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Want real property tax relief? Stay tuned for ballot initiatives in November.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Want real property tax relief? Stay tuned for ballot initiatives in November.

By Rocky Mountain Voice Staff A bill passed yesterday, touted as the answer to skyrocketing property taxes, does NOT cut property taxes. Instead of paying an effective rate of 6.3% this year, you'll be paying 6.8% next year.  Colorado lawmakers wrapped up their 2024 legislative session Wednesday evening by sending Gov. Jared Polis a last-minute property tax relief bill, Senate Bill 233. Introduced on Monday after months of negotiations, this was one of the final bills to pass before the Assembly adjourned for the year. Lawmakers hope the measure will dissuade voters from backing property tax measures on the November ballot that could significantly impact state and local government budgets.  Colorado Concern, the group ready to push a ballot initiative, didn’t get on board.  S...
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Smrz: Thirty-seven 1st Amendment advocates denied a voice at Colorado Capitol 
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Commentary, State

Smrz: Thirty-seven 1st Amendment advocates denied a voice at Colorado Capitol 

By Jimmy Smrz | Guest Commentary DENVER, COLORADO—On May 1, 2024, The state House Education Committee hearing for Colorado Senate Bill 24-158 proceeded without calling for testimony from any of the 37 opponents who had registered to speak against the bill. Insiders were struck by the one-sided monopolization of the hearing, where only testimony in support of the proposed legislation was heard. This raises concerns about legislative protocols and stakeholder engagement.  Following its introduction in February, "Social Media Protect Juveniles Disclosures Reports'' garnered significant legislative support. The bill passed out of the state Senate Business, Labor, and Technology Committee hearing on March 28 unanimously, and encountered only one dissenting vote in the full state Sena...
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Property tax bill on track to reach governor’s desk by final day of session
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coloradopolitics.com, State

Property tax bill on track to reach governor’s desk by final day of session

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics With just one day left in the legislative session, an eleventh-hour property tax deal has unanimously cleared two House committees and secured approval at its second reading on the floor.  The bipartisan Senate Bill 233, announced the day before, marks the culmination of months of conversations between the governor, legislators and groups like Colorado Concern, Colorado Counties Inc. and the Bell Policy Center.  This bill gradually decreases commercial property assessment rates from 29% to 25% over three years and introduces two reductions in residential property valuations: from 6.8% to 6.7% for multifamily units and from 7.06% to 6.7% for all other residential properties. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Gaines: Colorado Democrats skirt asking your approval to take your money, bristle at attempts to rein them in
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Commentary, State

Gaines: Colorado Democrats skirt asking your approval to take your money, bristle at attempts to rein them in

By Cory Gaines | Colorado Accountability Project I think that, among other things, one-party dominance in this state has led to an arrogance on the part of the ruling party.  The idea that they know best.  That the values that their political base along the Front Range ought to by right be the template for the state.  That the special interests they represent have the one true vision for things here.   READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT THE COLORADO ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT
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Colorado lawmakers reach last-minute bipartisan property tax deal that averts cuts to K-12 funding
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State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado lawmakers reach last-minute bipartisan property tax deal that averts cuts to K-12 funding

By Jesse Paul and Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun Colorado’s property tax code would be reimagined — with long-term rate cuts for homeowners and businesses and a local revenue cap — under a fiercely negotiated, last-minute bipartisan bill introduced in the legislature Monday that aims to provide tax relief while protecting funding for K-12 schools.  The measure, Senate Bill 233, comes with just three days left in Colorado’s 2024 legislative session — the minimum amount of time needed to pass a bill. And it was the product of negotiations with Colorado Concern, a nonprofit representing CEOs in the state that was working on a plan to ask voters on the November ballot for an even bigger property tax break.  Lawmakers, Gov. Jared Polis’ office and interest groups we...
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Bill to ban purchase, sale and transfer of so-called assault weapons in Colorado will be shelved
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State, The Colorado Sun

Bill to ban purchase, sale and transfer of so-called assault weapons in Colorado will be shelved

By Jesse Paul | Colorado Sun A Colorado bill that would have banned the purchase, sale and transfer of a broad swath of semiautomatic firearms, defined in the measure as assault weapons, will be shelved at the request of one of its main sponsors. Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat and one of the lead sponsors of House Bill 1292, announced Monday that she would ask for the measure to be killed Tuesday in the Senate State, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. “After thoughtful conversations with my Senate colleagues, I decided that more conversations need to take place outside of the pressure cooker of the Capitol during the last weeks of the legislative session,” Gonzales said in a written statement. “In that spirit, I look forward to renewing and continuing those disc...
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Colorado lawmakers OK bills on AI, oil and gas, medical malpractice
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coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado lawmakers OK bills on AI, oil and gas, medical malpractice

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics With the end of the legislative session looming closer, members of Colorado's state House worked on Sunday to debate bills, hold a committee hearing and advanced several measures.   With a vote of 37-24, the House passed House Bill 1468, which aims to broaden the scope of the state's facial recognition software task force to include the study of additional facets of artificial intelligence and biometric technology. Lawmakers also adopted an amendment to allow the task force to study the effects of artificial intelligence and biometric technology on "vulnerable communities," addressing points raised by parties and Judiciary Committee members regarding what they described as potential biases against people of color in faci...
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Lundberg: A look at the bad bills remaining in the final week of session
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Commentary, State

Lundberg: A look at the bad bills remaining in the final week of session

By Kevin Lundberg | KevinLundberg.com I have not ever seen this many really bad bills in one session. Further there are still way too many bills yet to be fully processed and this too looks like a record-breaking volume. Please note that the bad bill list is not exhaustive, these are just the worst ones I have snagged. To see the most recently introduced bills, read the list from the bottom up. Follow Kevin Lundberg at kevinlundberg.com. Good Bills HCR24-1005 Parents’ Bill of Rights This is a resolution to refer to the people this constitutional addition. I helped write this bill, which was heard in House State Affairs last Monday. There was great testimony presented for several hours, but it was still killed, PLV (Party Line Vote). HB24-1022 Publis...
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Bill to boost rural broadband, opposed by Polis administration, dies in committee
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coloradopolitics.com, State

Bill to boost rural broadband, opposed by Polis administration, dies in committee

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics A panel of Colorado lawmakers on Wednesday rejected legislation that would have prohibited the Colorado Department of Transportation from charging annual fees for right-of-way access to deploy broadband networks in some of the most remote areas of rural Colorado.  The Polis administration, which is pushing for high-speed broadband access to 99% of Coloradans in three years, opposed the measure.   Introduced back in January, negotiations over Senate Bill 91 with the Colorado Department of Transportation — whose fees broadband providers claimed would make rural access unaffordable — delayed its first hearing until this week, just a few days before the end of the 2024 legislative session. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLIT...
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Colorado House approves bill to regulate funeral industry
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coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado House approves bill to regulate funeral industry

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The bill to put Colorado's funeral home operators under state regulation for the first time in 40 years won near unanimous approval from the House Wednesday. Senate Bill 173 requires licensing for funeral directors, mortuary science practitioners, embalmers, cremationists, and natural reductionists. The licensing requirements are steep. The bill says perspective funeral industry professionals must apply, pay an application fee, pass a criminal history check and not be subject to discipline in another state. Those regulations go into effect Jan. 1, 2026. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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