Category Archives: Colorado Legislature

Apr 20

Guest Opinion: Roads are the losers in 2019 Colorado Legislature

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Guest Opinion: Roads are the losers in 2019 Colorado Legislature

Opinion | April 19, 2019

Lindsey Singer
Guest Opinion

Fixing the crumbling and crowded roads across our state has been a talking point for politicians in Colorado for years, as the project backlog has grown to more than $9 billion.

Democrats who control the purse in the legislature don’t seem to feel any urgency to fix the funding issues creating the backlog. In his first address to the General Assembly, Governor Polis spent mere seconds talking about the underfunded transportation infrastructure, offering no real solution.

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Apr 18

Fiscal conservatives see priority problem in Colorado’s new budget

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Fiscal conservatives see priority problem in Colorado’s new budget

FILE - Colorado State Capitol
The Colorado State Capitol in Denver, Colorado.

Shutterstock photo

Colorado lawmakers last week approved a $32.5 billion budget to fund the government, but not everyone is cheering. 

The new budget includes $300 million for road funding, which took much negotiating between majority Democrats and minority Republicans. It also includes $175 million for full-day kindergarten, less than Gov. Jared Polis requested, and a 3 percent raise for state employees.

Budget writers also had to pull $40 million from some state reserve funds.

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Apr 17

TABOR Repeal Bill Passes Colorado House of Representatives without Single Republican Vote

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

202-380-7114 – MBLyng@NovitasCommunications.com

TABOR Repeal Bill Passes Colorado House of Representatives without Single Republican Vote

House Democrats’ attempt to permanently pocket taxpayer refunds advances on party-line vote

 DENVER, April 17, 2019 – Yesterday, Democrats in the Colorado House of Representatives voted to pass House Bill 1257, a measure that would require state taxpayers to permanently forego tax refunds in any year in which they overpay the state.

“Colorado Democrats claim that their proposed theft of taxpayers would fund critical services like education and transportation, but Speaker K.C. Becker admitted in a committee hearing that they couldn’t provide any assurances as to how this supposed ‘excess’ revenue would be allocated in the future,” said Amy Oliver Cooke, Independence Institute Executive Vice President and TABORYes coalition member. “This isn’t even the government’s money in the first place. It’s money that hardworking Coloradans overpaid into the system, as codified by our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. Continue reading →

Apr 17

TABOR exemption question to be on fall ballot

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Vote NO on this attack on your Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights

TABOR exemption question to be on fall ballot

  • CHARLES ASHBY
Voters would be asked this fall if the state should be able to retain surplus revenue over what the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights allows under a bill that won final approval in the Colorado House on Tuesday.

Under House Bill 1257 and a companion measure, HB1258, all of the taxes and fees the state collects over the revenue cap under TABOR would be evenly divided between transportation, public schools and higher education.

TABOR limits growth in revenue collections year over year based on inflation and population growth.

“In the last 27 years since TABOR was voted into the Constitution, our state population has increased by 50 percent,” said House Speaker KC Becker, D-Boulder, who introduced the bill with Rep. Julie McCluskie, a Democrat whose district includes the eastern half of Delta County.

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Apr 17

Last-Ditch Effort To Jump-Start Colorado Sports Betting Afoot In Legislature

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Last-Ditch Effort To Jump-Start Colorado Sports Betting Afoot In Legislature

Eric Ramsey Updated on Apr 16, 2019 12:06 PDT

Colorado sports betting

It’s been nearly a year since Colorado lawmakers first discussed the possibility of legal sports betting in public, and the time for action has come.

This week, casino operators had the chance to offer feedback on preliminary language for a new CO sports betting bill. Reviewed by Legal Sports Report, the draft being circulated includes provisions for both physical sportsbooks and statewide mobile betting under a manageable tax structure.

Considering the bill has yet to be introduced, however, time is running a bit tight. The legislature adjourns for the year on May 3.

Colorado sports betting bill draft

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Apr 17

Colorado House passes plan asking voters to give up their TABOR-driven taxpayer refunds

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Editor’s note: Don’t just vote NO but vote HELL NO on this….

Colorado House passes plan asking voters to give up their TABOR-driven taxpayer refunds

Colorado House votes on TABOR referendum bill
Image courtesy of The Colorado Channel
The Colorado House on Tuesday passed two bills that would ask voters if the state could keep their taxpayer refunds provided by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), sending the bills to the Senate for consideration.

House Bill 1257 is a referendum asking voters to allow the state to keep and spend excess revenues that would otherwise be refunded to taxpayers. If approved, the referendum would be on the November ballot.

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Apr 13

Colorado lawmakers want to ask voters to drop gas tax, increase sales tax to fund roads

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Colorado lawmakers want to ask voters to drop gas tax, increase sales tax to fund roads

FILE - Colorado roads interstate
Interstate I-70 near Denver in Colorado

Natalia Bratslavsky | Shutterstock.com

Two Colorado lawmakers hope to ask voters to nix the state’s gas tax in order to bump up sales and use taxes in an attempt to generate sustainable revenue to fund transportation.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 3, proposed by Sen. Kevin Priola, R-Henderson, and Rep. Matt Gray, D-Broomfield, would ask voters permission to amend the state’s constitution to replace “state excise taxes on gasoline and other liquid motor fuel with an additional state sales and use tax.”

The new revenue would exclusively fund road construction and maintenance.

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Apr 09

Colorado Democrats look to pass more progressive legislation with four weeks left in session

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Colorado Democrats look to pass more progressive legislation with four weeks left in session

FILE - Colorado State Capitol
The Colorado State Capitol in Denver, Colorado.

Shutterstock photo

With four weeks left in Colorado’s legislative session, Democrats in the legislature hope to pass several more pieces of key progressive legislation. 

The Democratic-controlled legislature has had little trouble passing several controversial bills, leading to Republicans and grassroots groups calling for voters to recall some of the lawmakers behind the pieces of legislation that opponents say don’t represent the views of citizens.

Democrats control both chambers of the General Assembly, and Democratic Gov. Jared Polis supports a vast majority of legislation Democratic lawmakers have passed or plan on passing.

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