Posted inNews, Opinion, Opinion Columns

Opinion: Colorado employers should watch DaVita antitrust case with trepidation

The Justice Department’s announcement last week that it was bringing antitrust charges against DaVita Inc. and its former CEO Kent Thiry grabbed my attention for a reason different from what most others found compelling. The case was widely reported based on the high-profile local targets, but the case is built on a novel legal theory […]

Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government

Kent Thiry, DaVita indicted as part of federal investigation into labor market collusion

Denver-based DaVita Inc. and the dialysis giant’s former CEO Kent Thiry have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that they conspired with competing employers not to try to hire certain workers. DaVita and Thiry are specifically accused of two counts of violating the Sherman Act, which deals with antitrust law, and are […]

Posted inElection 2020, Politics and Government

Top spenders on Colorado ballot measures all claimed victory in 2020 election, new reports show

Dark-money nonprofits, a discount tobacco company and wealthy donors fueled the costly ballot initiative contests in Colorado, and the side that spent the most won all the contested races. The most expensive ballot measure was Proposition 115, a proposed ban on abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy that voters soundly rejected, 59% to 41%, at […]

Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns

Opinion: Colorado bucks partisanship to repeal Gallagher Amendment

In 2003, Colorado voters were asked to repeal the state’s so-called Gallagher Amendment. Gallagher’s approach to property taxes was already starting to show signs of inadequacy. Yet, the promise of a slightly lower property tax rate in the future was too compelling and voters turned down the measure in a landslide, 78-22% vote. When Amendment […]

Posted inElection 2020, Politics and Government

The 2020 election untied and retied the fiscal knot in Colorado with decisions on Gallagher and taxes

On the same ballot that cemented statewide Democratic power not seen since 1936, Colorado’s voters once again sent their elected leaders mixed messages on taxes and spending. They voted to raise taxes in one measure, and cut them in another. They authorized expansive new social programs, while limiting the state’s ability to afford the programs […]

Posted inPolitics and Government

Colorado’s new redistricting process needs you — yes, you — to help decide the political districts

By a landslide, Colorado voters decided in 2018 to overhaul the state’s once-a-decade redistricting process. The goal: finally putting an end to the partisan bloodsport known as gerrymandering. Now, the responsibility falls on the same voters to ensure that the reforms work as planned. This month, the state began accepting applications to serve on the […]