irene aguilar
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Low-key Smallwood presents flash-point Obamacare state exchange repeal bill
State Sen. Jim Smallwood, R-Parker, said on Thursday that he was inspired to run a bill to shutter the state’s Obamacare health insurance market, Connect for Health Colorado, because he feared the market would soon collapse in rural counties and because he believed the state could save at least $5 million annually by giving up…
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Pot advertising bill clears committee
A bill creating a new misdemeanor offense for the illegal sale of marijuana through advertising in print or online passed its first legislative test Wednesday, Jan. 18. The state Senate Judiciary Committee approved Senate Bill 17-015, sponsored by Sen. Irene Aguilar, D-Denver, for consideration by the full Senate. The House sponsor is Rep. Dan Pabon,…
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State House minority fires first shot in ‘kill committee’ message war
State House Republican leadership Tuesday lamented that, just four days into the legislative session, promises to foster bipartisan comity at the Capitol were already breaking down. They pointed to the fact that a suite of high priority conservative bills had been assigned by Democratic leadership straight to the chamber’s State Affairs kill committee – which…
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‘It’s going to be interesting’: State Senate prepping for Hickenlooper PUC appointment confirmations
Gov. John Hickenlooper and state Senate President Kevin Grantham, R-Canon City, say the process is already in motion to launch Senate confirmation hearings for the governor’s two recent appointees to the state’s Public Utilities Commission. Grantham seems to be looking forward to it. “I think we’ll do it sooner rather than later,” he told The…
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? Billboard touts Denver pot consumption initiative
Backers of Initiated Ordinance 300 (I-300), a City and County of Denver measure on the Nov. 8 general election ballot that would allow marijuana consumption in some private establishments, unveiled a billboard Monday to promote voter approval of the measure. The billboard, located at 489 Lincoln St., reads “Now that adult use is legal… Permit it in some…
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Patch Adams promotes ColoradoCare amendment
Internationally prominent physician, activist – and clown – Dr. Patch Adams said he wants to see huge corporate health insurance companies go out of business, and believes the ColoradoCare statewide health care program before Colorado voters next month is a step in that direction. Adams spoke Wednesday, Oct. 12, at a Denver news conference to highlight…
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Looking for path forward, 9-1-1 task force dives into sea of options
Colorado’s 9-1-1 task force convened last Wednesday at the Capitol to take its first official steps in a larger effort to update policy guiding the state’s emergency phone service, which is experiencing increasing outages as technology, business models and infrastructure struggle to keep pace in the digital era. As fast became clear at the meeting,…
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Legislative task force set to consider struggling 9-1-1 service
In Colorado, 9-1-1 emergency service is still inconsistently moving into the digital age, and suffering sporadic outages as a result. Outages have been rising since 2010 and, this year, Colorado is on track to see more outages than were recorded in any of the past six years, according to data compiled by the Colorado Public…
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Sand Creek Massacre Capitol grounds memorial plan moves forward
State officials on Friday advanced a plan to site a new memorial to the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre on the grounds of the Capitol in Denver after more than an hour of emotional testimony delivered mostly by members of regional Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. The proposal won unanimous support from the 12-member Capitol Building Advisory…
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Silverii: Doing the right thing isn’t always easy
As readers may have heard in the news, on television or on the radio, the Board of Directors of ProgressNow Colorado has voted to oppose Amendment 69, the “ColoradoCare” health care ballot measure, despite our broad agreement with the ColoradoCare campaign’s stated goals. I wanted to take a moment to explain why we made this…