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Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is drawing harsh criticism for his “Feliz Navidad” holiday message as the state struggles for resources while battling a significant immigration crisis, just days after Denver received 16 busloads of migrants. Polis .. dancing joyfully as he delivered an a cappella rendition of Puerto Rican singer-songwriter José Feliciano’s hit 1970 song ... the cringeworthy clip... “As cringe as this is, it doesn’t begin to compare to the damage you’ve done to this state,” ... “This is one of the worst things I have seen all year. Who walked into your office and said that this was...

In addition to the off-year elections to be decided this November in Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi, a number of ballot initiatives will be voted on in other states. Perhaps the most consequential measure appearing on the November 2023 ballot, at least when it comes to fiscal policy, is found in Colorado, where voters will be asked whether they want to weaken the nation’s strongest tax and expenditure limit in exchange for property tax relief. Proposition HH, which was referred to the November ballot by Colorado lawmakers with the support of Governor Jared Polis (D), would weaken the state’s Taxpayer’s...

A 12-year-old student in Colorado was allegedly kicked out of class for wearing a Gadsden flag patch after being told by the school that the flag has “origins with slavery and slave trade.” A viral video on X (the social platform previously known as Twitter) shows 12-year-old Jaiden from The Vanguard School in Colorado Springs being condemned by a school administrator for wearing a Gadsden flag patch on his backpack. The video, which appears to be recorded by Jaime’s mother, outlines the school’s incoherent reasons for removing Jaiden from his class and asking for the patch to be removed. “The...

Property-tax relief? Hardly. Proposition HH on this fall’s statewide ballot is really about growing government. And it attempts to do that by piggybacking on public outrage over skyrocketing property tax bills. The proposal’s purported property-tax “relief” — served up by Gov. Jared Polis and his legislative allies as one part of their dizzyingly complicated scheme — is a ruse. As with every attempt to play politics with a crisis, there’s a hidden agenda. And that agenda is to snooker Colorado voters into letting the state keep and spend billions of dollars in surplus tax revenue that otherwise would have to...

We’ll say it again now that Gov. Jared Polis has inked his purported “relief” for soaring property taxes: His plan is largely an illusion. Ignore the stagecraft of Wednesday’s signing ceremony for Senate Bill 23-303. It was a nice publicity stunt — the governor and assorted lawmakers turning up at the home of a Commerce City resident who supposedly would benefit. It was all sleight of hand. As we noted here only weeks ago, the Polis plan is as if someone offered to help you pay your bills — then reached into your pocket, grabbed your wallet, pulled out some...

Suppose someone offers to help you pay your bills — then reaches into your pocket, grabs your wallet, pulls out some money and hands it to you. That’s more or less what Gov. Jared Polis and his Democratic allies who run the Legislature have in mind in promising “relief” for Coloradans facing skyrocketing property taxes. Unveiled by the governor at a Monday news conference and introduced the same day in the Legislature as Senate Bill 23-303, the complicated proposal would ask voters on next November’s statewide ballot to pay for a large part of their own property-tax relief. That’s right;...

An “ambitious” climate bill that would speed up Colorado’s decarbonization efforts, incentivize the purchase of electric lawn equipment and streamline the regulation of carbon-sequestration wells passed the state Senate on a Democratic-led party-line vote Friday. Senate Bill 16, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Chris Hansen of Denver, is one of several bills trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that is moving through the Legislature this year, but it stands out for the breadth of sectors and activities that it could affect. An amendment made Thursday to the bill, for example, would fine utilities as much as $20,000 per day for failing...

Irate customers complained about soaring energy costs at a recent meeting of the Colorado Public Utility Commission. Gov. Jared Polis responded, directing state agencies to do something — to fix a problem he caused. “The Governor has directed the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which regulates state utilities, and the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) to implement several immediate actions to alleviate the natural gas energy burden on Coloradans,” states a Feb. 6 press release from the governor’s office. “I am laying out ways state entities and utilities can take action to help save people money on their energy costs, to identify...

Last week, Gov. Jared Polis gave his State of the State address before a joint session of the General Assembly and to all Coloradans around the state. As I and other rural legislators listened to his speech, we couldn’t help but notice something so significant to our state barely received more than a brief mention. As the speech lagged on, it was evident the governor was clearly avoiding talking about it. It became the industrial elephant in the room, if you will. In his 70-minute, 8,000-word monologue, the governor mentioned the word “agriculture” one single time. The words “farms” and...

Many Coloradans may not realize this, but this Tuesday will be a seismic turning point for our beautiful state. Primary voters will either head us down a path towards prosperity, or down a road to relentless government overreach in the state known for being the new frontier. In just three and a half years, Jared Polis and his party have taken us from number 11 to 29 in business-friendly states, driven us to No. 1 in bank robberies, auto theft, and property crime, and created a crisis for our kids with one of the top suicide rates and drug addiction...

