Latest news with #ColoradoLegislature
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gov. Polis uses state grants to lean on local governments that buck housing policies
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order Friday that pushes local governments to comply with certain state housing laws as a condition of receiving state grant funding, at the Colorado Capitol in Denver. (Lindsey Toomer/Colorado Newsline) Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order Friday that pushes local governments to comply with certain state housing laws as a condition of receiving state grant funding. The order directs several state agencies to identify funding opportunities that can be prioritized for local governments and projects that align with state housing priorities. It highlights seven state laws passed in the last two years that aim to increase housing options across the state. Polis said the goal of the executive order is to ensure those who receive discretionary grant funding from the state are prioritizing state efforts to increase housing stock, affordability and sustainability. He estimated over $100 million dollars in state funding will be subject to the order. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'Today we're taking action to make sure that the limited state funding opportunities are prioritized for local governments that are following state housing laws and land use laws and doing their part so hardworking Coloradans to afford to live, work and thrive across our state of Colorado,' Polis said at a press conference in his office at the Colorado Capitol, where he signed the executive order Friday. While many local governments have supported housing policies approved by the Colorado Legislature in recent years, others opposed the policies and indicated concerns about compliance. Polis said he wants local governments to be able to go through DOLA to help them achieve compliance with new state housing laws. 'We want to make sure everybody is working in good faith and has a plan to implement these laws,' Polis said. 'Some counties have just thought about it and worked on it more than others, and we want to make sure that everybody thinks about it and works on it and gets it done because housing is a statewide issue.' Laws covered by the executive order include 2024 measures to prohibit residential occupancy limits, require higher-density housing near transit stops, prohibit local minimum parking requirements, legalize the construction of accessory dwelling units, and encourage more sustainable affordable housing, as well as 2025 polices that set regional building codes for factory-built homes and allow some multifamily buildings to have just one staircase. Housing availability and affordability has been a growing crisis in Colorado that state legislators worked to improve since 2023. A 2023 housing executive order Polis signed said the state is short tens of thousands of housing units, and his new order says the same concerns continue to escalate. Some of the laws included in the order are not yet implemented, so the provisions of the executive order will apply after the measures take effect. The executive order requires state agencies including the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Colorado Energy Office, the Department of Local Affairs, and the Office of Economic Development and International Trade to submit a list within 30 days of potential competitive grants and other discretionary funding sources that could be subject to the requirements of the order. The order will be updated once the governor's office compiles a list of grants and funding to be included, and it will apply to funding awarded after Oct. 6. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
CBS News
09-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Dust barely settled from Colorado's 2025 legislative session, already talk of special session
Colorado's legislative session is over, now the fallout begins. Gov. Jared Polis speaks during a press conference with Colorado Democrats following the end of the spring 2025 legislative session Thursday, May 8, 2025. CBS News Lawmakers sent some 400 bills to Gov. Jared Polis' desk, and he's already announced he's vetoing one of them. The bill, sponsored by Democrats, would change the state's Labor Peace Act to make it easier for unions to collect dues from non-union members. The governor said he wouldn't sign the bill without buy-in from both labor and business. As Polis decides the fate of hundreds of bills, he's also warning lawmakers he might call a special session. "We are watching what Congress does," Polis said during a press conference Thursday. Polis says, if congressional Republicans follow through on proposed spending cuts, he will likely reconvene the legislature to deal with impacts to programs such as Medicaid, which covers about one in five Coloradans. "If we come back into a special session, it will clearly be on the Polis administration and the tax-and-spend Democrats in the legislature," said state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer (Col-R), who sits on the Joint Budget Committee. Kirkmeyer says Democrats need to prioritize spending. While theTaxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) caps how much the state can spend, Democrats have hinted at a ballot measure to raise the cap after an effort by some members to dismantle TABOR altogether stalled in the Colorado House of Representatives. "Thirty-one Democrat members of the House, 13 Democrat members of the Senate coming after TABOR, preview of coming attractions," state Sen. Paul Lundeen (Col-R) said during a press