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Pot tax passes House; prospects with the voters less certain
Valerie Richardson / The Colorado Observer
The Colorado House gave initial approval Monday to a special sales tax on recreational marijuana that was too high for Republicans, but just high enough for Democrats.
The chamber ended two days of heated debate by approving House Bill 1318…
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Legal pot advocates say lawmakers are trying to thwart voters
Valerie Richardson / The Colorado Observer
Colorado was the first state to legalize recreational marijuana, and it could become the first state to repeal it.
A proposal being floated in the state legislature would send two ballot measures to the voters in November. The first would ask for…
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School-funding revamp moves forward at State Capitol
Todd Engdahl / EdNews Colorado
The House Education Committee voted 7-6 late Monday to pass Senate Bill 13-213, the proposal to overhaul the state’s K-12 funding system. The panel approved some key amendments to the bill, but those don’t appear to be significant enough to ease all the concerns…
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Renewable energy sparks debate in state Senate
Leslie Jorgensen / The Colorado Observer
State Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village, advanced a resolution extolling the benefits of renewable energy to Colorado’s economy – but it sparked heated opposition from Senate Republicans who criticized the measure’s language and disputed many of its assertions.
“We just want to acknowledge the importance…
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State’s pot task force may fend off federal intervention
Valerie Richardson / The Colorado Observer
Still no word from the Justice Department on Colorado’s decision to legalize pot for adults, but the chairman of the state marijuana task force said this week he believes the state’s sober approach will keep the feds at bay.
Jack Finlaw, co-chairman of the Amendment 64 Implementation Task Force, said…
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Panel votes to bar guns at colleges despite pleas from rape victims
Leslie Jorgensen / The Colorado Observer
Despite hearing life-and-death stories of rape victims who begged legislators not to take away their right to carry concealed weapons on college campuses, a Democrat-controlled Senate panel did just that late Monday night.
Those who carry concealed weapons “increase the severity of a crime, increase the likelihood…
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GOP digs in heels against fast-tracked gun-control measures
Leslie Jorgensen / The Colorado Observer
Democrat legislators aim to fire four gun-control bills through the House on Friday. But the debate over the Second Amendment right to bear arms may put the First Amendment right of free speech to the test.
House Speaker Mark Ferrandino assured Republicans that ample time will be allotted to debate the bills on the floor.
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Auditors flunk state Internet agency over spending, security
Sunana Batra / Colorado News Agency
A state agency charged with serving as the middleman in providing electronic government services isn’t doing such a bang up job, state auditors say. Last week, the auditors delivered a scathing review, concluding that grossly inadequate internal controls and poor contract management have failed to protect taxpayers’ sensitive…
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Legislature reins in state’s spending of tobacco-tax funds
Sunana Batra / Colorado News Agency
Troubled by the questionable use of tobacco-tax revenue on grants to fund advocacy for local smoking bans, lawmakers decided this week to improve tracking and oversight of the funding. They will ask the Joint Budget Committee to make state health department officials—who disburse the tobacco tax money to local agencies—report those grants as…
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Colorado mental-health system could get a makeover
Sunana Batra / Colorado News Agency
State officials hoping to better meet their behavioral health obligations across the state unveiled details of an ambitious expansion of the mental health system to lawmakers this week. While officials were cautiously optimistic, some lawmakers still worry about individuals that aren’t getting the help they need who currently sit on wait lists…
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Pitfalls abound in bill to allow same-day voter registration
“The unions and other Democratic interests like the same-day voting provision…”
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