To address a $3 billion shortfall, Colorado lawmakers made a series of drastic spending cuts Thursday and moved close to finalizing a state budget battered by the coronavirus and the paralyzed economy. The legislative budget committee cut $448 million from K-12 education — a 10% cut compared to a year ago. The actual cut is […]
KC Becker
Posted inCOVID, News, Politics and Government
Colorado governor announces distribution of $1.6 billion in federal coronavirus aid; most of it directed to education
Gov. Jared Polis on Monday evening announced how he will spend $1.67 billion in federal coronavirus aid, directing more than half of it to the state’s schools and colleges and universities. But legislative leaders cautioned that the money won’t solve the state’s budget problems. House Speaker KC Becker, a Boulder Democrat, said furloughs for state […]
Posted inUncategorized
Colorado legislature delays its return date until late May to allow more time to balance budget
The Colorado legislature has pushed back the date it will resume lawmaking until late May. The General Assembly was set to resume the 2020 legislative session on May 18 after taking a months-long pause because of the new coronavirus. But on Saturday, Democratic leadership in the House and Senate announced that the reopening will now […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, COVID, Politics and Government
Coloradans in the U.S. illegally — and their citizen families — were denied coronavirus aid. Will the state step in?
Alaina Silva met her husband in a crowded sushi restaurant in downtown Denver in 2011. He was the sushi chef behind the bar, wearing a black chef’s coat and apron that crisscrossed behind his back. “I had just moved for work and I didn’t know anyone, so I decided to dine alone for the first […]
Posted inCOVID, Health, News, Politics and Government
Democrats in the Colorado legislature jostle over whether they must return to the Capitol to continue their coronavirus pause
The question of whether state lawmakers needed to appear in person at the Colorado Capitol Monday to extend a pause in the lawmaking term because of the new coronavirus opened a rare public rift between Democrats in the Colorado House and Senate. The situation highlights just how much pressure the disease is putting on the […]
Posted inCOVID
Colorado’s legislature won’t resume Monday as planned. It’s an open question when they will return.
The Colorado General Assembly will not resume its lawmaking term next week as scheduled and may not return until the second half of April as the coronavirus pandemic worsens. The legislature is scheduled to reconvene at 10 a.m. Monday after a two-week break imposed in response to the public health emergency. But legislative leaders told […]
Posted inHealth, Politics and Government
Colorado lawmakers upend the legislative session with decision to adjourn. Here’s what comes next.
In an unprecedented move, the Colorado General Assembly temporarily adjourned in the middle of its lawmaking session Saturday to encourage social distancing and help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus amid a national emergency. House Speaker KC Becker called it “a very solemn” occasion as she introduced the resolution to pause the session for […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Colorado legislature shuts down for 2 weeks because of coronavirus
UPDATE: Just before 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, the legislature passed a resolution to take a recess of two weeks. The Colorado legislature will temporarily shut down for at least two weeks effective Saturday after leadership at the Capitol decided it is unsafe to continue lawmaking with the new coronavirus spreading rapidly across the state. “I […]
Posted inCOVID, News, Politics and Government
Should the Colorado legislature shut down because of coronavirus? The conversation is well underway.
Colorado lawmakers have begun discussing in earnest whether to temporarily shut down the state legislature to limit the spread of the new coronavirus. The debate comes as the outbreak increasingly disrupts activity at the Capitol and as Gov. Jared Polis is warning that the spread of the virus has no end in sight. Colorado’s largest […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
The effort to ban flavored vaping products, menthol cigarettes in Colorado now has a big asterisk
Democratic state lawmakers set out this year to pass a bill banning the sale of all flavored vaping and nicotine products in Colorado, including menthol cigarettes and wintergreen smokeless tobacco, as a way to curb teen use. They won’t get it done. On Tuesday, House Bill 1319 — which sought to impose the blanket ban […]