Posts

Colorado’s Budget Crisis Was Not an Accident. It Was a Warning Ignored.

Colorado lawmakers just cut newer programs to close a budget gap exceeding 1.2 billion dollars. That decision is not routine budgeting. It is evidence of a structural problem that has been building for years. Republicans warned about it. They proposed alternatives. They were dismissed. Now the consequences are visible. The story reported by Colorado Politics confirms what many legislators have been saying for multiple sessions. The state expanded commitments faster than revenue could sustain them. When the downturn arrived, the newest programs became the first casualties. This was predictable. Colorado entered this session facing a shortfall driven by declining revenue growth, expanding eligibility commitments, and rising mandatory spending obligations. Instead of adjusting course earlier, the majority continued approving policies with long-term fiscal exposure. Now, lawmakers are forced to cut recent initiatives to keep the budget balanced. That is not a strategy. That is a correction...
Post a Comment
Read more

Colorado’s Budget Is Sending a Warning Signal. We Must Listen.

Colorado families deserve honesty about what is happening inside their state government. This year’s budget is not routine. It is not stable. It is not responsible stewardship. It is a warning signal. The legislature is attempting to close a budget hole between 1.2 and 1.5 billion dollars while still advancing expensive policy priorities that expand government commitments beyond what taxpayers can sustain. That is not fiscal discipline. That is a structural imbalance. I supported slowing the process so the public could see what is happening inside this budget. Colorado taxpayers deserve time to understand decisions that will affect their families for years. Here is what is actually happening. Colorado is spending more than it can responsibly sustain The current budget proposal totals roughly 46.8 billion dollars statewide. Medicaid costs alone are driving massive increases in spending and forcing cuts elsewhere across state government. This is not a one-year fluctuation. It is the resu...
1 comment
Location: 200 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80203, USA
Read more

Truth Is Not Hate. Why Faith Still Matters in the Debate Over SB26-018

Representative Max Brooks’ recent remarks on the House floor during debate on Senate Bill 26-018 reached far beyond a procedural amendment. They addressed something deeper. The meaning of truth. The responsibility of conscience. The role of Christians in public service. His response drew more than 14,000 views online. That level of attention signals something important. People are paying attention because the issue is not technical. It is moral. Senate Bill 26-018 suppresses court record visibility and removes traditional public notice requirements when minors petition for legal name changes. Supporters describe the bill as protecting dignity. That goal deserves respect. Every child deserves safety and care. The question raised during debate was different. Should people of faith be required to remain silent when law conflicts with what they believe is true about the human person? Representative Brooks defended an amendment that would have protected religious conscience. The amendment...
Post a Comment
Location: 200 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80203, USA
Read more

Local Control Matters Because Your Community is Not the Same as Someone Else's

Coloradans believe in something simple and important. The people who live in a community should help decide what that community becomes. That principle is called local control. It is not a technical concept. It is a promise. It means your neighborhood is shaped by the people who live there, raise families there, and invest their lives there. That promise is being tested at the State Capitol. In recent sessions, the legislature has passed and proposed a series of housing bills that override local zoning authority across Colorado. These include mandates eliminating local parking standards, forcing higher density development near transit corridors, requiring approval pathways for housing on church and school property, and allowing certain housing developments to bypass local zoning entirely. More recently, the HOME Act allows public institutions, transit agencies, housing authorities, and nonprofits to construct housing projects on qualifying land regardless of local zoning rules. These p...
Post a Comment
Location: 200 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80203, USA
Read more

Defending the Second Amendment While the Legislature Expands Government Seizure Power

This week at the Colorado General Assembly , I opposed the expansion of Colorado’s red flag firearm seizure authority because it represents another step away from the constitutional structure that protects the rights of every Coloradan. SB26-004 has now passed the legislature and is headed to Jared Polis . The bill expands who may petition courts to remove firearms from citizens who have not been convicted of a crime. It adds institutional actors such as certain health care facilities, behavioral health treatment facilities, K-12 schools, and colleges and universities. That change increases the number of pathways through which the state can suspend a constitutional right based on allegation rather than adjudication. That is not a technical adjustment. It is an erosion of due process protections. The Second Amendment exists to limit government authority. It does not exist to make firearm ownership conditional on whether institutions believe a citizen should retain that right. When t...
Post a Comment
Location: 200 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80203, USA
Read more

Why Weakening the Labor Peace Act Is a Mistake for Colorado Workers

For decades, Colorado has maintained a careful balance between the right of workers to organize and the right of individuals to control their own paycheck. That balance is embodied in the Labor Peace Act, a law that has governed labor relations in our state for more than eighty years. Unfortunately, legislation moving through  the Colorado General Assembly would dismantle one of the most important safeguards in that law. Under current law, workers must approve two separate votes before unions can collect mandatory dues or fees from every employee in a workplace. The first vote determines whether employees want union representation. The second vote determines whether that union can require every worker to financially support it. That second vote is not a technicality. It is a protection. If a union wishes to compel financial support from every employee in the workplace, it should have to demonstrate strong and clear support from the workforce. The Labor Peace Act recognizes this sim...
Post a Comment
Location: 200 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80203, USA
Read more

Law Enforcement Must Never Be Turned Against Law Enforcement

There is something deeply wrong and deeply dangerous about a mayor using the machinery of city government to place law enforcement in tension with law enforcement. That is exactly what is happening in Denver. Let me be clear. I am 100 percent pro-law enforcement. I support the men and women who put on the badge, take the oath, and step into danger so the rest of us can live in peace. That includes local police. It includes deputies. It includes state officers. It includes federal officers. A civilized republic cannot survive without respect for lawful authority and the officers charged with carrying it out. What it cannot survive is political leadership that deliberately pits one branch of law enforcement against another for ideological theater. Mayor Mike Johnston has crossed into reckless territory. His Executive Order 152 does not read like the work of a mayor focused on public safety. It reads like the work of a politician determined to obstruct, posture, and inflame. It bars ...
Post a Comment
Location: 200 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80203, USA
Read more