conference. Republicans warned Democratic bills expanding protections for undocumented immigrants and transgender individuals could also cost the state federal funding. The governor worked to amend the bills and has not said if he will sign them. Colorado Speaker of the House Julie McCluskie (Col-D) defended them. "I think our response in the legislative session was about protecting people's civil rights -- whether that was a newly arrived individual from another country, or it was a person from our LGBTQ community," McCluskie said during a press conference. The U.S. Department of Justice sued Colorado last week over immigration policies and Colorado Attorney General's office has filed 18 lawsuits against the Trump administration. Polis says he will work with the administration where possible. His priorities, Polis says, haven't changed. The first bill he signed post-session creates regional building codes for manufactured housing. "Our challenges in Colorado around making housing more affordable, making our communities safer haven't changed," Polis said. "And who's in the White House doesn't affect the steps we need to take here." In addition to federal spending cuts, some lawmakers are concerned an artificial intelligence law could also prompt a special session. Polis and the Attorney General asked the legislature to delay implementation of the law, which takes effect in February, but an eleventh-hour effort to do that failed. In addition to the union bill, the governor has also expressed concerns about a bill regulating rideshare companies. He hasn't said if he will sign the bill, but Uber has threatened to leave the state if he does.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Colorado lawmakers consider Prop 130 implementation bill in final days of session
A Lakewood police vehicle is parked outside the Lakewood Public Safety Center on June 28, 2020. (Quentin Young/Colorado Newsline) The Colorado Legislature intends to use investment revenue to pay for the implementation of Proposition 130, the measure voters approved last fall to direct $350 million to law enforcement. Under a bill nearing final passage, local law enforcement agencies would get at least $15,000 per year to use for recruitment, continuing education and additional compensation. Surviving spouses or family members of an officer killed during duty would receive a $1 million survivor's benefit. To pay for it, members of the bipartisan Joint Budget Committee want to send $500 million to the Public Employees Retirement Association to invest. 'The bill before you represents a fair and faithful, balanced implementation of the voters' intent, while ensuring that we can continue to fund equally-important priorities across our state budget and maintain our necessary reserves,' Rep. Shannon Bird, a Westminster Democrat, told the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Proposition 130, backed by the conservative nonprofit Advance Colorado, passed with about 53% of the vote last November. That means lawmakers needed to grapple with its implementation during an ultra-tight budget year in which they already faced a $1.2 billion gap. Senate Bill 25-310 would establish the Peace Officer Support and Training Fund, which would receive an initial transfer of $15 million in general fund money next year. Then, $500 million from the state's general fund reserve — money set aside as a buffer for emergencies — would get sent to PERA to invest. Up to $35 million generated from that investment would be sent to the support fund annually, and other revenue would be used to offset a portion of what the state owes to PERA for pension liability every year. The plan is to always have $15 million per year in the law enforcement support fund. Rep. Rick Taggart, a Grand Junction Republican, said that the average return on PERA investments is about 7%. An expected average annual return of $35 million on the investment would mean the Legislature would fulfill its $350 million obligation under Proposition 130 in 10 years. 'This is how we are using our existing state assets to generate revenues to meet the voters' intent,' Bird said. Local law enforcement agencies would get at least $15,000 per year, and if there is enough revenue available, additional money using a formula based on department size. That would begin in December 2026. Agencies would need to prove compliance with allowable spending through an annual audit. Adam Turk with the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police told lawmakers in committee that the funding mechanism would not kick in fast enough. 'The funding structure as currently written, delays the impact of this critical investment far beyond the time frame in which departments need it most,' he said. 'The timeline does not align with the pressing public safety, staffing and resource challenges agencies are facing today. Proposition 130 was passed by voters with the expectation that the funding would help stabilize and strengthen law enforcement capacity now, not decades into the future.' The Colorado Municipal League, Colorado Counties Inc. County Sheriffs of Colorado and the Colorado Fraternal Order of Police support the bill. It passed the Senate unanimously on Tuesday. It needs to clear the House floor, including debate and preliminary voice vote followed by a final recorded vote on a separate day, before the end of the legislative session on May 7. Representatives began that debate on Thursday, but the preliminary vote was delayed on that day and again on Friday morning. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Colorado's Legislature is failing the critical climate moment. Can it step up?
