Opinion Editorials
Opinion editorials written by Senators and staff do not necessarily reflect the position of the entire caucus.
HISEY: Now it is up to the voter
With the session over, the decision-making shifts to the voters who will decide at the ballot box. The legislature referred three measures to ballot, two constitutional changes and one tax increase. None of which does the legislature have the authority to implement on its own. Charitable Bingo and Raffles Amendment is the working title to an amendment that allows charitable organizations to obtain a charitable gaming license after three years as opposed to the current five-year rule and to hire a manager so long as they are paid no more than minimum wage. Yes, bingo is regulated in the Colorado Constitution.
HISEY: Some good news in the final week
First – good news for parental rights and homeschoolers, as well as a mea culpa from me. I wrote earlier that there was a homeschool exemption in SB20-163 as it left the Senate for the House. Turns out I was incorrect and several people let me know. Thank you, I do read the comments you send back. Given our interrupted session and as the bill was still working its way through the House, it seemed prudent to wait for the final vote to report back.
SONNENBERG: Northeast Colorado suffering from metro area decisions
King Jared and Dean Williams have failed to protect Sterling Correctional Facility, leaving the residents of Northeast Colorado vulnerable. Safe in their ivory towers, the governor and his executive director of Colorado’s Department of Corrections sit congratulating themselves while the citizens of Northeastern Colorado are left to correct the mess of their colossal failures.
SONNENBERG: We can defeat this virus — without shuttering businesses and killing jobs
We have a saying in the country when someone is getting a bit too rambunctious: "Hold yer horses!" When learning of these new and ever-more drastic restrictions, is there a point at which you would say enough is enough? At what point is the solution worse than the problem?
COOKE: More price controls are the wrong Rx for health care in Colorado
While impeachment dominates the national news cycle, one policy debate lingers just below the surface: how to deal with “surprise medical bills.” One proposal would use the heavy hand of government to impose price controls on treatments subject to surprise billing.
LUNDEEN: No more kicking the can down the (potholed) road
For years — decades even — Coloradans have called upon the General Assembly to prioritize Colorado’s outdated transportation infrastructure. Our elected officials have for so long kicked this proverbial can down the (potholed) road that the Colorado Department of Transportation now has a backlog of anywhere from $7 billion to $9 billion in projects. To put that in perspective, that’s nearly a fourth of Colorado’s entire budget this year.
GARDNER & LUNDEEN: All is not well at the Colorado Civil Rights Division and Commission, as suspected
By Senators Bob Gardner and Paul Lundeen The recent audit of the Colorado civil rights division and the commission was nothing short of damning. Failure to properly abide by state law by holding all deliberations and votes behind closed doors, a lackluster ability to...
NAUMANN: Colorado’s economic success doesn’t need a nudge from the guv
In 1996, a young Colorado entrepreneur had the foresight to take his parents’ greeting card business online and the charming if not annoying e-cards were born. That entrepreneur, Jared Polis, was just 24 years old when that company was sold for over $700 million. Alas, there was no Office of Domain Registration, no Office of Graphic Design, and certainly no Office of the Future of Work — yet the governor still seemed to make it in such a confusing economic environment.
HOLBERT: Protecting our schools requires results, not rhetoric
Last week, the Colorado General Assembly held its first meeting of the interim School Safety Committee. On the heels of the STEM School Shooting in May, leadership in both the House and Senate — and on both sides of the aisle — decided to craft the committee in the hopes of identifying ways for the state to assist the 178 local school districts in Colorado secure their schools and provide resources for students dealing with mental health issues.
NAUMANN: GOP’s slowdown saved Colorado from some bad policy
Rampant with quixotic legislation, procedural gamesmanship, long-winded attorneys, and blizzard buffoonery, this past session of the Colorado General Assembly would have been quite entertaining if not so potentially devastating. As Democrats in the legislature take a victory lap — claiming each and every piece of legislation they nursed across the finish line and onto Gov. Polis’ desk as a “victory” for the working class — they are not-so-subtly declaring that in order for the average citizen to claim this victory, his power as an individual must be surrendered to a government that knows better than he.
NAUMANN: Who fought for teacher pay during the 2019 session?
If you think back to April of 2018, you may remember a sea of red-shirt-clad teachers, armed with creative signage and megaphones, storming the state Capitol to demand an increase in their salaries. They lobbied lawmakers, sat in the hallways, and sang “We’re Not Gonna Take It” under the Golden Dome.
NAUMANN: In Colorado, Democrats made their decision
Former Democratic Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper boasts of our state’s outstanding economic recovery. At the same time, he hems and haws over whether he’s a capitalist or not. But for the Democrats running the state’s government in the post-Hickenlooper era, they have chosen a different path.