Colorado Politics

 Colorado governor seeks FEMA aid for wildfire recovery

Gov. Jared Polis has formally requested that President Donald Trump and FEMA issue a Major Disaster Declaration to unlock funding to support Colorado’s response to the Elk and Lee fires in Rio Blanco County. “The Elk and Lee fires ripped...

 Colorado Republicans again weigh whether to boot unaffiliated voters from party primaries | TRAIL MIX

For the fifth time since Colorado voters created the state’s semi-open primary system, Republican Party officials are set to decide if unaffiliated voters can cast ballots in the party’s upcoming primary. More than 400 members of the Republicans’ state central...

 Hickenlooper pitches in $100K for Colorado Democratic Party’s grassroots organizing

U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper has raised $100,000 for the Colorado Democratic Party’s organizing efforts ahead of next year’s election, the party said on Thursday. The former two-term governor, who is seeking reelection to a second Senate term in 2026, said...

 Q&A with Colorado lawmaker Barb Kirkmeyer | Republican says she’ll be a governor who ‘knows how to govern’

State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer says her decades of experience in government — as a county commissioner, director of a state department and state legislator — have prepared her to be a “really great governor,” and the Brighton Republican argues that’s...

 Colorado’s prison population management plan activated due to overcrowding

Ongoing issues within the Colorado Department of Corrections have prompted the state to trigger its Prison Population Management Measures — a policy framework established in 2018 to address overcrowding. It marks the first time the measures have been put into...

 Colorado’s affordable housing efforts gain momentum despite market challenges

Colorado’s housing shortage is improving after reaching its worst point in 2019, but affordability remains a significant barrier to homeownership, according to a new analysis from the state’s Demography Office. “The State Demography Office’s analysis compares existing housing shortage estimates...

 Survey: Coloradans skeptical of party politics, economic outlook remains grim

Nearly 50% of voters in Colorado are unaffiliated with a political party, according to the latest data from the Secretary of State’s Office. A recent survey from the conservative-leaning polling group Magellan Strategies appears to confirm Coloradans’ overall distrust of...

 ‘Heartbroken’: Colorado political leaders, organizations condemn assassination of Charlie Kirk

Colorado elected officials and political groups expressed grief, outrage and resolve against political violence in reaction to the fatal shooting of conservative organizer and nonprofit leader Charlie Kirk on Wednesday at Utah Valley University. “Today is a really hard day,”...

 Republican state lawmaker Barb Kirkmeyer set to launch campaign for Colorado governor

Republican state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer filed paperwork Monday to run to be Colorado’s next governor, making the Brighton lawmaker’s long-anticipated campaign official. Kirkmeyer, who lost a close race for Congress in 2022, plans to make a formal announcement Tuesday evening...

 Colorado remains among a shrinking pool of states with glass ceilings at top of the ticket | TRAIL MIX

Will 2026 be the year Colorado voters shatter one of the state’s stubborn and seemingly incongruous glass ceilings? The Centennial State approaches next year’s sesquicentennial — preparing to celebrate the 150th anniversary of statehood — with an increasingly rare distinction...

 Gov. Jared Polis says Trump’s tariffs policy is disrupting Colorado’s exports, jobs

A report released Thursday by Colorado’s governor said President Donald Trump’s tariffs policy is disrupting the state’s economy and courting a recessionary scenario. State economists have, in fact, been sounding the risk of a scenario for a year — preceding...

 Colorado’s congressional delegation vows to fight Trump’s plans to move Space Command to Alabama

Every member of Colorado’s congressional delegation on Tuesday condemned President Donald Trump’s announcement that Space Command will move from its headquarters in Colorado Springs to Alabama in a joint statement charging that such a move would weaken national security and...

 ANALYSIS: 5 takeaways from Colorado’s 2025 special session

The six-day special session of the General Assembly dealt with the state’s fiscal crisis, artificial intelligence, a ballot measure on school meals, and health insurance premiums. Democrats said the special session was needed because of a $1.2 billion loss individual...

 Colorado’s crowded gubernatorial primary fields take shape as race looms for open seat | TRAIL MIX

A few months after celebrating Colorado’s sesquicentennial next summer, voters will elect the state’s 44th governor in the first open race for the seat since term-limited Democrat Jared Polis was elected eight years earlier. At last count, four Democrats and...

