Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Democrat Lawmakers

Lee and Friday: We saved our daughters—HB25-1312 would’ve punished us as child abusers
Approved, Commentary, National, State, The Wall Street Journal, Top Stories

Lee and Friday: We saved our daughters—HB25-1312 would’ve punished us as child abusers

By Erin Friday and Erin Lee | Wall Street Journal We are both mothers whose daughters went through a phase in which they believed they were boys. We never affirmed that belief, although their schools and much of the broader culture did. Eventually, our daughters recognized their true identities and ceased identifying themselves as “transgender.” A bill under consideration in Colorado (where Ms. Lee lives) would define parents like us as child abusers. The measure would harm vulnerable children and violate the U.S. Constitution in multiple ways. Lawmakers including state Reps. Yara Zokaie and Javier Mabrey have likened parents like us to Klansmen, and their legislation is expected to pass the state Senate and proceed to Gov. Jared Polis’s desk. A similar bill in California...
Anderson: Education dollars should help all students perform, while lawmakers focus on funding gender ideology
Approved, Commentary, State, The Business Times

Anderson: Education dollars should help all students perform, while lawmakers focus on funding gender ideology

By Christy Anderson | Commentary, Business Times Let’s look at the facts. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2024, only 36 percent of Colorado’s fourth-graders read at a proficient level, and just 42 percent are proficient in math. These numbers should alarm every parent, educator, policymaker and taxpayer. Beneath the surface of annual graduation celebrations lies a troubling reality: Many students are not prepared for life after high school. Colleges are restructuring their curricula to accommodate lower proficiency levels, and remedial classes are becoming the norm, not the exception. As an educator with 25 years of experience in Mesa County Valley School District 51 and a Realtor who works closely with families across our community, I’ve seen firstha...
Hancock: HB25-1312 replaces truth with dogma and calls it progress
Approved, Colorado Politics, Commentary, State

Hancock: HB25-1312 replaces truth with dogma and calls it progress

By Michael A. Hancock | Commentary, Colorado Politics From the rugged ridgelines of the Rockies now echoes a different kind of thunder — not from the skies above, but from the marble halls of Colorado’s State Capitol, where lawmakers are ushering in a bill that feels less like legislation and more like dogma. House Bill 25-1312, ostentatiously named the “Kelly Loving Act,” is heralded as a civil rights measure. But dig past the buzzwords and you’ll find something far more troubling: a secular creed imposed with such fervor it borders on religious zealotry — and as such, possibly violates the U.S. Constitution’s Establishment Clause. At the heart of the bill is a sweeping redefinition of “coercive control” in family law. If passed, courts would be mandated to treat “deadnaming” and...
Colo. Sheriffs call SB25-003 a ‘nightmare’ for rights, businesses and public safety
Approved, State, The Truth About Guns

Colo. Sheriffs call SB25-003 a ‘nightmare’ for rights, businesses and public safety

By Mark Chesnut | The Truth About Guns Following Gov. Jared Polis’ signing of the sweeping gun ban measure last week, some Colorado sheriffs, who have opposed the bill all along, are still speaking out against the action. The measure bans the sale of the most popular selling rifle in America—the Modern Sporting Rifle (MSR)—unless Coloradans obtain from their county sheriff approval, based on subjective criteria, a permit-to-purchase semi-automatic firearms capable of accepting detachable magazines. Under the law, the sale of semi-automatic firearms capable of accepting a detachable magazine will be banned unless those purchasing the firearms are vetted by a local sheriff and complete a firearm certification course. Sheriff approval to apply for a permit-to-purchase is based on sub...
Enos: What rushed gender and abortion bills say about the legislature’s priorities
Approved, Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Commentary, State

Enos: What rushed gender and abortion bills say about the legislature’s priorities

By Colleen Enos | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Transparency is not really our current General Assembly’s goal. We would like to believe that our state government works for us, but the majority party in charge is more concerned with covering its own tracks to avoid any repercussions of accountability with the voters.  They also consider any opposing views or opinions to be dissent that must be squashed at all costs, even if it means forcibly gagging their opposition by disallowing all debate. This is not exactly an overflow of reasoned debate, which we would like to encourage amongst our lawmakers. For example, HB25-1312, Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals, was introduced in the State House on Friday, March 28th, at the end of the day and assigned to the J...
Hillman: TABOR is the people’s law—Democrats want to sue it out of existence
Approved, Colorado Politics, State

