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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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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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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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Presidential primary ballots will start being mailed to Colorado voters today. Here’s what to know.
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State, The Colorado Sun

Presidential primary ballots will start being mailed to Colorado voters today. Here’s what to know.

By Sandra Fish | Colorado Sun Ballots will start being mailed to voters today for Colorado’s March 5 presidential primary, listing options from former Republican President Donald Trump on the GOP ballot to “noncommitted delegate” on the Democratic ballot. But votes for some of the candidates listed might not count. Four of the seven Republican presidential candidates on Colorado’s Republican presidential primary ballot have ended their campaigns, though none have notified the Secretary of State’s Office they are no longer in Colorado’s contest. And the U.S. Supreme Court could rule that Trump isn’t eligible to be on Colorado’s ballot because of his attempts to overturn the 2020 election. The court heard arguments in that case last week, and the justices appeared ...
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Denver cuts services in response to the migrant crisis that’s costing the city $180 million
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Denver Metro, Local, The Colorado Sun

Denver cuts services in response to the migrant crisis that’s costing the city $180 million

By Jennifer Brown | Colorado Sun Denver will cut hours at recreation centers, end in-person vehicle registration renewals and eliminate spring flower beds to save $5 million this year, a response to the migrant crisis that is expected to cost the city $180 million.  Mayor Mike Johnston on Friday blasted Congress for failing this week to pass a $118.3 billion bill aimed at stopping the flow of illegal entry at the southern border and making it easier for migrants who enter legally to get work permits.  About 40,000 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, have arrived in Denver over the past year, and more than 3,500 are living in city-funded hotel rooms. Thousands took bus rides to other American cities after arriving in Denver, and an unknown number are trying to stay in the ci...
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U.S. Supreme Court doubts whether states can bar presidential candidates from running for office in hearing Colorado’s Trump ballot-access case
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National, The Colorado Sun

U.S. Supreme Court doubts whether states can bar presidential candidates from running for office in hearing Colorado’s Trump ballot-access case

U.S. Supreme Court justices raised concerns about letting state courts make a decision that could have national consequences. Justice Amy Coney Barrett put it plainly: “It just doesn’t seem like a state call.” By Jesse Paul | Colorado Sun U.S. Supreme Court justices on Thursday aggressively challenged whether states can disqualify a presidential candidate from running for office under the so-called insurrection clause in the Constitution as they heard arguments in the Colorado case seeking to disqualify Donald Trump from running for reelection.  A lawyer from Trump’s reelection campaign said the question is decisively “no” because the clause, in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, is ultimately evaluated by Congress — and only after a candidate has been elected. ...
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Coloradans agree social media is bad for youth mental health. Now lawmakers want to do something about it.
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State, The Colorado Sun

Coloradans agree social media is bad for youth mental health. Now lawmakers want to do something about it.

A bill introduced in the state legislature would put regulations on social media platforms to help limit how much time teens spend scrolling By John Ingold | Colorado Sun As a senior at East High School in Denver, Melina Collier is fluent in social media. TikTok most frequently. Snapchat to message with friends. Instagram for idle scrolling. But while she and her friends definitely know what they are doing on the apps, that doesn’t mean they always feel in control of them — or that they think the platforms are good for them. Collier gave the example of content on the apps specifically targeted at teenage girls that purports to promote health and fitness but in reality sends a message of body-shaming. “It’s supposed to be body positivity,” Collier said, “but it ends up being ...
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In April, discounted internet will end for 250,000 low-income households if Congress doesn’t act
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National, The Colorado Sun

In April, discounted internet will end for 250,000 low-income households if Congress doesn’t act

The Affordable Connectivity Program will stop accepting newcomers Feb. 7. Advocates hope Congress will extend funding. By Tamara Chuang | Colorado Sun The federal subsidy to reduce internet bills for nearly 250,000 Colorado households is winding down and funding is set to run out by April. But the first deadline is Wednesday at 10 p.m. when local internet providers must stop accepting new customers. “We will take applications to the very end,” said Brieana Reed-Harmel, broadband manager at Loveland Pulse, the city’s municipal internet service. “They are still trickling in little by little every day.” Loveland Pulse currently has about 500 low-income customers enrolled in the federal Affordable Connectivity Program, or ACP, a $14.2 billion program that launched two years ago to ...
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Colorado lawmakers seek to boost condo development by reducing lawsuits over construction errors
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State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado lawmakers seek to boost condo development by reducing lawsuits over construction errors

Condos are seen as a key way to ease Colorado’s housing affordability crisis, but changing the state’s so-called construction defects laws has been a political third rail By Jesse Paul | Colorado Sun In a bid to spur condominium construction in Colorado, a group of state lawmakers introduced a bill Monday aimed at reducing lawsuits over construction errors by narrowing when they can be filed and by giving builders and homeowners an avenue to make repairs faster and without going to court.  Senate Bill 106, the so-called construction defects measure, is a major part of the affordable housing debate at the Colorado Capitol this year.  Proponents of easing Colorado’s construction defects laws, including Gov. Jared Polis, see the change as a way to persuade...
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