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Colorado Medicaid Department Overspent by $123.8M Last Year
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Governing, State

Colorado Medicaid Department Overspent by $123.8M Last Year

By Meg Wingerter | Governing The state Department of Health Care Policy and Financing underestimated how sick its members would be. Medicaid covers about 1.26 million people in Colorado. The department that runs Colorado’s Medicaid program overshot its budget for the most recent fiscal year by more than $120 million after underestimating how sick its members would be. Medicaid rolls were in flux over the last year as states started removing people for the first time since early 2020. During the COVID-19 public health emergency, states couldn’t kick people off Medicaid, meaning they spent much of the last year determining who still qualifies. For the fiscal year that ended in June, the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing had to attempt to project not only how...
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Lawmakers also extended agricultural equipment property tax exemption in special session
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State, The Sum & Substance

Lawmakers also extended agricultural equipment property tax exemption in special session

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance Colorado legislators who focused heavily on cutting property taxes for homeowners during this week’s special session also approved one other tax break — one specifically focused on an emerging technology in the agricultural sector. House Bill 1003, which passed both chambers by wide margins, expands and extends a 2022 law that defined produce-focused greenhouses and the equipment therein as agricultural equipment and thus exempted them from the business personal property tax. While such a focus for a bill may seem to have been far afield from the main concerns of the four-day session — and was a major reason some legislators opposed it — sponsors argued it fit under Gov. Jared Polis’ call to pass bills lowering property tax for 2025....
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Colorado Gov. Jared Polis dismisses migrant gang takeover of apartments as ‘imagination’ — despite video, mayor confirming truth
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New York Post, State

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis dismisses migrant gang takeover of apartments as ‘imagination’ — despite video, mayor confirming truth

By Jennie Taer | New York Post Colorado Gov. Jared Polis dismissed anger over Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua taking over apartment buildings in the Denver suburb of Aurora, calling it “imagination” — despite video footage, police reports and the city’s mayor confirming it’s happening. Polis’ press office offered the snarky statement Wednesday night in response to Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky — who told The Post the gang’s takeovers are tied to his policies. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE NEW YORK POST
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Signs that read ‘Kamala’s Migrants Must sit in the front’ posted on Colfax bus stops
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kdvr.com, State

Signs that read ‘Kamala’s Migrants Must sit in the front’ posted on Colfax bus stops

By Morgan Whitley | KDVR The Regional Transportation District and local authorities are investigating what they called racist signs that have popped up at bus stations along Colfax Avenue. According to RTD, on Thursday, a bus operator spotted a sign at around 5 a.m. at a bus stop near Colfax Avenue and Oneida Street in the Montclair neighborhood. The operator said the metal sign was attached to a bus stop pole and appeared to have been installed shortly before the operator reported it. RTD said two more signs were found at bus stops at Colfax and Garfield Street and at Colfax and Yosemite Street. READ THE FULL STORY AT KDVR
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to remain on Colorado’s ballot after suspending campaign and endorsing Trump
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coloradopolitics.com, State

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to remain on Colorado’s ballot after suspending campaign and endorsing Trump

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will remain on Colorado's general election ballot after he suspended his campaign and endorsed Republican nominee Donald Trump, Kennedy's campaign told Colorado election officials Tuesday. “We are not withdrawing in Colorado," Kennedy's campaign told the Colorado Secretary of State's Office, according to a spokesman. The message added that Kennedy "has encouraged all of his supporters to vote for him in CO!" The former Democrat appeared Friday alongside Trump in Phoenix, where Kennedy announced he was backing the former president and would withdraw from the ballot in several states where his candidacy could swing the outcome. The Associated Press reported that it was already too late, how...
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Colorado short-term rental owners, advocates rally against “heavy-handed regulation” from lawmakers
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State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado short-term rental owners, advocates rally against “heavy-handed regulation” from lawmakers

By Jason Blevins | Colorado Sun After several years of work to combat state legislation that would increase regulations and taxation on short-term rentals, owners are actively lobbying policymakers. Colorado is the birthplace of short-term rentals. And the state is ground-zero for local regulation of the booming industry. After several years of reactive, defensive responses to increased regulation and taxation legislation, the state’s short-term rental owners and managers are organizing with an educational campaign and lawmaker lobbying plans. Colorado House Speaker Rep. Julie McCluskie, a Democrat from Dillon, earlier this month warned that short-term rental legislation “is highly likely” in either the special session or next year’s session.  READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO SU...
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Colorado voters will decide whether to overhaul election system, adopt statewide ranked choice voting
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State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado voters will decide whether to overhaul election system, adopt statewide ranked choice voting

By Jesse Paul | Colorado Sun Colorado voters will decide in November whether to make a series of major changes to the state’s election system.  Initiative 310, which qualified Thursday to be on the November ballot, would change most of Colorado’s primaries so candidates from all parties run against each other, followed by a ranked choice voting general election.  The supporters of the measure, led by Kent Thiry, the wealthy former CEO of Denver-based dialysis giant DaVita, needed to collect more than 125,000 voter signatures to get the initiative on the ballot.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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County assessors in Colorado offer mixed views on property tax compromise
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coloradopolitics.com, State

County assessors in Colorado offer mixed views on property tax compromise

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics County assessors from around the state offered their insights into the compromise legislation that lawmakers approved at the conclusion of a special session on Thursday. The product of negotiations between Gov. Jared Polis, legislators, and the groups behind a pair of ballot initiatives seeking deeper property tax cuts, House Bill 1001 is relatively similar to the property tax bill that passed in the final days of the regular session in May but includes notable changes. House Bill 1001's aims to slow property tax growth, which has been increasing exponentially in Colorado since the Gallagher Amendment was repealed in 2020. The 30-plus-page bill includes a number of provisions for different property types, including residential, nonresidenti...
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Evans tours southern border near El Paso, criticizes that Caraveo has not
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Evans tours southern border near El Paso, criticizes that Caraveo has not

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice Gabe Evans, the Republican nominee for the 8th District seat in the U.S. House, visited the southern border near El Paso on Thursday. “The open-border policies of Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Yadira Caraveo have had dire results: more deaths, a record number of individuals on the terrorist watch list crossing into the U.S., and record levels of poisonous fentanyl released into the U.S.," Evans said. "In 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded an astonishing 2.5 million border crossings, plus an unknown additional number of got-aways." He reports 375 individuals on the terrorist watch list have been apprehended crossing into the U.S., and 99 have been released into the U.S., as of July. Evans is vying to unseat Democrat Caraveo in...
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Special session on property taxes has ended. What did legislators pass?
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kdvr.com, State

Special session on property taxes has ended. What did legislators pass?

By Heather Willard | Fox 31 News The Colorado Legislature’s 2024 special session ended Thursday after a whirlwind four days, with lawmakers approving a bipartisan bill to reduce the assessment rate for residential properties. The bill passed the Colorado House on Wednesday, but not without some pushback. The measure had been serving as negotiations between state lawmakers and supporters of the statewide ballot initiatives 50 and 108. The pre-negotiated measure was designed to slow property tax increases. The measure passed with a vote of 45-18 in the House, with 15 Democrats and three Republicans voting no. Two representatives were excused. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX 31 NEWS
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