State

Move to Classify Colorado Nuclear as ‘Clean Energy’ Killed

25Jan

By nadiaNo Comments

i2i.org, State

Move to Classify Colorado Nuclear as ‘Clean Energy’ Killed

SOURCE: INDEPENDENCE INSTITUTE On Wednesday, January 24, 2024, Independence Institute’s Energy and Environmental Policy Analyst Jake Fogleman testified on SB24-039 in the Colorado Senate Transportation & Energy Committee. The bill would have amended the state’s statutory definitions of “clean energy” and “clean energy resources” to include nuclear energy. The committee ultimately voted not to pass the bill at the end of the hearing. Senators Faith Winter (D.), Kevin Priola (D.), Lisa Cutter (D.), and Tony Exum (D.) voted against the bill, while Senators Nick Hinrichsen (D.), Byron Pelton (R.), and Cleave Simpson (R.) voted in favor of it. READ FULL TESTIMONY ON I2I.ORG

GUEST COLUMN: We don’t need more government control of business

25Jan

By nadiaNo Comments

gazette.com, State

GUEST COLUMN: We don’t need more government control of business

By Paul Prentice | SOURCE: THE GAZETTE In a misguided effort to protect consumers, the Biden administration has embarked on a well-intentioned but ill-advised crusade against what it deems to be “hidden” and “junk” fees. This initiative, while ostensibly aimed at promoting transparency and fairness, overlooks the nuanced economic landscape in which small and medium-sized businesses operate, particularly in states like Colorado. President Joe Biden kicked off this campaign during his 2023 State of the Union address, where he called out industries for allegedly deceiving consumers. Touting his desire to crack down on “junk fees,” he attacked airlines, hotels, cable companies, and concert venues for billing consumers extraneous back-end costs, employing the catchy tagline that airlines ...

How Colorado became the focal point of 14th Amendment efforts to disqualify Trump from the ballot

25Jan

By nadiaNo Comments

coloradopolitics.com, National, State

How Colorado became the focal point of 14th Amendment efforts to disqualify Trump from the ballot

By Jenny Deam | SOURCE: COLORADO POLITICS The extraordinary Colorado election case now headed for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide if former President Donald Trump is disqualified from the ballot had its humble beginnings three years ago in the Maryland basement office of a self-proclaimed legal nerd. It was around New Year’s Day 2021. Constitutional scholar and University of Maryland law school professor Mark Graber was putting the finishing touches on a chapter delving into the then mostly forgotten Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Just the kind of thing Graber, a historian at heart, loved. The rarely used section had been crafted more than 150 years ago to disqualify former Confederate leaders from holding office because they had engaged in an insurrection. It read...

A bill to designate nuclear energy as clean energy dies in committee

25Jan

By nadiaNo Comments

coloradopolitics.com, State

A bill to designate nuclear energy as clean energy dies in committee

By Marissa Ventrelli | SOURCE: COLORADO POLITICS A Senate bill that would have defined nuclear energy as clean energy died along party lines in committee Thursday. Introduced by Sen. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs, SB24-039 would have included nuclear energy in the statutory definition of clean energy sources, thus rendering it eligible for clean energy project funding. During discussion, opponents said such a designation would have a negative impact on the environment, while proponents listed the benefits of using nuclear energy. After length discussion, the Senate Committee of Transportation and Energy voted 4-3 to kill the measure. “It is our responsibility to lay the groundwork for the development of reliable and renewable energy for future generations to ...

25Jan

By nadiaNo Comments

i2i.org, State

Democracies, Republics, and TABOR

By Rob Natelson, Independence Institute In 2011, a group of politicians and special interests sued in federal court to void Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR). The case was Kerr v. Hickenlooper. The plaintiffs’ primary argument was that TABOR violated the U.S. Constitution’s Guarantee Clause (Article IV, Section 4), which says in part, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government.” The plaintiffs contended that to be a “republic,” a state must make taxing and spending decisions through elected representatives only. They based this on a misreading of James Madison’s Federalist No. 10 essay—while ignoring everything else Madison and other Founders said about republican and democratic governance. The plaintiffs pointed o...

