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A state shroom? Colorado House advances bill to crown emperor mushroom the state fungi
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Courthouse News Service, State

A state shroom? Colorado House advances bill to crown emperor mushroom the state fungi

By Amanda Pampuro | Courthouse News Service Colorado's quest for a state mushroom started in a high school politics club. On Tuesday, Horizon High School students saw their bill proposing an official state mushroom pass the house committee on State Civic Military & Veterans Affairs with a unanimous 11-0 vote. “It’s inspiring to finally see this bill for the mushroom come up,” testified Logan Burdick, a Thornton, Colo. high school senior. Burdick lobbied to bring the Designation of State Mushroom Bill, HB25-1091, to the statehouse along with members of his school’s politics club under the guidance of social sciences teacher Greg Sanchez. “Colorado is a beautiful state and this mushroom encapsulates that,” Burdick added. READ THE FULL STORY AT COURTHOUSE NEWS S...
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Supporters of single-payer health care hope third time is charm for advancing study bill
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State, The Sum & Substance

Supporters of single-payer health care hope third time is charm for advancing study bill

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance For the third year in a row, Colorado Democratic legislators have begun to advance a bill to study the impact of implementing a single-payer health-care system, though this year’s version of the legislation would carry no cost to the state itself. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Thursday advanced Senate Bill 45 on a 6-3, party-line vote to the Senate Appropriations Committee. The bill’s supporters include medical professionals, local government leaders and the Colorado PTA, while business groups and the health-insurance industry are heading up the opposition. SB 45, from Democratic Sens. Sonya Jaquez Lewis of Longmont and Janice Marchman of Loveland, tasks the Colorado School of Public Health with analyzing implementation ...
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Colorado House committees to tackle school lunch waste, NIL deals; Senate to hear 911 obstruction bill
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Colorado House committees to tackle school lunch waste, NIL deals; Senate to hear 911 obstruction bill

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice In schools across Colorado, the waste during a lunch period might be astounding — on average a school-age child throws away 67 pounds of food annually. One bill in the Colorado House aims to limit it. House Bill 25-1059, by Republican Rep. Ron Weinberg and sponsored in the Senate by Democrat Sen. Janice Marchman and Republican Sen. Janice Rich, asks school officials to establish policies by which it can reduce waste in school cafeterias and food preparation facilities. The bill will be heard Wednesday, Feb. 5, in the House Education Committee upon adjournment of the House in Room 0107. School policies may address "food waste diversion and aversion initiatives, including composting and share tables," which the bill indicates would permit st...
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How the Colorado Labor Peace Act came to be and why unions want so desperately to get rid of it
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State, The Colorado Sun

How the Colorado Labor Peace Act came to be and why unions want so desperately to get rid of it

By Bente Birkeland and Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun One of the headline bills of Colorado’s 2025 legislative session would rewrite the state’s 80-year-old rule on labor organizing, making it easier for unions to require that all employees at a company pay fees for collective bargaining representation, regardless of whether they are members of the union. Right now, it takes a simple majority vote for workers to form a union. But achieving so-called union security, where all employees at a company are required to pay for representation, is a much taller task.  The Colorado Labor Peace Act requires a 75% vote of approval before a union can even negotiate with an employer over imposing union security. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Property squatters would face stiff $1,000-a-day fines in HB 1104, slated to be heard Feb. 4
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Property squatters would face stiff $1,000-a-day fines in HB 1104, slated to be heard Feb. 4

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice The Colorado solution to a national problem of squatters occupying a property without consent or ownership and with few remedies to remove them will be considered Tuesday during the House Judiciary Committee. House Bill 25-1104, by Rep. Rebecca Keltie, is slated to be heard at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4, in HCR 0107. It will mark the first hearing of a bill written and sponsored by the freshman Republican representing District 16 in El Paso County. "A person who occupies a premises without the consent of the landowner commits the new crime of squatting," the bill reads, with a first offense resulting in an unclassified misdemeanor and a $2,000 fine per offense. Upon conviction, the court shall fine the offender $1,000 per day the property was ...
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Boebert leads legislation to delist wolves from federal protection
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Boebert leads legislation to delist wolves from federal protection

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado 4th, and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wisc. 7th, have introduced the Pet and Livestock Protection Act to delist the gray wolf from the endangered species list and prioritize the safety and success of America's agriculture community. The bill would also remove the ability of a judge to rule against science, and allow states to set their own rules and regulations for the management of grey wolves. Ranchers, hunters and many people across the west who want to protect their livelihoods of their neighbors are finally feeling heard.  There is no place more than Colorado’s West Slope that supports this measure. In response to the proposed bill, Laurie J. from New Mexico said on social media,...
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Gun owners, 2A advocates asked to ‘stand up and fight’ during first caucus event
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Gun owners, 2A advocates asked to ‘stand up and fight’ during first caucus event

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice LOVELAND — A collection of state legislators, advocates and gun dealers gathered here Saturday at The Gallery Range & Restaurant in an effort to unify the state's 2nd Amendment supporters. "This is the first step we are a taking as a caucus," said state Rep. Ryan Armagost, who with Rep. Scott Bottoms chair the newly-formed 2nd Amendment Caucus in the Colorado House. "We're trying to get the word out on a lot of levels," Bottoms added. "What does it mean to be a firearms owner in Colorado?" They were joined by freshmen Reps. Rebecca Keltie, in El Paso County's District 16, and Larry Don Suckla, from the eight-county District 58 on the Western Slope. "I'm not just a gun advocate," Keltie said. "I support the 2nd Amendment. I believe i...
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Colorado hires range riders to protect livestock from wolves as Boebert pushes to delist wolves
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CBS Colorado, State

Colorado hires range riders to protect livestock from wolves as Boebert pushes to delist wolves

By Spencer Wilson | CBS Colorado Colorado wildlife officials are working to hire range riders to protect livestock from the recently reintroduced wolves as some elected officials are pushing to remove gray wolves from the endangered species list. Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert, whose district includes much of Colorado's Eastern Plains, is part of an effort to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list. The Pet and Livestock Protection Act aims to give states control over their own gray wolf populations. Ranchers have continuously raised concerns about wolves preying on livestock while wildlife biologists and environmental activists say wolves are vital to keeping ecological balance and preventing certain species from becoming overpopulated.  READ THE F...
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Sen. Faith Winter’s mea culpa to Senate related to past alcohol abuse
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coloradopolitics.com, State

Sen. Faith Winter’s mea culpa to Senate related to past alcohol abuse

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Sen. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, publicly apologized in the state Senate on Friday over problems tied to alcohol abuse. Last July, a Senate ethics committee decided Winter had violated a Senate ethics rule when residents said she showed up drunk at a public meeting in Thornton on April 3. The ethics committee concluded, 4-1, that Winter violated Rule 41, which requires her, as a member of the Senate, to perform her “legislative duties at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and independence of the Senate and of the General Assembly.” READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Nebraska threatens to condemn land in Colorado for a canal to carry away South Platte River water
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State, The Colorado Sun

Nebraska threatens to condemn land in Colorado for a canal to carry away South Platte River water

By Parker Yamasaki | The Colorado Sun Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser sent a letter to county commissioners in northeastern Colorado earlier this week pledging to defend their rights if Nebraska tries to condemn land for the proposed Perkins County Canal Project. Six landowners in Sedgwick County, where the South Platte River flows out of the state, received notices of condemnation from the state of Nebraska on Jan. 17, offering $1.4 million for about 650 acres of land, according to Nebraska Public Media.  The landowners were given 90 days to sell or face eminent domain. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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