Free Republic

DENVER — Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law Monday that officially eliminates most restrictions on how many unrelated roommates can live together in Colorado. House Bill 1007 prohibits local governments from enacting occupancy limits, which Polis and other critics of the policy have derided as discriminatory and outdated. Roughly two dozen Colorado cities have such restrictions on the books, though lawmakers said that only a few — including the college town of Fort Collins — actively enforce them. “This issue is both a housing issue and a civil rights issue,” Polis said during a bill-signing ceremony outside the...

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...

Governor Jared Polis (D-CO) said Wednesday on “CNN Primetime” that school children should be able to display a “Gadsden flag” or a “Pride flag” because “that’s what it’s all about, to be an American.” Discussing a child in Colorado initially being told he can not have a Gadsden symbol on his backpack, anchor Abby Phillip said, “You’ve called the Gadsden flag a proud symbol of the American revolution. What do you make of why this incident happened in the first place?” Polis said, “Well, look, I call it a teaching moment. You know, Abby, we all remember high school, college,...

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...

@jaredpolis Yes it’s sadly true that the Libertarians know less about libertarianism these days -- Here are some responses: @rufo4congress Replying to @jaredpolis LOL you just signed a bunch of gun control. You’re no “libertarian democrat”. Can’t wait to see you burn a bunch of tax payer dollars losing in court. Stay hurt loser. Libertarian Party @LPNational You were a COVID regime zealot, and used disarmament schemes to terrorize your state’s citizens. Sit down.

The devil is in the details behind all the weekend media headlines proclaiming equal TABOR refunds, but only if voters approve Prop HH that is disguised as a property tax cut. It’s a con job that would make Charles Ponzi proud. The last hour bill comes as the legislative session grinds to a close today. It came with zero review or input from the public and most of your elected lawmakers. The bill — sponsored by Democratic Reps. Chris deGruy Kennedy and Mike Weissman, as well as Democratic Sens. Chris Hansen and Nick Hinrichsen — was immediately heard Saturday afternoon...

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...

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis wants to steamroll local zoning and land-use rules in favor of his own vision for planning and development across the entire state? Not so fast, say Colorado’s cities. Their opposition first popped up when their chief lobbyist at the Capitol, Kevin Bommer of the Colorado Municipal League, labeled Polis’ plan a “breathtaking power grab.” That was upon its unveiling a few weeks ago as Senate Bill 23-213. It was just the start of the push-back. As reported by Colorado Politics, the CEO of Colorado’s No. 2 city, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers, turned up at the...

With less than a month left of the legislative session, Gov. Polis has yet to put forth any plan to prevent a looming bloodbath and cap residential property tax increases as he promised when voters repealed the Gallagher amendment. Republicans put forth their own plan to cap expected spikes of 40-50% to just five or ten percent over the next several years. But Democrats were ordered to kill those efforts and await the arrival of their hero governor, who would surely swoop in and save the day just in time for his planned 2024 presidential run. Yet the clock is...

Gov. Polis ran for reelection on promises of saving people money and state lawmakers claim one of their top priorities this session is finding ways to make housing more affordable. And yet they’re about to push homeowners and renters off a financial cliff when an enormous property tax bill of 26.5% comes due next year. Lawmakers could have done something to stop it, and there’s still time. But they’re too busy banning gun discharges on private property and legalizing drug injection sites to enable addicts. Michael Fields, president of the Advance Colorado Institute, writes in the Denver Post this week...

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...

State this month began an investigation into Michael Willis.. Colorado this month started investigating allegations made in 2019 against a powerful Democrat-appointed official after the Denver Post started digging into the allegations, the Post reported Monday. Colorado director of emergency management Michael Willis, who has played a significant role in the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, was "visibly intoxicated" and "struggled to focus on things" as his department responded to a May 7, 2019, school shooting, a state employee told investigators. A different employee also reported that Willis was "wobbly" that day. While both employees originally made their allegations...

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.”