The 101 Colorado bills you need to know about

Good morning, Colorado. Nikola Jokiċ has his third MVP, cementing his place among the NBA’s all-time greats. Let’s hope it motivates the Nuggets to come back from a 2-0 deficit and reintroduce themselves to the Wolves.

That series resumes tomorrow night, which leaves plenty of time today to recap what our state legislature was able to accomplish before this year’s session came to a close yesterday. We’ve made that easy for you with a complete breakdown of the most notable bills debated this year. Find that and more below.

We’re also discussing the 2024 session live in-person next week at the University of Denver. Click here to RSVP for our conversation with state legislators, including Gov. Jared Polis, on Wednesday, May 15. The event is free, but seats are limited so be sure to RSVP.

Lots of politics news today, but that’s not all. Let’s get to it.

Kevin Jeffers

Product Team

THE NEWS

POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

101 bills debated by the Colorado legislature in 2024 that you need to know about

If you’re going to click on one story to find out what the legislature accomplished this session, make it this one. The Sun’s politics team of Jesse Paul, Brian Eason and Sandra Fish — with the help from many others on our staff — have thoroughly pored through the more than 700 measures debated at the Capitol this year and picked out the most impactful 101. We’ve made it easy to browse by the topics you’re most interested in if you don’t have time to read about every bill.

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• Colorado lawmakers pass bipartisan property tax relief bill as 2024 legislative session comes to a close. The General Assembly hopes their legislation will persuade voters not to back property tax measures on the November ballot that would ravage state and local government budgets, Jesse Paul reports.
• The six major Colorado land-use bills passed by Democrats in the legislature and aimed at housing affordability. The measures are aimed at making housing more affordable by increasing density and eliminating roadblocks to development. Jesse Paul and Sandra Fish have more.

WATER

Colorado to shield thousands of acres of wetlands, miles of streams after U.S. Supreme Court left them vulnerable

A U.S. Supreme Court decision last year left thousands of acres of Colorado wetlands and miles of streams unprotected. But a measure approved this week by state lawmakers will replace certain Clean Water Act rules that were wiped out last year. Jerd Smith breaks down the passage of House Bill 1379.

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• Larimer County commissioners say “yes” to Thornton water pipeline. The growing city won unanimous approval Wednesday night from Larimer County for 10 miles of a pipeline to deliver Poudre River water to Adams County, Michael Booth reports.
• Nederland repeals “rights of nature” for watersheds to better pursue new dam. Furious at a nonprofit’s opposition to a reservoir on Middle Boulder Creek, Nederland says it will protect the environment with its own ideas. Michael Booth explains the dispute.

HEALTH

A 15-year-old hockey player with MS may never experience a symptom, thanks to Colorado research

Thanks to research by Children’s Hospital Colorado, 15-year-old Blaise Pfeifer knows he has multiple sclerosis despite never experiencing a symptom. It’s a promising result from a hospital study that’s focusing on siblings or children, hoping to diagnose the degenerative disease early in life to begin treatment. Jennifer Brown explains.

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MORE NEWS

• Denver youth homeless shelter set to open in July scales back costs after losing wage dispute. Urban Peak, which is building a four-story, 136-bed shelter for young people ages 15-24, will have to pay an estimated $2 million in additional labor costs after losing its appeal, Jennifer Brown reports.
• Colorado supermarket shooter was sane at the time of the attack, state experts say. Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, who is accused of killing 10 people inside a Boulder King Soopers, had an untreated mental illness at the time of the 2021 attack but was legally sane, lawyers said in court Tuesday.

THE COLORADO REPORT

• Auraria protesters ticketed for trespassing as tensions rise between antiwar campers and school officials. This isn’t the first time there’s been an antiwar camp at Auraria.
  — Denverite
• Aurora council lays groundwork for expedited homeless sweeps, supportive court program. “The goal is really to move that population into treatment as much as possible,” Mayor Mike Coffman said.
  — Aurora Sentinel
• Land exchange proposed by billionaire along Blue River nears completion as feds overrule protests filed by local residents, anglers. Colorado officials, including county commissioners in Summit and Grand counties, have supported the land exchange, saying it increases public access.
  — Summit Daily
• Where are Denver’s worst parking lots? Here are the city’s biggest offenders — and a few in the suburbs, too. Too few parking spaces, lengthy queues for open spots and cramped designs that can’t handle crowds.
  — The Denver Post 🔑

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

Section by Danika Worthington | Presentation Editor

THE OPINION PAGE

COMMUNITY

• Colorado students have to feel like they belong as they find their identity, and DEI support fosters that growth.  When it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion in Colorado schools, genuine allyship transcends well-worded mission statements
  — Amanda Escheman, teacher and the Gay-Straight Alliance sponsor with Cherry Creek School District at Challenge School in Aurora 

The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy and submit columns, suggest writers or provide feedback at opinion@coloradosun.com.

What’s Happening

Dandelion Day. Dandelions mean different things to different people. To kids they’re a wealth of wishes, to lawn lovers they’re a pesky perennial. In the early 1900s the flower was introduced to the Roaring Fork Valley as a nutritional supplement, and traditional medicines have used it to treat everything from liver disease to scurvy to stomach aches.

In 1999 Carbondale declared dandelions the official town flower and encouraged residents to eat them instead of spray them with herbicides or yank them from their yards. Since then, the town has thrown an annual Dandelion Day celebration to welcome the spring and celebrate sustainability. This year’s Dandelion Day takes place on Saturday. It kicks off with a parade of species, followed by a day of music, dance performances and educational activities that bring people closer to the town’s wild flora. A full schedule of events can be found on the Carbondale Dandelion Day Facebook page.

Free; 10 a.m.-5 p.m., May 11; Sopris Park, Carbondale

• Bonedale Bike Week. More than your typical bike-to-work week with free coffee and donuts — although we love those, too — the 15th annual Bonedale Bike Week dials things up with events like a bike decorating mixer (think DIY handlebar streamers), a townwide scavenger hunt and pump track time trials. The week ends with a bike-in screening of “In The Dirt,” a film about youth cycling in the Navajo community. Free; May 13-18; Various locations in Carbondale
• Ride & Vibes. Grand Junction’s Ride & Vibes, formerly known as Grand Junction Off-Road, is part mountain bike race and part music festival. On Friday night the city’s tight downtown streets are turned into a road cycling racetrack, an adrenaline-pumped warm-up for the longer, wilder racing on Saturday. Free, live music on two stages starts at 3 p.m. Friday and runs all day Saturday. Free to spectate, $90-155 to race; May 10-11; Downtown Grand Junction
• Mother’s Day. Apparently mothers love a tea time. This Sunday, Mother’s Day, take mom out for scones and fancy finger sandwiches at the Molly Brown House in Denver, Sterling Creatives in Sterling or the Miramont Castle in Manitou Springs. Various prices; May 12; Various locations

Section by Parker Yamasaki | Reporter

Let’s go, Nuggets! No one wants to watch Rudy Gobert in the Finals.

— Kevin & the whole staff of The Sun

Corrections & Clarifications

The Sunriser sent on May 8, 2024, included the wrong state agency in charge of bridge inspection. It is the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Notice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors. Request a correction by emailing corrections@coloradosun.com.