UPDATE: Dueling press releases from House Republicans and Democrats follow: “This budget is a responsible budget, one that increases funding for education, protects our seniors, invests in our students and helps to build a better Colorado,” said Speaker of the House Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch. “Politics is compromise, and on a JBC with three Democrats […]
WEDNESDAY UPDATE: Charles Ashby of the Sentinel responds today with a blog update citing votes which at least partly back up his original contention that Rep. Scott Tipton voted against funding for the senior homestead exemption. A Democratic-sponsored amendment to fund half the exemption in 2010 was voted down by Tipton in addition to his […]
UPDATE: Members of the Joint Budget Committee reached a deal today that has Democrats and Republicans claiming victory (per usual), with a 1% reduction that now excludes many vital departments from cuts like corrections. From Colorado WINS’ press release a short while ago: We are thanking the entire Joint Budget Committee for coming to a […]
Circling back with the Durango Herald’s Joe Hanel, who reported yesterday: The homestead exemption allows people older than 65 who have lived in their homes for at least 10 years to get a discount on some of their property taxes. The Legislature has suspended the tax break the last three years, as the state grappled […]
As the Durango Herald’s Joe Hanel reported yesterday: An improving economy will bring about $150 million more to the state budget next year, about a 2 percent improvement over the previous projection from December… While the improving economy is good news for Coloradans as a whole, the slight increase in cash flow threatens to touch […]
We like to spread out our end-of-year retrospectives so that 2012 gets a little reflection time. It is with that in mind that we present the awards for Colorado’s Top Politico (and Worst Politico for 2011, as well a look at who had a good and bad year in the last full year of human […]
We wanted to make sure a story in today’s Denver paper from reporter Tim Hoover got a mention–a couple of weeks ago, we were forwarded some pre-legislative session Q&A between Hoover and House Speaker Frank McNulty on the Senior Homestead Exemption. A yearly battle as the hard fiscal choices are made, Republicans seized on the […]
(We call this phenomenon “GOP amnesia” – promoted by Colorado Pols) In its coverage of the release of Hickenlooper’s proposed state budget, The Denver Post predicted a partisan battle in the state legislature next year over Hick’s proposal to suspend Senior Homestead Exemption, which gives some seniors a property-tax break and costs the state around […]
( – promoted by Colorado Pols) These days, Republicans in the Colorado Assembly are facing a question they’re not used to being asked: how will you pay for that? In 2009, state Republicans and Democrats were both saying they wanted to pass legislation to upgrade Colorado’s roads and bridges. The Dems’ plan, the FASTER legislation […]
( – promoted by Colorado Pols) POLS UPDATE #2: Washington Post, add Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a lead plaintiff in the lawsuit challenging federal health care reform, to the Koch list: He spoke at a breakfast about federalism and touted his office’s role in lawsuits against the federal government involving health care and the […]
FRIDAY UPDATE: Coverage from the Vail paper and the Colorado Independent. —– UPDATE #3: More details from Common Cause’s invitation email after the jump. —– UPDATE #2: The uber-swanky Ritz-Carlton Resort at Bachelor Gulch is the location we just got from multiple sources. We are working on confirmation now. —– UPDATE: Not much information yet, […]
As a courtesy warning, if you have no interest in what happens east of Greeley, Limon or Pueblo, this diary is long and not likely for you. On Friday, October 29 Pols front-paged an article posing the question of whether the Republican’s will take the majority in the Senate. Absent was any mention of the […]
An excellent set of opinions on the current state of the “Tea Party” in Colorado, published in the New York Times yesterday featuring local opinionmakers Fred Brown, Anne Hyde of Colorado College, Barry Poulson and Scott Adler of CU, Michael de Yoanna of 5280, and Robert Duffy and John Straayer of CSU. Worth reading in […]
In the last two years, as everyone who follows Colorado politics knows, major cuts have been made to the state budget as revenue declined during the recent recession. A recurring theme, given that the state legislature has been controlled by Democrats during this period of budget cutting, has been vitriolic attacks from the GOP minority […]
Funny stuff, from the Grand Junction Sentinel’s Charles Ashby: During this year’s legislative session, Rep. Ed Vigil, D-Alamosa, carried a bill to change the state designation for Mineral County. That desigation, which only the Legislature can set, determines, among other things, the pay scale for elected officials… Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, was one of those […]
So most of us know by now that McInnis screwed himself. Plagued by pernicious plagiarism charges that only get worse with each successive update the real question of course is no longer if McInnis will be in the governor’s mansion one day, but WHEN he will head back to the ol’ homestead that does not […]
(Please see Ray’s update below–the plaque has been found. – promoted by Middle of the Road) An appeal from Glenn Morris From: Glenn Morris Date: Wed, Jun 23, 2010 at 10:29 PM Subject: Indian/Sand Creek plaque at Colorado State Capitol stolen Hello, AIMsters and friends, As many of you know, there is a statue […]
As the Grand Junction Sentinel reports: …According to an audio recording of a portion of the hearing posted on ColoradoPols.com, [Sen. Shawn] Mitchell referred to a witness’ comment that he was nervous at the beginning of this testimony but indicated that the witness didn’t seem nervous. “If any of those (witnesses) that follow are (nervous), […]
( – promoted by Colorado Pols) The Pew Center on the States has recently released their report “One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections.” This is an updated report on last years report revealing a staggering social expense to our current corrections system. Here are some relevant statistics for Colorado: * 1 […]
( – promoted by Colorado Pols) As the 2009 Colorado legislative session draws to a close this week, the state’s largest progressive advocacy organization, ProgressNow Colorado, released their annual list of winners and losers: The Winners (starting with #1) The #1 Biggest Winner for 2009. Colorado’s Uninsured—Despite a budget crisis that might have doomed progress on […]
Senate Majority Leader Brandon Shaffer writes in the Denver Post today on behalf of the emergency proposal to transfer “excess” reserves from the state’s workman’s comp insurance entity, “backfilling” otherwise devastating cuts to higher education: This week, Colorado’s General Assembly is setting the state’s budget for next year. It is more than just a set […]
Without even knowing it, as the Greeley Tribune reports: State Democratic legislative leaders said Monday that they’re working under the premise that removing a cap on state general fund spending through legislation is constitutional despite Republican cries that it is not. Senate President Peter Groff said if other branches of government decide to challenge a […]
From GOP propaganda “news” site Coloradosenatenews.com: This week’s debut features GOP Senate Whip Nancy Spence, of Centennial, urging the General Assembly not to cut the state’s property tax homestead exemption for senior citizens. Spence tells viewers that the exemption, which can offer substantial property-tax savings to seniors who have lived in their current homes at […]
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