cited a fake case in his arguments. In recent months, federal and state judges in Colorado have begun cautioning lawyers explicitly about the...
Colorado legislators drove up cost of Medicaid program
Marissa Ventrelli
marissa.ventrelli@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 1 hour ago
Some of Colorado’s spending woes in Medicaid can be traced to lawmakers who had approved new or expanded programs in the last few years, driving up state costs to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. Just three measures...
Colorado leaders weigh next steps after US Supreme Court rules against state’s ‘conversion therapy’ ban
Marissa Ventrelli
marissa.ventrelli@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 2 hours ago
Colorado leaders and advocacy groups remain divided after the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against the state’s ban on conversion therapy for minors, ruling 8-1 that the 2019 law violates the First Amendment. While it is a victory for...
Supreme Court rules against Colorado ban on ‘conversion therapy’ for LGBTQ kids
Lindsay Whitehurst
lindsay.whitehurst@associatedpress.com
Updated 5 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against a law banning “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ kids in Colorado, one of about two dozen states that ban the discredited practice. An 8-1 high court majority sided with a Christian...
A perfect storm: Pine beetles thriving following warm, dry winter in Colorado
O'Dell Isaac
odell.isaac@gazette.com
Updated 2 hours ago
The warmest winter in Colorado history could lead to record-breaking proliferation of a tiny insect, about the size of a grain of rice, that has killed millions of acres of trees across the Centennial State and contributed to the rapid...
Newly formed PAC promises a stronger voice for southern Colorado businesses
Breeanna Jent
breeanna-jent@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 4 hours ago
A new political action committee has launched in southern Colorado, aiming to strengthen and elevate the voices of local businesses and their regional influence on state-level policy. Over the last two years, the Colorado Legislature has enacted more than 1,000...
10th Circuit rules cognitively impaired man’s risk of lobotomy, mistreatment in Mexico not ‘torture’
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 15 hours ago
The Denver-based federal appeals court concluded last month that a man’s risk of mistreatment or forced lobotomy in his native Mexico did not amount to “torture” that should shield him from deportation. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of...
Colorado justices side with news organizations for disclosure of high-level child abuse data
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 20 hours ago
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the state must disclose the number of child abuse reports at individual group living facilities in response to an open records request, as the addresses are already in the public domain. The...
Colorado auto thefts drop 56% from 2021 levels
Scott Weiser
scott.weiser@gazette.com
Updated 4 hours ago
Colorado once ranked as the worst state in the nation for motor vehicle thefts per capita in 2021. The state has since seen a dramatic improvement, with auto thefts dropping 56% from 2021 levels. The state reported 16,291 motor vehicle...
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Colorado’s statewide “stay-at-home” order began March 26 and lasted 32 tumultuous days. The spread of the novel coronavirus slowed, as hoped, but businesses shuttered, unemployment soared and protesters swarmed the Capitol demanding the state reopen. Last week, opposition to the state’s restrictions turned into open defiance, as a Castle Rock restaurant reopened for dine-in customers […]
COVER STORY | THE BUDGET BLACK HOLE: Will any sacred cows survive the unprecedented budget cuts?
Where do you find $3.3 billion, a quarter of the state’s operating budget, to keep the wheels of Colorado state government rolling? The Joint Budget Committee and the rest of the Colorado General Assembly face that monumental question, unlike any budgetary challenge lawmakers have faced before, in the crushing wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Complicating […]