A haze of wildfire smoke and ozone pollution clogged the skies above Denver in July 2024. The Colorado Legislature is failing to check the Trump administration's attacks pollution-reducing policies and climate action. (Chase Woodruff/Colorado Newsline) I've climbed the Colorado Capitol's steps over the last few months working to push elected leaders to make real local climate progress while the Trump administration attacks the very idea of environmental justice nationwide and strips key environmental laws. Unfortunately, with only weeks left in the session, I am left worried that Colorado communities are being abandoned by governing bodies. Every week Trump and his billionaire cronies find new ways to gut the EPA, reverse significant progress on reducing pollution, and undermine public lands protections. Now is the time when Colorado's elected officials should be creating a bulwark against these attacks on our communities. In fact, Coloradans are demanding meaningful legislation to protect public lands from mass sell-offs, a rapid transition to 100% clean energy, and affordable energy and transit solutions that help clean up our air. Across every corner of the state thousands have shown up protesting in support of federal workers, many of whom work in the sciences. Progressive politicians Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez drew one the largest crowds at the Capitol in recent history. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The call for real action and an agenda that helps working people is loud, but may be going unheard. A rare Democratic trifecta should be an opportunity to champion policy solutions to Colorado's environmental problems, preserving clean air and water. So with just weeks left in the session, what did they get up to? Unfortunately, the 2025 session has been one of frustrating backsliding and failure. We've witnessed several pieces of legislation accelerate through the House and Senate that significantly threaten Colorado's ability to lead on environmental protections. For example, a bill that defines nuclear energy as a 'clean energy resource' was recently signed by the governor, despite similar legislation being easily defeated in previous legislative sessions. Nuclear energy, which is objectively not a clean resource, is extraordinarily expensive and increasingly unrealistic according to experts, distracting us from Colorado's continued need to invest in proven renewable energy resources such as wind, solar and storage. In the same vein of pursuing underdeveloped technologies, House Bill 25-1165 advanced through both chambers. It incentivizes experimental carbon capture and storage efforts, which are energy intensive and a false solution to our climate crisis. But perhaps the most telling example of the Colorado General Assembly's Democratic leadership to align with the Trump paradigm is an effort to introduce a new Colorado 'DOGE' (Department of Government Efficiency). This legislation would grant significant and inappropriate authority to the state auditor and presents existential threats to state agencies tasked with enforcing environmental protections, including the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Finally, after claiming that it was too late to introduce a long-developed bill ensuring 100% clean energy by 2040, leaders then introduced a last-minute bill that would give giant tech corporations incentives to build out massive data centers that drain water and potentially drive up energy costs on families and businesses. This lack of ambition at best, and selling out of our communities at worst, indicate that Colorado's elected officials at the state Capitol are unwilling or unable to meet the moment we find ourselves in as a state and as a nation. The most hostile federal administration ever elected is recalibrating U.S. priorities. In a state where people value clean air, clean water, public lands and climate action, our public officials should be willing to defy the Trump administration's attempts to endanger that which we hold dear. Instead, I fear they've capitulated. Everyday Coloradans and, in particular, disproportionately impacted communities will bear the brunt of the climate inaction in coming years. Organizations like the Sierra Club must continue calling on our leaders to pass bold legislation that reduces emissions, holds polluters accountable, and protects the natural beauty of our state. In the last weeks, let's see what our leaders can salvage out of this session. While bleak, it isn't over. Our members and supporters will continue to push and hope for the best while preparing for the worst. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A tale of two bills in Colorado
