Today is April 1, 2024, and here’s what you need to know:

Colorado lawmakers this month began reviewing the state’s spending plan for the next fiscal year in the face of tight revenues and a budget deficit – even as policymakers are pushing for hundreds of millions of dollars in funding requests.

Only a tight sliver of those requests will likely get funded, if at all, once the dust settles.

All told, the draft budget for fiscal year 2024-25 expects to spend $40.6 billion – $2 billion more than last year, driven by bigger allocations for health care, a significant expansion in the state’s workforce and more money for schools seeing increased enrollment of immigrant students.

Lawmakers began tackling the spending proposal on Wednesday, with the House Appropriations Committee reviewing House Bill 1430 and its 46 accompanying measures, which are designed help to balance the budget.

Crafting a balanced budget is the only constitutional requirement lawmakers must accomplish each year.

A panel of Colorado lawmakers on Thursday night rejected legislation that sought to ban all new oil and gas drilling in Colorado by 2030.

Senate Bill 24-159 would have mandated the Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission to adopt rules on ceasing the issuance of new oil and gas permits before Jan. 1, 2030.

Sponsors of the bill claimed the move to end new oil and gas drilling is necessary to counteract climate change and address “adverse health impacts,” while representatives of the oil and gas industry decried the measure.

The Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee rejected the measure by a 5-2 vote just before midnight.

A federal judge last month permitted a former anesthesiologist with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Colorado to proceed with some of her employment discrimination claims, even though a different judge previously found the VA was justified in removing her.

Elizabeth Schacht worked for the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora between 2015 and 2018. She alleged her ultimate removal from federal service resulted from discrimination on the basis of her sex, her pregnancy status and her national origin.

In a Feb. 29 order, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Philip A. Brimmer concluded some of her claims were not viable. Schacht had not, for instance, credibly alleged she was subjected to a hostile work environment. However, Brimmer did believe Schacht’s allegations illustrated the VA treated at least one similarly situated male doctor more favorably following his own unprofessional conduct than it treated Schacht for hers.

A federal judge last month declined to dismiss multiple criminal charges in the unique prosecution of a West African man living in Denver, whose alleged acts of torture in his home country could violate U.S. law.

Michael Sang Correa faces seven torture-related counts for his involvement in the investigation of an unsuccessful 2006 coup attempt against then-President Yahya Jammeh in The Gambia. Correa was allegedly part of an armed unit under Jammeh’s control that tortured multiple coup suspects.

In December, Correa moved to dismiss his 2020 indictment by a federal grand jury in Colorado. He argued it violated his constitutional right to due process to be prosecuted for alleged crimes that took place outside the United States, had nothing to do with the U.S. and were The Gambia’s responsibility to prosecute.

Aurora City Attorney Dan Brotzman announced his retirement Monday after 38 years in municipal government, much of it spent serving Aurora.

Brotzman worked five years with the Aurora City Attorney’s Office, with four of those years spent serving as the city attorney, one year as the interim city attorney and his first year as the deputy city attorney. His last day will be in late June, according to a news release.

In a letter to the Aurora City Attorney’s Office announcing his retirement, Brotzman said he was fortunate to have worked in Aurora and proud of the actions the city has taken throughout those years.

“For the past 38 years I have been fortunate to serve leaders, citizens and the community in Colorado municipal government,” Brotzman said in the release. “I am also very proud of actions that Aurora has successfully undertaken to protect and provide redress to the citizens.”