 A historical view: Colorado legislature wraps up longest special session in 23 years

The recently concluded six-day special session of the Colorado General Assembly was the longest in 23 years.  But it wasn’t the longest by a long stretch. That belongs to the second of two special sessions in 1991 under then-Democratic Gov....

 Medicaid provider cuts likely to be an area of disagreement between Polis and the Joint Budget Committee

The most significant cuts to the state budget, as contained in the spending reduction plan that Gov. Jared Polis will present to the Joint Budget Committee on Thursday, are for the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. That’s a...

 Gov. Jared Polis announces $252.5 million in cuts to Colorado state budget

Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday signed an executive order, initiating the process to cut $252.5 million in cash and general funds from the current year’s budget, with the most significant impact on the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing,...

 ‘Political theatre’ or necessary action? Colorado lawmakers weigh in on ‘divisive’ session

While Democrats and Republicans clashed over the cause of an $800 million budget shortfall plaguing the Colorado state government, they agreed that the recently-concluded special session, which sought to solve that deficit, was one of the most “divisive” in years....

 Colorado legislators wrap up special session to plug $800 million budget deficit

Colorado’s legislators on Tuesday wrapped up their work following a special session that sought to plug an $800 million budget deficit. They adopted a slew of tax measures intended to shore up state revenue and confirmed the governor’s authority to...

 Here is how Colorado’s corporate taxes will change

Colorado tax policy currently is “coupled” with federal tax policy. What that means is when the federal government changes tax policy, Colorado’s policy automatically conforms to those changes. Changes to the federal tax code enacted through H.R. 1 resulted in...

 Tensions erupt in Colorado House over harassment resolution against former GOP Rep. Armagost

In the final hours of a special session on Tuesday, Colorado lawmakers voted to denounce former Rep. Ryan Armagost for his role in an incident involving a photo of Rep. Yara Zokaie, sparking a heated exchange between party leaders. On...

 Effective Sept. 1: Colorado enacts new laws on rental agreements, child abuse reporting and military justice

Three laws, including measures related to rental agreement procedures in the event of a tenant’s death and updates to the state’s Military Code of Justice, will take effect on Sept. 1. Here’s an explanation of each and how they could...

 Day Five of Special Session: Colorado legislature moves key measures forward

As artificial intelligence legislation remained in limbo, Colorado’s legislators turned their attention on several other measures during Monday’s special session, notably debating a change to a measure bill to set aside $100 million to help lower health insurance premiums.  Lawmakers also advanced...

 Senate committee gives green (well, maybe yellow) light to artificial intelligence bill

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Sunday handed Senate Bill 4, the artificial intelligence bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez, a 4-3 win and moved it on to the full Senate. Whether the measure has the votes to get...

 Colorado Special Session Day 2: Hints of compromise over governor’s authority to make cuts

The Colorado House on Friday killed a measure introduced by Republicans that aims to curb the governor’s spending powers, but, given the unanimous 11-0 vote to do so, there are suggestions of a compromise. Joint Budget Committee members Rep. Rick...

 Davis Mortuary investigation: Polis asks for coroner’s resignation, declares disaster emergency

PUEBLO – Gov. Jared Polis on Friday called on Pueblo County Coroner Brian Cotter to resign immediately amid a multi-agency criminal investigation that’s underway after state inspectors found “around 20” decomposing bodies hidden inside a private funeral home owned by Cotter...

 New AI bill in Colorado would mandate disclosure of ‘non-human’ nature

Not into chatting with chatbots? There’s a bill making its way through this week’s special session that sponsors say would increase transparency around how consumers interact with AI systems. Members of the House Business Affairs & Labor Committee voted, 8-5,...

 Artificial intelligence bill clears first Senate special session committee

The proposed Senate Democrats’ fix to the first-in-the-nation artificial intelligence regulation dealing with “algorithmic discrimination” won approval from its first committee on the first day of the 2025 special session. Senate Bill 4 — sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Robert...

 Senate committee advances bills to shift wolf program funds, proposal on governor’s budget authority

Colorado legislators began to advance proposals dealing with an $800 million budget shortfall on Thursday, just hours after the legislature officially re-convened to deal with the revenue shortfall.  They started with a hearing on Senate Bill 1, which adds a...

 Water Power Struggle: Upper basin states allege downstream ‘overuse’

Colorado’s water experts expressed long-held worries about allocation among the Upper and Lower Basin states in this week’s Water Congress that is well underway in Steamboat Springs, notably fears of over-allocation of the river that some 40 million people and...