(Ned Oliver/Virginia Mercury) This commentary originally appeared at Big Pivots. Matters of little consequence often get major time and attention. And vice versa. Two energy bills in the Colorado Legislature this year, one about nuclear energy and the second about electrical transmission, illustrate this. The first bill, House Bill 25-1040, which is now law, declared that nuclear energy is clean. It proclaims that utilities can meet clean-energy targets with nuclear. It also allows private projects access to financing restricted to clean energy development. The bill sailed through the Legislature. Gov. Jared Polis signed it into law March 31. For believers, those who want to believe that nuclear energy will be the answer, it was a big win. To what effect? Likely none. Forget about nuclear waste and safety concerns. Cost of energy from new nuclear plans remains exorbitant. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Some of this was sorted through in a four-hour committee hearing in March. Chuck Kutscher was among several dozen individuals given two-minute slots to testify. He deserved more time. A nuclear engineer by training, he subsequently moved into renewables, retiring from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory several years ago. At a later meeting in Jefferson County, Kutscher explained why he expects nuclear energy to play no role in Colorado's energy transition. It comes down to cost. 'I like to give credit where credit is due. And the fact is that nuclear power in this country has saved a heck of a lot of carbon dioxide and air pollution emissions,' he said. 'Nuclear provides almost half of U.S. carbon-free electricity, which is pretty impressive.' As for costs, Kutscher cited two metrics courtesy of Lazard, a financial company that monitors electrical generation. The cost of building new nuclear plants comes in at $8,000 to $13,000 per kilowatt of generating capacity. Solar comes in at $1,400, wind at $2,000. A broader metric, the levelized cost, includes capital, fuel and operating costs over the life of an energy plant. 'The longer a plant runs, the lower its life-cycle costs, because it's producing more energy,' Kutscher explained. By this measure, nuclear still comes up short: 18 cents a kilowatt-hour compared to solar and wind for 5 and 6 cents. Might costs drop with a new generation of small modular reactors? SMRs can generate 300 megawatts or less. One was planned in the West, but in 2023 the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems pulled out of its contract with nuclear company NuScale — because of cost. If nuclear costs make it a non-starter in Colorado, can renewables deliver us to an emission-free electrical system? The sun vanishes daily, and sometimes winds on our eastern plains die down, even for days. Kutscher sees possible solutions in improving storage technologies and expanded transmission. Transmission can enable electricity to be shared across multiple time zones and weather systems. Even moving electricity around Colorado more efficiently has value. The second bill, Senate Bill 24-127, proposes to do that. It would require investor-owned utilities to investigate tools called advanced transmission technologies. They will enable more use from existing transmission lines and associated infrastructure. Larry Milosevich, a Lafayette resident, decided six years ago to devote himself to fewer pursuits. He says he chose the role of advanced technologies for transmission because of its oversized impact. The transmission system developed during the last century has many inefficiencies. 'I would love to see advanced transmission technologies get a little more light,' he says. Why hasn't it happened? 'It doesn't have sex appeal.' This bill will not solve all problems. 'You need a lot of arrows in your quiver to get there. And it's not one technology that's going to save the day,' says Leah Rubin Shen, managing director of Advanced Energy United, an industry association that advocates for technologies and policies that advance decarbonization. More transmission will still be needed. Approvals take time. Using these tools can more rapidly expand capacity at lower cost. 'We characterize it as a no-regrets solution,' says Rubin Shen. State Sen. Cleave Simpson, a Republican from Alamosa, was the primary author of the bill. 'We can increase the capacity and resilience of our infrastructure without having to undertake expensive, large-scale construction projects,' he told committee members at a March meeting. The committee that day heard from fewer than a dozen witnesses. It passed an amended bill and moved on within 45 minutes. Several weeks before, the same committee heard nuclear testimony for hours. In a later interview, Simpson described the bill, slimmed greatly in ambition from its original iteration, as 'maybe a tiny step forward, but a doable one.' Unlike nuclear, not the answer, but a doable one. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
