Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Democrat Lawmakers

Colorado bill blocks deportation efforts, weakens citizenship path requirements
Approved, COLORADO PEAK POLITICS, State

Colorado bill blocks deportation efforts, weakens citizenship path requirements

Colorado Peak Politics Colorado Democrats use a lot of energy and our tax dollars encouraging migrants to come here illegally and then remain as non-citizens, rather than promoting legal U.S. citizenship. And here they go again. A state Senate panel this week passed radical legislation to further restrict deportation activities of federal immigration officers in every Colorado city. Plus, the bill kills current requirements that migrants be actively pursuing legal citizenship when applying for a driver’s license or in-state tuition to a public university, which is subsidized by taxpayers. And shamefully, not a single reporter or Democrat voter is asking why the legislature is incentivizing non-citizens to retain their illegal status. The pending bill is SB25-276, and It’s...
Garbo: With HB25-1312, the state can claim your kids and call it compassion
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Garbo: With HB25-1312, the state can claim your kids and call it compassion

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice On April 6, 2025 the Colorado House of Representatives crossed a line - a Rubicon, as it were - into territory so profane, so fundamentally corrosive to the bedrock of human society, that it demands not just opposition but a thunderous rebuke. House Bill 25-1312 titled Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals, passed with a vote of 36-20, is no mere legislative misstep; it is a deliberate, ideological sledgehammer aimed at shattering the sacred bond between parent and child. To its proponents, I say this with the full weight of reason and the fire of conviction: you have unleashed a dangerous precedent, one that betrays the very essence of family, liberty, and the proper limits of government. This is not a defense of civil ...
Marshall breaks with Democrats over custody bill targeting parents who ‘misgender’
American Wire News, Approved, State

Marshall breaks with Democrats over custody bill targeting parents who ‘misgender’

By Kevin Haggerty | American Wire News Opposition to his party’s hardline stance on gender ideology found a Colorado Democrat explaining his “serious concerns regarding overreach.” Sunday in the Centennial State, leftist lawmakers delivered what many considered to be a literal and symbolic salvo against Christian beliefs as they pushed through four bills advancing gender ideology and abortion. State Rep. Bob Marshall was the only member of the Democratic Party to oppose one of those bills, and he explained why he was specifically against parents losing custody if they “misgendered” or “deadnamed” their own child. “This is a larger concern I have regarding the understandable reaction people are having to protect marginalized groups from the overly zealous onslaught in the new admin...
Immigrant protection bill passes committee, limits law enforcement cooperation with feds
Approved, kdvr.com, National, State

Immigrant protection bill passes committee, limits law enforcement cooperation with feds

By Gabrielle Franklin | Fox31 DENVER (KDVR) — A bill meant to better protect immigrants under Colorado law passed through a Colorado Senate committee Tuesday. Supporters of the bill say it looks to ensure everyone’s civil rights are protected regardless of immigration status, while opponents argue it further prohibits the state from helping federal agents. “Fear is contagious, isolating and destructive. We’ve seen President Trump weaponize fear time and time again against immigrants. Donald Trump’s ICE agents say one thing and then they do another,” said state Senator Julie Gonzales when talking about who the administration is targeting for deportations through Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. A newly introduced bill at the state capitol covers a lot of ter...
How HB1312 could reshape custody courts, schools, and family law in Colorado
Approved, COLORADO PEAK POLITICS, State

How HB1312 could reshape custody courts, schools, and family law in Colorado

By Colorado Peak Politics Colorado Democrats have jumped the political shark with a dangerously radical bill that authorizes courts deciding child custody cases to consider if a parent can’t keep their pronouns straight. The summary of HB25-1312 passed on a party line vote in the House Sunday reads; “Section 1 of the bill creates the “Kelly Loving Act.” Section 2 provides that, when making child custody decisions and determining the best interests of a child for purposes of parenting time, a court shall consider deadnaming, misgendering …” and something about publishing that doesn’t make sense so we didn’t include it here. Call us old fashioned, but physical abuse should top the list of limiting a parent’s custodial rights to their own flesh and bl...
The fine print of SB25-063: Speak up about inappropriate books in schools, get doxxed
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