Jared Polis is running for president. He'll deny it. He has denied it. ... Polis has done little to nothing to ruffle the feathers of the teachers' unions... ... standing aside and letting municipalities do your dirty work for you. Polis let Denver Mayor Michael Hancock lead on coronavirus lockdowns and masks before imposing a statewide lockdown himself. Polis also signed a bill allowing cities and counties to enact stricter (but not looser) gun regulations than the state imposes. And there's nothing particularly libertarian about opening the door to public employees' unions in a traditionally non-union state like Colorado. ......

While some Democrats are voicing concerns about President Joe Biden’s re-election prospects, Gov. Jared Polis, D-Colo., says President Joe Biden “has plenty of time to turn this around.” The New York Times reported this week that “dozens” of Democratic lawmakers and officials are frustrated with Biden as he faces low approval ratings, with some suggesting he should not run again. Asked about that report on Meet the Press NOW, Polis said Friday that Biden still has time to improve his standing. “I think he has every opportunity to turn this around,” Polis said of the president. “Maybe pull some new...

As the Democratic Party’s fate grows increasingly uncertain this midterm election season, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) says he remains resilient in a notoriously “purplish” state by focusing on the empowerment of individual voters. “Colorado is a very independently minded, freedom-oriented state, and they don’t want Republicans or Democrats telling them what to do,” Polis told The Hill. “They value accurate information, they value facts, and people should be empowered to make their own decisions, whether that’s marijuana, whether it’s wearing a mask — we’re a state that values freedom.”

Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law on Friday that allows county workers across the state to collectively bargain. Senate Bill 22-230 was introduced by Democrats in April and given final passage on May 11, the last day of the 2022 legislative session. Polis’ office said in a news release that the new law ensures county workers “have a voice in their working conditions.” House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo, said in a statement that the law “allows county workers to unionize if they choose to so that they can have a seat at the table to discuss decisions...

The culture war over Disney reached new heights Thursday, as Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Florida Gov. Ron De Santis traded barbs over the company's future in the Sunshine State. Earlier this week, Polis voiced disagreement over DeSantis' support for legislation that would strip Disney of its special status as a self-governing area, which was ultimately passed Thursday by the Florida House. Polis then accused DeSantis of using socialist tactics to control the private sector, and invited Disney to ditch the Sunshine State and move to Colorado. 'Florida's authoritarian socialist attacks on the private sector are driving businesses away,'...

Governor Jared Polis (D-CO) said Thursday on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” that Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-FL) law to penalize Disney by removing the company’s special tax status and privileges because they oppose Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law is like the actions of dictators. Polis said, “This is out of the playbook of authoritarianism of government intervention into private businesses saying you don’t do what I want, you’re not supporting my anti-gay law. Therefore I will directly penalize your company, not pass some general law that affects all companies. Literally, we will go after your company if you don’t get in...

A question must seriously be asked whether Jared Polis is interested in governing all of Colorado, or just the narrow strip that contains the vast majority of the state’s population. Polis has repeatedly angered the small band of hardy farmers and ranchers that make up Colorado’s second-largest industry by his insensitive slights and tone-deaf insults. It’s as if the governor pays lip service to agriculture one day and then slaps it in the face the next. Case in point: In February Polis ignored the recommendations of his own Department of Agriculture and appointed yet another animal welfare extremist to a...

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) said Sunday that Americans should treat each other with "civility and respect" as individuals make different decisions for themselves on whether or not they wear a face covering. Asked by host Sandra Smith on "Fox News Sunday" if he thinks recent moves by blue states to ease masking requirements were confusing given contradictory views from the White House and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Polis pointed out that the federal government is just issuing recommendations and is not mandating masks. "In Colorado, we haven't had a statewide mass requirement for close to a...

The Democratic-controlled General Assembly just got a little more liberal leaning. State of play: On Wednesday, Democratic senators selected Boulder Democrat Steve Fenberg, the current majority leader, to serve as the next Senate president. Effective Feb. 23, Fenberg will replace current chamber leader Leroy Garcia, the term-limited Pueblo Democrat who is resigning to take a Defense Department job in Washington. Why it matters: As Senate president, Fenberg will guide the Democratic agenda and hold significant say in what legislation will advance. An astute tactician, the 38-year-old former political operative, is one of the most progressive lawmakers in the Senate and...

Colorado district attorneys warned the governor that he set a "troubling precedent" when he intervened in the Rogel Aguilera-Mederos case. District attorneys warned Gov. Jared Polis that he created “a troubling precedent” in commuting Rogel Aguilera-Mederos’ prison sentence while the case was still pending, saying the act weakened public trust in the law. In a letter to Polis, District Attorneys Michael Dougherty and Daniel Rubenstein — a Democrat and a Republican, respectively — agreed that the 110-year sentence in the deadly interstate crash “was too severe.” But they stressed that by commuting the sentence to 10 years before a judge...