On the table — a crazy quilt of Dem justice ‘reforms’ | George Brauchler

25Jan

By nadiaNo Comments

gazette.com, State

On the table — a crazy quilt of Dem justice ‘reforms’ | George Brauchler

By George Brauchler | SOURCE: THE GAZETTE With more than 100 days left in the 2024 legislative session, the Democrat-controlled General Assembly has already revealed its theme for criminal justice reform, and that theme is “bonkers.” A review of the Democrat bills thus far introduced are the kind only conceivable with one party dominance in Colorado government. Many thought it would be impossible for the Democrats to top legislation that mandates a school refer to a child by any name they choose at any time and for any reason. Democrat Rep. Lorena Garcia just said “hold my Bud Lite.” Current Colorado law prohibits convicted felons from legally changing their name — for obvious reasons. Garcia’s HB 1071 seeks to override that long-standing prohibition to permit name changes when...

Rose Pugliese elected new leader of Colorado House GOP caucus following Mike Lynch’s resignation

25Jan

By nadiaNo Comments

State, The Colorado Sun

Rose Pugliese elected new leader of Colorado House GOP caucus following Mike Lynch’s resignation

Pugliese, a Colorado Springs Republican, is in just her second year as a state representative, but she had been serving as assistant minority leader in the House By Jesse Paul | SOURCE: THE COLORADO SUN Republicans in the Colorado House of Representatives on Thursday elected a first-term lawmaker from Colorado Springs to be their new leader, replacing Mike Lynch, who stepped down from his leadership role a day earlier following revelations about his 2022 arrest on suspicion of drunken driving. Rose Pugliese, a Colorado Springs Republican, is in just her second year as a state representative, but she had been serving as assistant minority leader in the House. She beat out state Reps. Matt Soper, R-Delta, and Ken DeGraaf, R-Colorado Springs, for the job in two rou...

EDITORIAL: Cut bureaucracy at Colorado’s colleges

25Jan

By nadiaNo Comments

gazette.com, State

EDITORIAL: Cut bureaucracy at Colorado’s colleges

By The Gazette Editorial Board | SOURCE: THE GAZETTE Each fall, Colorado parents have ever greater misgivings as they send another round of freshmen to the state’s colleges and universities. Foremost among their concerns has to be the skyrocketing cost of higher ed, with tuition ratcheting up year after year. The spiraling price of a college degree seems to outpace even inflation. Colorado students pay higher in-state tuition than the national average. There’s also a perception of chaos on campus, fostered by a culture in which fringe values are rendered mainstream. Professors and protesters alike have been known to harangue students for holding views that would be regarded as conventional anywhere off campus. Students have been denounced as racist merely for their skin color. And...

Boebert faces first test in new district as firebrand fights for her political life

25Jan

By nadiaNo Comments

denvergazette.com, State

Boebert faces first test in new district as firebrand fights for her political life

By Peyton Sorosinski, Washington Examiner | SOURCE: THE GAZETTE Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) will have to convince voters from her new district why they should send her back to Washington in Thursday’s first Republican primary debate. Boebert made the switch to the plains of Colorado's 4th Congressional District across the state from her mountainous 3rd District, which she is representing for a second term after narrowly beating Democratic challenger Adam Frisch in 2022. The two were slated to go head-to-head again this year before Boebert switched to the eastern Colorado district over uncertainties of whether or not she could beat him again. Despite her new district voting for former President Donald Trump, of whom she has been a staunch supporter, by 20 percentage poin...

Polis, governors to Congress, White House: Make immigration deal

24Jan

By nadiaNo Comments

coloradopolitics.com, National, State

Polis, governors to Congress, White House: Make immigration deal

By Nicole C. Brambila | SOURCE: DENVER GAZETTE A cadre of Democratic governors — including Gov. Jared Polis — called on Congress and the Biden administration to reach a border security deal that includes funding to support states, such as Colorado, that are struggling to respond to the humanitarian crisis caused by an influx of immigrants crossing the border illegally. “We need Congress to take action to secure our border and pass comprehensive immigration reform,” Polis said in a news release. “States can’t do this alone. It’s time to put politics aside and deliver the real solutions and support that states like Colorado, and many others, need.” The group of nine governors urged Congress to quickly negotiate a legislative package that addresses border security and modernizes the ...