Colorado governor aligns with Big Tech
Gov. Jared Polis rose to prominence and made his millions as a tech entrepreneur, so it's no surprise to lawmakers that he repeatedly sided with the industry this legislative session.
Why it matters: The governor used his veto pen and political influence to kill a series of bills that received wide support in the Legislature this year.
The common denominator: They would have imposed new restrictions on tech companies, as the Chamber of Commerce noted.
Catch up quick: His veto pen struck Senate Bill 86 despite winning approval in the House and Senate by more than 2-to-1 margins. The legislation called for tougher regulations on social media companies to protect children.
A veto warning led to the demise of a bipartisan Senate Bill 201 that would have required online platforms to verify ages before showing sexually explicit material.
House Bill 1287 targeted social media platforms and prohibited algorithms designed to extend minor users' engagement.
Polis expressed concern about Senate Bill 318, which would have imposed new guardrails on artificial intelligence, and it died just days after its introduction.
His influence also led lawmakers to neuter a bill putting tighter regulations on ride-hailing services, like Uber and Lyft.
What he's saying: In conversations with lawmakers and his veto letter, Polis made clear he believed additional regulations would stifle innovation and "unduly [infringe] on the speech, privacy and liberty rights of all users."
Between the lines: Polis is a Democrat, but often takes a libertarian point of view in supporting market-based outcomes. This ideology helped drive his decisions on the tech bills, lawmakers say.
"I think he wants Colorado to be a place where tech companies can thrive," said Kouri Marshall at Chamber for Progress, a technology interest group opposed to the new regulations. "We are looking for the executive of the state to stop these bills and allow us to go forward."
The other side: State Sen. Lindsey Daugherty (D-Arvada) sponsored two of the bills the governor opposed. She said lobbying efforts against the measure were overwhelming from the tech industry and Polis.
"We fought as hard as we could," she lamented.
What we're watching: Technology advocates want Polis to use his veto powers again to reject House Bill 1122, which effectively bans autonomous trucks by requiring an operator to ride along. Polis' administration testified against the bill.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
an hour ago
North Carolina GOP sends immigration-crackdown bills to Democratic Gov. Stein
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Republicans at the North Carolina legislature gave final approval Tuesday to two pieces of legislation that would compel state agencies to participate in President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown and would toughen a recent law that required sheriffs to help federal agents seeking criminal defendants. The series of House and Senate votes on the measures could mean an early showdown between the GOP-controlled General Assembly and new Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, who since taking office in January has tried to build rapport with lawmakers on consensus issues like Hurricane Helene aid. Stein has yet to a veto a bill, and pressure will build on him to use his stamp on one or both of the bills that were sent to him late Tuesday given the overwhelming Democratic opposition to the measures during floor votes. The GOP's legislative maneuvers happened as National Guard troops have been deployed by Trump to Los Angeles to confront protesters angry with federal conducting sweeps that led to immigrant arrests. Should Stein issue vetoes, Republicans in the ninth-largest state could face challenges in overriding them, since the GOP is currently one seat shy of a veto-proof majority. Republican leaders would need at least one Democrat for their side during an override vote or hope some Democrats are absent. Republicans say the measures are needed to assist the Trump administration's efforts to remove immigrants unlawfully in the country who are committing crimes and or accessing limited taxpayer resources that are needed for U.S. citizens or lawful immigrants. 'North Carolina is one step closer to increasing the safety of every citizen in the state,' said Senate Leader Phil Berger, a primary sponsor of one of the bills. 'The Republican-led General Assembly made it clear that harboring criminal illegal aliens will not be tolerated in our state." But Democrats and social justice advocates of immigrants say the bills vilify immigrants who work and pay taxes, leading residents to feel intimidated and fear law enforcement, which will ultimately make communities less safe. Demonstrators opposed to GOP action filled the Senate gallery during debate. Republicans are spending their time 'trying to sell a lie that immigrants are the source of our problems,' Democratic Sen. Sophia Chitlik of Durham County said, telling colleagues that their constituents 'didn't send us here to round up their neighbors. They sent us here to make their lives better.' Stein spokesperson Morgan Hopkins said late Tuesday that the governor "will continue to review the bills. He has made clear that if someone commits a crime and they are here illegally; they should be deported.' One measure receiving final approval in part would direct heads of several state law enforcement agencies, like the State Highway Patrol and State Bureau of Investigation, to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That would include having to officially participate in the 287(g) program, which trains officers to interrogate defendants and determine their immigration status. A Trump executive order urged his administration to maximize the use of 287(g) agreements. The measure also would direct state agencies to ensure noncitizens don't access state-funded benefits and publicly funded housing benefits to which they are otherwise ineligible. The same applies to unemployment benefits for those aren't legally authorized to live in the U.S. And the bill also prohibits University of North Carolina system campus policies that prevent law enforcement agencies from accessing school information about a students' citizenship or immigration status. Thousands of international students attending college in the U.S. had their study permissions canceled this spring, only for ICE to later reverse decisions and restore their legal status. The other approved bill Tuesday builds on the 2024 law that lawmakers enacted over then-Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's veto that directed jails hold temporarily certain defendants whom ICE believe are in the country illegally, allowing time for immigration agents to pick them up. The law was a response by Republicans unhappy with Democratic sheriffs in several counties who declined to help immigration agents with offenders subject to federal immigration detainers and administrative warrants. The proposed changes expands the list of crimes that a defendant is charged with that would require the jail administrator — expanding in the bill to magistrates — to attempt to determine the defendant's legal residency or citizenship. A defendant with an apparent detainer or administrative warrant would still have to go before a judicial official before a defendant could be released to agents. A jail also would have to tell ICE promptly that they are holding someone and essentially extends the time agents have to pick up the person.
