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Urdiales to seek HD63 seat in Northeastern Colorado
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Eastern Plains, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Urdiales to seek HD63 seat in Northeastern Colorado

By BRIAN PORTER | The Rocky Mountain Voice Brian Urdiales, a Realtor and former member of City Council in Fort Morgan, has announced he will seek the Republican nomination for Colorado House District 63, setting up an opposed primary. The seat is presently held by Rep. Richard Holtorf, R-Akron, the minority whip in the Colorado House of Representatives. Holtorf, who is not seeking re-election, was among the first to enter the race for the U.S. House of Representatives District 4 seat when U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Windsor, announced he would not seek re-election. “We see the policy in Denver and at the state capitol, and we know in Morgan County and other areas of Eastern Colorado that one size government does not fit all,” Urdiales said. He opposed top-down government policies whi...
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Purchase, sale and transfer of so-called assault weapons would be banned in Colorado under new bill
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State, The Colorado Sun

Purchase, sale and transfer of so-called assault weapons would be banned in Colorado under new bill

By Jesse Paul | Colorado Sun Two Denver Democrats on Tuesday introduced a measure that would ban the purchase, sale and transfer of a broad swath of semi-automatic firearms, defined in the bill as assault weapons, in Colorado.  The lead sponsors of House Bill 1292 are Reps. Elisabeth Epps and Tim Hernández. They introduced the legislation with 14 cosponsors, all of them House Democrats.  It’s unclear whether the measure, which is similar to legislation that failed in the Capitol last year, will have enough political support to pass out of the House, let alone the Senate. Democrats control both chambers. (Measures need 33 votes to clear the House and 18 to pass the Senate.) If it passes the legislature, the bill would be met by a skeptical Gov. Jared Polis, w...
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Hundreds of formerly federally regulated Colorado wetlands and streams are unshielded right now
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State, The Colorado Sun

Hundreds of formerly federally regulated Colorado wetlands and streams are unshielded right now

By Jerd Smith | Colorado Sun What’s the best way to protect hundreds of acres of wetlands and streams in Colorado, in the absence of federal rules that once did that work? It’s one of the biggest water issues facing state lawmakers this year. But as the legislative session kicks into high gear, there is no consensus yet on how to proceed. Last week, Republican Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, introduced Senate Bill 127 as a first stab at figuring it out.  At issue is how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency now defines so-called Waters of the United States, or WOTUS, which determines which waterways and wetlands are protected under the federal Clean Water Act. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Providers say proposed state board of ed rules threaten homeschool learning programs
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completecolorado.com, State

Providers say proposed state board of ed rules threaten homeschool learning programs

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER–New rules being proposed by the Colorado State Board of Education that will eliminate funding for enrichment programs offered to home-schooled children could negatively impact thousands of students statewide who are served annually by Colorado Early Colleges (CEC), according to a letter obtained by Complete Colorado. CEC is Colorado’s largest network of tuition-free, public charter schools, that offers a wide array of academic options to more than 6,000 students, including brick-and-mortar middle and high school locations, an online campus, college direct locations, and homeschool academies. The board is expected to take up the rule changes at its regularly scheduled meeting on Feb. 14. In a letter obtained by Complete C...
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Colorado lawmakers give green light to bill prohibiting adult use of cellphones while driving
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coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado lawmakers give green light to bill prohibiting adult use of cellphones while driving

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics A Senate committee Monday gave approval to a measure that will require adults to use hands-free cellphone devices or face harsher penalties for talking on a cellphone while driving. Senate Bill 65 is the latest incarnation of efforts by lawmakers who have been trying for at least 15 years to require adult drivers to keep their eyes on the road, instead of on their cellphones.  Current state law already imposes restrictions around cellphones on drivers under 18. But it's been a much bigger hurdle to impose those same restrictions on adult drivers. The laws affecting adults permit regular cell phone use for voice calls, although they are prohibited from sending text messages or browsing the internet while behind the wheel. ...
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Colorado Democrats push for ban on new oil and gas drilling in Colorado
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State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Democrats push for ban on new oil and gas drilling in Colorado

By Michael Booth | Colorado Sun Colorado Democratic senators say they will introduce a bill banning new oil and gas drilling in Colorado by 2030 and demanding companies pay more to seal up old wells, bringing into the Capitol a fight that has previously played out in statewide ballot petitions and fall elections.  Environmental groups have been moving to get a similar ban on the November 2024 ballot, but are strongly backing the legislative effort by Sens. Sonya Jaquez Lewis of Boulder County and Kevin Priola of Henderson. They say the ban on new drilling would be phased in to first protect minority and lower-income residents in disproportionately impacted communities, before becoming complete in 2030.  The ban would allow for continued pumping from existing we...
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Colorado Senate considers bill to track ‘suspicious’ gun and ammo purchases
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coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado Senate considers bill to track ‘suspicious’ gun and ammo purchases

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics A bill being proposed in the state Senate would allow credit card companies to assign codes to the purchase of firearms and ammunition. Sponsors of the bill say such tracking would allow law enforcement to track "suspicious activity" that could lead to crime.  Senate Bill 066 was discussed last week by the Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee. If it passes, the bill would require payment networks, such as credit card companies, to provide processors with a newly developed merchant category code, or MCC, that will specifically be assigned to firearms and ammunition. This code, which was established by the International Organization for Standardization, or ISO, in 2022, must be assigned by processors to each firearms merchan...
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Cyberattack disables Colorado public defender network
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coloradopolitics.com, State

Cyberattack disables Colorado public defender network

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics A malware attack on the state public defender's computer system last week has resulted in the disabling of the office's network, the office confirmed on Monday. A spokesperson for the Judicial Department said the courts themselves were not affected by the cyberattack. "As a preventative measure, we temporarily disabled our computer network and are working to safely and securely bring systems back online. Our operations will be limited while the network is offline," said James Karbach, the communications director for the public defender's office. One judge told Colorado Politics that they learned of the problem as early as Friday afternoon. Eric Ross, a spokesperson for the 18th Judicial District in Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln coun...
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Medical college to be added as state expands health care programs at four schools to combat worker shortage
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State, The Colorado Sun

Medical college to be added as state expands health care programs at four schools to combat worker shortage

By Erica Breunlin | Colorado Sun Gov. Jared Polis and a bipartisan group of Colorado lawmakers plan to dramatically expand health care education programs at higher education institutions across the state to combat persistent workforce shortages in health care fields, including by creating a new medical college at the University of Northern Colorado that will graduate about 150 medical professionals a year. Polis joined lawmakers and leaders from higher education schools Monday afternoon at Denver’s Auraria campus to announce plans to boost opportunities for students wanting to pursue careers in health care fields.  Along with a new medical college at UNC in Greeley, the state will build on health care programming at Metro State University in Denver, Colorado State University ...
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In barber shop chat, Rep. Holtorf finds more reason to call for Republican unity
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

In barber shop chat, Rep. Holtorf finds more reason to call for Republican unity

When he removed his cowboy hat and sat down in the barber’s chair in a shop in Denver, Eastern Colorado rancher Richard Holtorf could not have known he was about to have a meaningful discussion on the present state of Colorado. The House District 63 representative had visited the barber shop before – preferring it as a traditional barber shop, replete with a barber pole – but this time was different. “The barber, she asked me where I was from, originally,” Holtorf recalls. “I told her Akron, on the Eastern Plains.” He works a 4,000-head family cattle ranch there, residing in a house overlooking his mother’s home on the property. Holtorf was likely poised for a quiz on how he got from Akron to Denver, and just what he was doing in that moment sitting in a Denver barber shop. Ins...
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