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Is Senate Bill 3 already on death’s door? Anti-gun bill had to be laid over again in Senate
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Is Senate Bill 3 already on death’s door? Anti-gun bill had to be laid over again in Senate

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice Senate Bill 25-003, the much-maligned bill that some have said would make Colorado the most anti-gun state in the country, can't seem to get the support it needs to clear the Democrat-controlled state Senate. Support for the bill appeared to have collapsed again Friday before a second reading and preliminary vote, as it was laid over until Feb. 13. The bill was introduced Jan. 8, cleared by a Democrat-led committee Jan. 28 and Friday was laid over for the second time. If passed, SB 3, led by Democrat Sens. Tom Sullivan and Julie Gonzales and sponsored by Democrat Reps. Andrew Boesenecker and Meg Froelich, explicitly prohibits the manufacture, distribution, transfer, sale and purchase of common-use, gas-operated semi-auto rifles or shotguns an...
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Partisan Colorado Senate resolution to be introduced Monday condemning Trump, J6 pardons
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Partisan Colorado Senate resolution to be introduced Monday condemning Trump, J6 pardons

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice A partisan, Democrat-led resolution condemning pardons issued for all involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, protests in Washington, D.C., is expected to be introduced Monday in the Colorado Senate. Senate Joint Resolution 25-006, led by Democrat Sens. Nick Hinrichsen and Matt Ball and prime-sponsored by Democrat Reps. Sean Camacho and Michael Carter, is a measure overtly blaming President Donald J. Trump for the protests. "Following President Trump's speech at The Ellipse, rally attendees marched to the U.S. Capitol and many began rioting, with official FBI estimates concluding that between 2,000 and 2,500 people forcibly and illegally breached the Capitol," the measure reads, noting "many scholars" described the event as an "attempted self-coup" and...
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HB 1005, a $34M tax break for Sunset Film Festival, advances despite Rep. DeGraaf’s concern it is ‘disincentive’ to existing taxpayers
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

HB 1005, a $34M tax break for Sunset Film Festival, advances despite Rep. DeGraaf’s concern it is ‘disincentive’ to existing taxpayers

'This is not my hometown. I'm seeing my constituents' money going to a tax incentive that benefits your hometown, while Boulder is taxing itself out of viability.' — Rep. Ken DeGraaf By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice The appropriateness of a tax-credit incentive offered by the state, benefiting a single community and in recruitment of an external entity while ignoring struggling tax-paying entities in that community and other areas of the state, was the discussion of a Colorado House committee Thursday. House Bill 25-1005, by Democrat Reps. Brianna Titone and Julie McCluskie and sponsored by Democrat Sen. Judy Amabile and Republican Sen. Mark Baisley, incentivizing the Sundance Film Festival to relocate to Boulder, was advanced on a 7-6 largely party-line vote, with all commi...
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Candidates for Grand Junction City Council tackle key issues at Mesa Co. Republican Women’s forum
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Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

Candidates for Grand Junction City Council tackle key issues at Mesa Co. Republican Women’s forum

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Candidates for Grand Junction City Council recently gathered at a forum hosted by Mesa County Republican Women, addressing the city's pressing issues ahead of the April 8th municipal election.  Homelessness, housing affordability, impact fees and the 4th/5th Street project were central themes as candidates laid out their priorities. Government vs. nonprofits: Who should take charge on homelessness? Views diverged on whether the city or nonprofits should lead homelessness efforts.  Alexis Hitzeroth (District A), a veteran, called for more advocacy and outreach. “I know that the city can do better when it comes to our unhoused population. I think we need to get more advocates out there within the city and speak t...
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Freshman U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd chairs his first subcommittee meeting on Indian affairs
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Freshman U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd chairs his first subcommittee meeting on Indian affairs

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice If it takes years of tenure in Washington, D.C., to even earn subcommittee chairmanships, no one told U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, R-Grand Junction. The freshman congressman from Colorado's 3rd District on the Western Slope chaired his first subcommittee meeting Wednesday, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs under the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources. "I'm honored to serve as the new chairman of the subcommittee, and look forward to working with our American Indian, Alaska Native and Insular partners," Hurd began the subcommittee hearing. The subcommittee was previously chaired by Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming. https://twitter.com/RepJeffHurd/status/1887182581998788904 The subcommittee oversees matters conf...
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Rep. Evans will join House Oversight Committee questioning Denver mayor on sanctuary policies
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Rep. Evans will join House Oversight Committee questioning Denver mayor on sanctuary policies

