State officials expect about 30,000 children to opt into the universal preschool program in its first year. That’s about half the number that will be eligible.
Polis administration
Colorado governor commutes 4 inmates’ sentences, pardons 20 people, including state trooper who guarded Capitol
The former trooper, Jay Hemphill, was sentenced to a year of probation after he pointed a gun at a woman near the Capitol in 2021
What’s Working | Median home values haven’t fallen in Colorado, but list prices for a new house have
As average 30-year fixed mortgage rates continue to hover around 6%, there’s an expectation that prices of homes for sale will fall. It’s only been 10 days since the Fed increased interest rates so it’s too soon to see the impact. Or is it? So begins week two of What’s Working’s focus on housing (Missed […]
Colorado lawmakers plan to overhaul unemployment system, extend benefits to immigrants as they also backfill depleted fund
Colorado lawmakers are planning to introduce a bill as soon as this week that would overhaul the state’s unemployment system and also send roughly $600 million to the depleted unemployment insurance trust fund to lower a $1 billion federal debt hanging over employers. The $600 million replenishment was expected — Gov. Jared Polis made the […]
Railroad workers warn that BNSF’s “harsh” new policy may force them to work while sick, exhausted
Thousands of railroad workers in Colorado can’t strike over a new attendance policy that two unions say is so punitive it could lead employees to clock in while sick or exhausted, potentially leading to accidents. The unions said in late March they would enter arbitration, after a judge ruled in February that union workers can’t […]
It’s official: Colorado will begin ticketing drivers who illegally use the I-70 mountain express toll lanes
Motorists who drive in the Interstate 70 mountain express toll lanes in Clear Creek County when they are closed and supposed to be serving as the emergency shoulder will face a $250 fine starting in August. Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday signed House Bill 1074 into law letting the Colorado Department of Transportation use the […]
Prosecutors slam Colorado trucker’s reduced prison sentence, say governor hurt efforts to negotiate in other cases
The reduction of a 110-year prison sentence to 10 years by Colorado’s governor for a trucker convicted of killing four people in a fiery interstate crash is hurting prosecutors’ efforts to negotiate sentences in other cases, according to two district attorneys. The Dec. 30 commutation by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis for the trucker was “unprecedented, […]
Colorado governor extends some eviction protections to residents still waiting for rent assistance
A day before the national eviction moratorium is set to end, Gov. Jared Polis gave struggling Colorado renters more time. Polis extended an order requiring landlords to give some renters 30 days notice, instead of 10 days, before a landlord can file an eviction action in court. The revised order issued Friday only affects tenants […]
Here come the gas and delivery fees as Colorado’s governor signs $5 billion-plus transportation bill into law
FLOYD HILL — Shaded by an Interstate 70 bridge that has fueled steering-wheel-pounding rage for generations, Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday signed a transportation fee and spending bill that seeks to inject more than $5 billion into state road and transit projects over the next 11 years. “Everybody knows we need to fix it,” Polis […]
Polis says he’ll begin phasing out pandemic executive powers
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said he will begin phasing out the executive authority he has been granted during the coronavirus pandemic after creating, amending and extending about 400 orders since March 2020. The Democrat told The Denver Post that he’s now ready to let go of his unprecedented authority. “The pandemic still exists,” he said, but “our […]