Hillman: TABOR is the people’s law—Democrats want to sue it out of existence

By Mark Hillman | Colorado Politics Lawmakers and special interests routinely ask Colorado voters to raise taxes so they can spend more of our money. Most often, voters say, “No!” Now certain “progressive” Democrat lawmakers plan to use our own tax dollars to sue us for limiting their power to raise our taxes. That’s disgusting even by the gutter standards of this legislature. Having demonstrated their contempt for the rights of law-abiding Coloradans to exercise freedom of speech and to keep and bear arms as protected by the U.S. Constitution, Democrats at our State Capitol now want us to believe they care about respecting that same Constitution. Led by Reps. Sean Camacho (D-Denver) and Lorena Garcia (D-Adams County) and Sens. Lindsay Daugherty (D-Arvada) and Iman Jodeh (D-...
House Minority Leader Pugliese: Parental rights transcend party lines
Approved, Newsmax, State, Top Stories

House Minority Leader Pugliese: Parental rights transcend party lines

By James Morley III | Newsmax Colorado House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese, R-Colorado Springs, told Newsmax Saturday that "parental rights in an issue that transcends party lines" in light of recent bills passed in the state Legislature that she said aim to erode the authority of parents. Last week, the Colorado House of Representatives passed House Bill 1312, which Pugliese said will punish a parent for referring to a transgender child by their birth name and gender, calling it "coercive control." "What this bill basically says is if you don't subscribe to a certain ideology, you could lose your children," she said during an appearance on "America Right Now." READ THE FULL STORY ON NEWSMAX
Why HJR25-1023’s logic for killing TABOR collapses under basic constitutional history
Approved, completecolorado.com, State, Top Stories

Why HJR25-1023’s logic for killing TABOR collapses under basic constitutional history

By Rob Natelson | Complete Colorado To understand why some members of the Colorado legislature are unworthy of your trust, look no further than their current effort to take away your state tax refunds and abolish your right to vote on taxes, spending, and debt. An astounding 44 of 100 lawmakers are sponsoring House Joint Resolution (HJR) 25-1023. This resolution would spend tax dollars on a lawsuit to void the Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR). Coloradans voted to add this valuable protection to the state Constitution in 1992. I’ve listed the sponsors at the end of this column, so you can see who they are and what districts they so poorly represent. I’ve also included a link so you can see their party affiliation and email addresses and another link so you ...
Justice: Colorado’s HB1312 is sacrificing families to the trans lobby
Approved, State, The Daily Caller

Justice: Colorado’s HB1312 is sacrificing families to the trans lobby

By Tiffany Justice | The Daily Caller No parent should ever be forced to enable harm to their child. It’s a primal instinct—to shield, to nurture, to guide our kids through life’s storms. Yet, Colorado is charging toward a law that turns this instinct upside down, branding it abusive for parents to question their child’s desire to “change their gender.” This isn’t a minor policy tweak; it’s a full-frontal assault on parental rights, propped up by the flimsy facade of “gender-affirming care”—a practice I see as abuse cloaked in compassion. The legislation at the heart of this, HB25-1312, cleared the Colorado House in early 2025 and is winding through the Senate as of April. Its supporters pitch it as a shield for transgender individuals, but peel back the rhetoric, and the real ta...
Over 20 Colorado pastors unite in urgent call to action against HB25-1312
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Over 20 Colorado pastors unite in urgent call to action against HB25-1312

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice “If you don’t speak up now, it may be too late.” That’s the message from a growing coalition of Colorado pastors urging fellow faith leaders to take a public stand against HB25-1312 — a bill they say undermines parental rights, criminalizes biblical truth and puts families at risk. Pastor Jeff Anderson, Senior Advisor for Faith Outreach to Congressman Jeff Crank, sent a letter Friday afternoon to pastors across Colorado urging them to speak out against the bill.  “We want to bring to your attention a critical issue affecting parental rights in Colorado,” Anderson wrote. “This bill includes provisions that could have significant implications for parents and families.” The bill, titled “Legal Protections for Transge...