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice When Mike Johnston arrives in March to offer his testimony to the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the Denver mayor might recognize a member of the panel questioning him. U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, a Weld County resident, has been authorized, presumably by Chairman James Comer, to waive onto the committee to question Johnston, and potentially the mayors of Boston, Chicago and New York City. Rep. Comer, in his capacity as chairman of the committee, announced Wednesday that Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and New York City Mayor Eric Adams would join Johnston on the March 5 panel investigating the policies of sanctuary cities and their impact on public safety and federal immigration enforcement. He has...
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Garbo: Colorado’s Senate Bill 3 is the greatest threat to freedom yet
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Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Garbo: Colorado’s Senate Bill 3 is the greatest threat to freedom yet

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado stands at a critical crossroads. Senate Bill 3, which has already cleared its committee hurdle, is scheduled for a full Senate vote this Friday, Feb. 7. This bill, if passed, will be a devastating blow to the constitutional rights of every law-abiding Coloradan, marking a dangerous descent into anti-freedom territory that betrays the very principles upon which this nation was founded. SB 3 seeks to prohibit the manufacture, distribution, transfer, sale and purchase of a broad category of semiautomatic firearms and devices that increase the rate of fire. This is not just a simple regulation; it is a direct, unapologetic assault on the 2nd Amendment, which clearly states, “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,...
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Lundberg: My list of the good and the bad bills (so far) of the 75th session
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Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Lundberg: My list of the good and the bad bills (so far) of the 75th session

By Kevin Lundberg | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice I have been reviewing most of the bills introduced in the Colorado legislature for the past 23 years. I haven’t kept exact records, but that amounts to more than 15,000 bills and resolutions. From that perspective, I have the following observations about the current crop of bills we have already seen this year. With the Democrats in full control of the House, Senate and governor's office, it is no surprise that there are a lot of bills that promote a woke agenda, expand government reach, increase taxes (which they label fees) and give homage to the global warming extremists. There are also many very good bills that could head our state in the right direction, but most of these bills will never get past their first committe...
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Rep. Weinberg’s constitutional carry bill would give Coloradans rights that 29 other states already have
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Rep. Weinberg’s constitutional carry bill would give Coloradans rights that 29 other states already have

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice When the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, written by James Madison, was ratified on Dec. 15, 1791, along with the other Bill of Rights, Americans believed the Founders had provided a right that "shall not be infringed" to own and possess firearms, wherever they may be and however they may wish. A bill introduced this week in the Colorado House would mostly and finally provide that unrestricted right. House Bill 25-1164, by Republican Rep. Ron Weinberg, would add Colorado to the growing majority of states with constitutional carry. It is a more long-awaited bill for gun owners than the repeal of the high-capacity magazine law. Constitutional carry is as it sounds, a right, as intended in the constitution, where anyone who can legally...
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Senate Dems’ whip says ‘I am a no’ to SB 3, the semi-auto gun ban bill, absent of significant changes
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Senate Dems’ whip says ‘I am a no’ to SB 3, the semi-auto gun ban bill, absent of significant changes

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice The house of cards on Colorado Senate Bill 25-003 appears to be collapsing in the wee hours before it is set for a vote. Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, a Pueblo County Democrat and the majority party's whip, has declared his opposition to the bill "prohibiting the manufacture, distribution, transfer, sale, and purchase of specified semiautomatic firearms" that some have said would make Colorado the most anti-gun state in the country. https://twitter.com/NickForCO/status/1886526899926786130 SB 3, sponsored by Democrat Sens. Tom Sullivan and Julie Gonzales and by Democrat Reps. Andrew Boesenecker and Meg Froelich, is slated for a second reading postponed from Jan. 31 at 9 a.m. Friday, when a vote could be taken. "I believe that, broadly, semi-au...
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