Colorado News Miner: January 8, 2025

Labor Laws: Some Democrats want to change existing rules pertaining to unions to "end [the] requirement for a second election before union negotiators can collect fees from workers," writes Ed Sealover. See also a Colorado Newsline article. The legislature should recognize people's rights to freedom of association. This proposal is a step in the wrong direction.

Legislative Updates: CPR: "According to the latest revenue forecast, Colorado is looking at a shortfall of nearly $700 million for the next fiscal year." Ed Sealover reports that various legislators are considering proposals that would affect the "federal 340B drug-pricing program," review and sunset regulations, bring back debate over construction defects, modify anti-discrimination laws, ban drilling after 2030, and more. Chalkbeat reports, "Revised Polis budget plan would keep new school funding formula on track."

Semi-Auto Ban: Some legislators want to ban all semi-automatic guns that accept detachable magazines. Courts almost certainly would reject the measure on Constitutional grounds.

Denver Anti-Housing Policy: Joe Rubino writes, "Denver's Community Planning and Development announced that until further notice, its staff would not recommend approval for any rezoning applications in six neighborhoods if they sought to allow developers to build higher-density projects, like row homes, on single-family home properties." The pretext for this anti-housing policy is to "stem the tide of gentrification trends in the historically Latino area," Rubino writes. Let no one wonder why the cost of housing is so damned high, when the building of more housing often is illegal.

Littleton Anti-Housing Policy: John Aguilar writes, "A proposal to pave the way for denser housing types across what have long been traditional single-family suburban neighborhoods in Littleton has hit a hard roadblock, with the City Council voting to postpone consideration of the measure indefinitely." You know who is not showing up to the council meetings? All of the people who currently are forcibly excluded from living in Littleton due to the city's anti-housing policies.

Lakewood Anti-Housing Policy: John Aguilar writes, "A developer [Kairoi Properties LLC] hoping to build a controversial five-story, 411-unit apartment complex on the east edge of Lakewood's Belmar Park has sued the city, claiming local leaders' recent adoption of a citizen-inspired land use ordinance risks tanking the project." At issue are changing green-space mandates.

Homelessness: Jennifer Brown reports, "Colorado saw one of the biggest increases in the nation in the number of families who were homeless in 2024—a 134% jump from the previous year." Hey, maybe cities should stop outlawing the building of housing! Just a thought!

Government Targets Private Firms for Government-Caused Housing Shortage: The AP reports, "The U.S. Justice Department is suing several large landlords for allegedly coordinating to keep Americans' rents high by using both an algorithm to help set rents and privately sharing sensitive information with their competitors to boost profits." Colorado is party to the suit. Just remember this is all in the context of a government-caused housing shortage. But God forbid we actually solve the underlying problem.

Boulder Minimum Wage: CBS reports, "In November, Boulder voters approved the increase of minimum wage in the city from $14.42 to $15.57 per hour, which went into effect on Jan. 1." The owner of a taco restaurant told the station, "In addition to price increases, we are going to have to start adjusting labor hours and asking more of our staff."

Denver Restaurants Suffering: Miguel Otárola reports that Denver restaurants have declined 22% since 2021. He writes, "Chefs and owners in Denver have cited everything from the effects of construction to rising labor costs as reasons for closing up shop, along with higher prices for goods and a regulatory process they've found stifling and lengthy compared to some surrounding cities."

Attack on a Journalist: Law and Crime reports that a "Marine veteran [was] charged with attacking a television reporter [in Grand Junction] while demanding to know whether he was 'even a U.S. citizen' and telling him, 'This is Trump's America now.'" The judge in the case said, "These are not the types of behaviors we would expect of Marines, and similarly they are not the types of behaviors we can have in the community." The alleged attacker's lawyer says the man " has had mental health issues for years," the AP reports.

Media Diversity: Jon Caldara makes the case for more ideological diversity in newsrooms. But, specifically in terms of Trumpism, it is hardly surprising that people who express an irrational and visceral hatred of the news media tend not to become journalists, nor that journalists tend not to like people who stoke an irrational and visceral hatred of them. Anyway, people do not distrust local news media as much as Caldara suggests. Pew reports, "A large majority say local news outlets are at least somewhat important to the well-being of their local community. Most people also say local journalists are in touch with their communities and that their local news media perform well at several aspects of their jobs, such as reporting the news accurately."

Drug Policy: "Psychedelic therapy" is now a thing.

Corporate Welfare: The state continues to dish it out, and various journalists continue to describe it as "incentives" rather than pork. But, as Tamara Chuang reports, "the Job Growth Incentive Tax Credit . . . reported a 34% decline in awards approved by the Colorado Economic Development Commission last year."