an hour ago
US Rep. LaMonica McIver indicted on federal charges from skirmish at New Jersey immigration center
TRENTON, N.J. -- U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver was indicted Tuesday on federal charges alleging she assaulted and interfered with immigration officers outside a New Jersey detention center while Newark's mayor was being arrested after he tried to join a congressional oversight visit at the facility. Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba announced the grand jury indictment in a post on X. 'While people are free to express their views for or against particular policies, they must not do so in a manner that endangers law enforcement and the communities those officers serve,' Habba said. In a statement, McIver said the charges amounted to the Trump administration trying to scare her. 'The facts of this case will prove I was simply doing my job and will expose these proceedings for what they are: a brazen attempt at political intimidation,' she said. McIver, a Democrat, was charged in a complaint by Habba last month with two assault charges stemming from the May 9 visit to Newark's Delaney Hall — a 1,000-bed, privately owned facility that Immigration and Customs Enforcement uses as a detention center. The indictment includes three counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officials. Habba said two of the counts carry a maximum sentence of up to eight years in prison. A third has a maximum sentence of one year. McIver's lawyer, former U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman, said in a statement that they would challenge the allegations 'head-on' in court. 'The legal process will expose this prosecution for what it truly is -- political retaliation against a dedicated public servant who refuses to shy away from her oversight responsibilities,' Fishman said. The indictment is the latest development in a legal-political drama that has seen President Donald Trump's administration take Democratic officials from New Jersey's largest city to court, tapping into the president's immigration crackdown and Democrats' efforts to respond. The prosecution of McIver is a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress for allegations other than fraud or corruption. At the same visit that resulted in McIver's charges, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested on a trespassing charge, which was later dropped. Baraka is suing Habba over what he said was a malicious prosecution. A nearly two-minute clip released by the Homeland Security Department shows McIver on the facility side of a chain-link fence just before the arrest of the mayor on the street side of the fence, where other people had been protesting. She and uniformed officials go through the gate, and she joins others shouting that they should circle the mayor. The video shows McIver in a tightly packed group of people and officers. At one point, her left elbow and then her right elbow push into an officer wearing a dark face covering and an olive green uniform emblazoned with the word 'Police' on it. It isn't clear from police bodycam video whether that contact was intentional, incidental or a result of jostling in the chaotic scene. The complaint says she 'slammed' her forearm into an agent then tried to restrain the agent by grabbing him. The indictment says she placed her arms around the mayor to block his arrest and repeats the charges that she slammed her forearm into an agent and grabbed the agent. New Jersey Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez had joined McIver at the detention center that day. They and other Democrats have criticized the arrest and disputed the charges as well. By law, members of Congress are authorized to go into federal immigration facilities as part of their oversight powers, even without notice. Congress passed a 2019 appropriations bill that spelled out the authority. McIver, 38, first came to Congress in September in a special election after the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. left a vacancy in the 10th District. She was then elected to a full term in November. A Newark native, she served as the president of the Newark City Council from 2022 to 2024 and worked in the city's public schools before that.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Hochul met with chorus of boos at Belmont Stakes while presenting winner's trophy: video
Gov. Kathy Hochul was met with a chorus of boos Saturday as she made an appearance at the 157th Belmont Stakes in Saratoga Springs – with one observer on hand calling the moment 'awkward.' Video obtained by The Post shows people in the crowd jeering the New York Democrat as she presented the trophy to the winning team of the race, Sovereignty. Harry Tutunjian, a former Troy mayor who was at the race, told The Post he wasn't surprised by the icy reception for Hochul. 'Her popularity is not good, especially in upstate New York,' said the ex-pol, who recorded the moment on his phone. 'The boos were for her, but the minute the trophy was hoisted in the air the place started cheering,' Tutunjian, a Republican, added. 'It was not because they were unhappy with the winner, or the trainer or the jockey. They were unhappy with the governor.' An attendee, who was in the grandstand at the finish line when Hochul presented the trophy, also noticed the lack of support for the Democrat. 'When Hochul was introduced, there was a smattering of boos. I didn't hear a single person clap,' the horse racing fan said. 'It was awkward.' The governor's office declined comment. Hochul had said in a social media post it was her honor to present the winner's trophy this year. 'The Belmont Stakes is a New York tradition, and we're keeping that tradition going in Saratoga while the new Belmont Park is under construction,' she wrote on Saturday. The state and New York Racing Association are currently redeveloping Belmont Park to the tune of a $455 million capital construction project. Hochul announced last week the park in Elmont on Long Island has been selected to host the 2027 Breeders' Cup World Championships.
