My family and I have lived in Colorado state Senate District 27, centered on Centennial, since 1976. I was raised here, and I’m raising my family here. In that time, I have come to know my community well — its businesses, its shops and restaurants, its parks and open spaces, its people. I’ve also witnessed […]
Jack Tate
Posted inBusiness, Health, Politics and Government
Colorado lawmakers reconvene to consider stimulus plan, but experts question the cost to the state
The unemployment checks for Englewood resident Dana John and her husband ended in July, and the $1,200 federal stimulus money is long gone. One small hope on the horizon is the $375 check Colorado is sending as a stimulus to lower-income unemployed workers. It’s not much, but John said it’s much needed. “I don’t know […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Politics and Government
Judge dismisses lawsuit seeking to hold up blue book printing over Gallagher Amendment language
A Denver District Court judge on Friday morning dismissed a lawsuit attempting to delay printing of the state-issued voter guide because of changes state lawmakers made to language describing the question on the November ballot seeking to repeal the Gallagher Amendment. Judge Martin F. Egelhoff declined to issue a temporary restraining order that would have prevented the […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Democrats poised to hold power in the Colorado Senate as Republicans put on the defensive
Republicans in Colorado look unlikely to reclaim the state Senate majority they lost two years ago, observers from both sides of the aisle say, relegating the party to another two years in the background as Democrats control Colorado’s government. The party is grappling with an election year that forces them to play defense and the […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Politics and Government
Now that Colorado lawmakers have put Gallagher repeal on the ballot, will they actually be able to pass it?
When the General Assembly two years ago agreed to study the state’s dysfunctional property tax code, reform advocates were optimistic that years of warnings would finally lead to action. A bipartisan panel came up with a variety of options to repeal and replace the Gallagher Amendment, the constitutional measure that for decades has squeezed essential […]
Posted inBusiness, Politics and Government
Gallagher led to $35 billion in residential property tax cuts. Now Colorado lawmakers want voters to repeal it.
In a desperate attempt to stave off further budget calamity, state lawmakers are fast-tracking a landmark ballot measure that would ask voters to repeal the Gallagher Amendment — the property tax-limiting constitutional provision that has provided an estimated $35 billion in tax relief to Colorado homeowners since 1983. The bipartisan proposal — which requires a […]
Posted inCOVID, News, Politics and Government
Coronavirus has underscored the need for paid sick time in Colorado. And the potential huge costs.
Key items once part of Democrats’ ambitious agenda likely won’t resurface when state lawmakers step out of isolation and back into the Capitol next month. The pandemic that closed Colorado and shut down the legislature caused a shift in priorities, and lawmakers’ biggest problem is writing a state budget in the midst of an economic […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Colorado still allows killers to use gay or transgender “panic” defenses. But the strategy could soon be outlawed.
When Allen Andrade was charged with murdering a transgender woman in 2008, he argued that he killed her in the heat of passion after learning she had male genitalia. Andrade simply snapped, his attorneys said, and shouldn’t be sent to prison for the rest of his life. In fact, Andrade’s attorneys claimed, he was provoked […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Colorado lawmakers move closer to repealing death penalty after emotional debate
The deep and emotional tension surrounding a bill to repeal the death penalty in Colorado came alive on the Senate floor in a six-hour debate Thursday. “By having the death penalty in Colorado, we are saying to the people that murdering is wrong –– unless the state does it,” said Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Here are the big ideas that Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado lawmakers pitched for the 2020 session
By Erica Breunlin, Jennifer Brown, Moe Clark, John Ingold and Jesse PaulThe Colorado Sun From mental health to teacher pay, Colorado’s leaders are exploring innovative ideas to tackle the state’s biggest challenges. Gov. Jared Polis and four state lawmakers pitched their ideas Tuesday at the Big Ideas Forum hosted by The Colorado Sun, CBS4 and […]