Evans on Colorado Funding: Kyle Clark reported January 3, "Newly sworn in Republican Congressman Gabe Evans ducked questions . . . about whether he will support one of his party's top priorities, a bill that would strip federal funding from the state of Colorado over its immigration-related policies." Colorado Peak Politics pointed out on January 6 that the bill in question did not exist, and complained that Clark was "villainizing" Evans. But on January 7 Fox reported, "House Republican's bill would rip federal funds from states that give illegal immigrants driver's licenses," which includes Colorado. So it's definitely a fair question!

Dangerous Immigrants: A tiny fraction of immigrants in Colorado do commit crimes, as a recent ICE action illustrates.

Hyperbole on Public Schools: Following are some recent comments about public schools and teachers' unions made by three Colorado conservatives, as reported by Heidi Beedle. Colorado Parent Advocacy Network (CPAN) founder Lori Gimelshteyn claimed she has discovered within the public schools "a direct attempt to undermine the future of our country" as well as "corruption in the teachers union." Darcy Schoening, Republican director of special initiatives, said, "We've lost or we're losing our children, we're losing this generation." Republican Vice Chair Hope Sheppelman said, "I think truly this is a way to indoctrinate our children, to have them hate their parents, hate the community, hate our flag, hate the United States. . . . [T]hey are weaponizing and really trying to look at these young kids and they are using their vulnerability to promote this awful thing. Again, I'm not about I'm not against gays . . . but I am against the grooming of our children into these progressive transgender ideology." These sentiments do not square with the experiences of the overwhelming majority of parents whose children attend public schools. The general strategy here is to focus on a handful of real or alleged abuses and try to generalize hastily to the entire system.

Heat Pumps: Jake Fogleman and Amy Cooke say Xcel Energy is in effect charging people with gas furnace to subsidize others' conversion to electric heat pumps.

Transparency: Jon Caldara announced plans to promote a Constitutional ballot measure guaranteeing legislative transparency. I'm not sure about this. On one hand, formal legislative business surely should be public and transparent (with the usual exceptions pertaining to security and privacy). On the other hand, legislators retain the right to freedom of speech and freedom of association, so transparency laws should extend only to formal legislative business. I haven't investigated the details sufficiently to judge whether reform in this area is warranted or, if so, what sort of reform. See also the report from the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition.

Street Racing: Street racing on the public roads is a serious threat to people's safety, as I've seen first-hand. Monte Whaley reviews police actions taken last year. Elisabeth Slay writes, "Englewood City Council members discussed and ultimately tabled a proposed amendment to the municipal code" such that "vehicles used in organized drag races would be subject to impound or forfeiture." In my view, vehicles should be subject to forfeiture only if the owner is convicted of a relevant crime.

Homicide: CPR reports that although "the nation's murder rate is plummeting . . . Colorado's is mostly flat."

Cattle Shootings: Western Slope Now reports, "The Montrose County Sheriff’s Office, with help from the Delta County Sheriff’s Office, arrested two in the shooting death of three cows on 25 Mesa Road." But this doesn't explain the broader problem of missing cows.

Suncor: The EPA is pushing back on Suncor permitting.

Even More Election Conspiracy Mongering: Brian Eason reports, "Six Republican state representatives Wednesday objected to the certification of Colorado’s November election, alleging without evidence that last year’s leak of voting system passwords compromised the integrity of the results." It would be pleasant if Republicans would get serious.

January 6: Olivia Prentzel reports, "A Boulder man and his father were arrested in the past week after federal authorities say they tried to force their way past police who were guarding the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021." Trump pardoning the perpetrators would be absolutely shameful.

Jefferson Schools Scandal: Suzie Glassman writes, "The Jefferson County School Board convened a special meeting on Jan. 7 to address the aftermath of the investigation into and apparent suicide of former Chief of Schools David Weiss, who was accused of possessing child pornography by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office."

Free Lunch: Ann Schimke reports, "Colorado lawmakers on a key legislative committee want to continue offering free school meals to all students, even though the cost of the popular new program is higher than initially expected." Why not means-test this?

Tesla Explosion: Logan Davis reviews the details surrounding the intentional Tesla explosion in Las Vegas, including the perpetrator's "shockingly mainstream right-wing talking points."

Amazon Work Violations: Molly Cruse reports, "Amazon will pay $145,000 in fines and make major changes to how it does business in warehouses to settle worker safety allegations brought by the federal government. The changes will affect Amazon’s facilities in Aurora and Colorado Springs."

Hyperloop: Sue McMillin reports, "Swisspod Technologies . . . works to complete a one-mile, full-scale hyperloop test track on the grounds of the former Pueblo Army Depot in southeastern Colorado."

Police Sex: Buzzfeed reported in 2018 that "laws in 35 states," including Colorado, "allow cops to have sex with someone in their custody." Notably, House Bill 19-1250 specifically addressed that problem.