The fine print of SB25-063: Speak up about inappropriate books in schools, get doxxed

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice When Colorado lawmakers debated Senate Bill 25-063—titled the “Freedom to Read Act”—most eyes focused on the usual battle lines: controversial books, age appropriateness and the role of librarians. But tucked inside the bill is something less publicized—and more dangerous to parents who dare to speak up. Under Section 4(f), any parent who requests that a book be reconsidered for a school library will have their name made public. That request becomes a CORA-able document, meaning it falls under the Colorado Open Records Act. And in today’s politically charged environment, that’s all it takes to make someone a target. Rep. Ken DeGraaf, who opposed the bill during the April 3 House floor debate, warned that the measure gives...
One Sunday, four laws and the collapse of middle ground in Colorado politics
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

One Sunday, four laws and the collapse of middle ground in Colorado politics

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice With the clock ticking on the legislative session, Colorado Democrats made their move—advancing four of the year’s most polarizing bills in a single day – Sunday. The marathon legislative blitz was notable not only for its controversial content, but for how it was executed: through rare weekend floor time, party-line votes and multiple Rule 16 motions that cut off debate and silenced opposing voices. https://twitter.com/RepCaldwell/status/1908586233632071742 "Because of the actions today, I would request that this bill be read at length—and every other bill after this," said Rep. Ron Weinberg, responding to the procedural move that ended discussion on one of the bills.  House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese added, "Col...
Cole: HB-1312 turns pronouns into a weapon against parents and schools
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Cole: HB-1312 turns pronouns into a weapon against parents and schools

By Shaina Cole | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado House Democrats recently leveraged their legislative authority with a calculated one-two punch, invoking Rule 14 on April 4, 2025, to cap debate on House Bill 1312 (HB-1312), the “Kelly Loving Act,” at a scant two hours, then deploying Rule 16 over the weekend to stifle discussion entirely and push the bill to an immediate vote.  These tools, seldom used outside of breaking filibuster gridlock, were not wielded here to clear a clogged calendar but to mute opposition to a measure poised to reshape parental rights, free speech, and family dynamics. This heavy-handed approach stripped away democratic deliberation, a move that should unsettle every Coloradan. This isn’t about streamlining; it’s about dominance. ...
Enos: Abortion, parental rights and gun grabs—Colorado’s radical trifecta
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Enos: Abortion, parental rights and gun grabs—Colorado’s radical trifecta

By Colleen Enos | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice While continuing to grapple with Colorado’s $1.2 billion dollar shortfall, the state will be losing $250 million in pandemic-related federal funding for healthcare from the American Rescue Plan Act. The federal government is implementing the President’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Cost Efficiency Initiative. Coloradoans may believe that our Democrat-led state legislature will surely cut back on bills with a fiscal impact, but that would be an incorrect assumption; they just tweak the fiscal note. SB25-183, Coverage for Pregnancy Related Services, would be more appropriately named “Taxpayer-funded Abortion Coverage.” This bill adds abortion coverage to Colorado’s state Medicaid insurance. Howev...
Davis: Democrat lawmakers target faith as discriminatory under HB25-1312
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Davis: Democrat lawmakers target faith as discriminatory under HB25-1312

By Chase Davis | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado is rapidly becoming one of the nation’s most “progressive” states. And by “progressive,” I mean “radically opposed to God, family, life, marriage, and basic human biology and aggressively hostile to anyone who holds historic conservative and Christian beliefs on these issues.” Welcome to the modern Left—this ain’t your grandaddy’s Democrat Party. As a Southern Baptist pastor living and ministering in Boulder, Colorado, I’m on the front lines of the fight to maintain both a gospel and a “creation order” witness in a state that is increasingly hostile to the spiritual message of salvation in Jesus Christ and the natural law. And what Colorado Democrats are trying to do right now, if successful, would destroy the ...