By Ed Sealover During Gov. Jared Polis’ first term, Colorado legislators passed significant health-care reform in areas ranging from prescription-drug pricing to lower-cost insurance offerings. Read More at The Sum & Substance.
The Sum & Substance
Affordable-housing package advances, but with a major concession
By Ed Sealover Gov. Jared Polis’ package of bills seeking to ease Colorado’s affordable-housing crisis by ramping up new construction has passed its first key tests — albeit with the loss of a provision that could have allowed building of as many as six units on any single-family-home plot in a Colorado city. Read More […]
Bill seeks to rein in utility rates by limiting several current practices
By Ed Sealover After more than a month of hearings and discussions about rising utility rates, legislative Democrats introduced a bill to require greater justification for future rate hikes and push utilities to move away from natural-gas infrastructure, saying it will improve transparency and accountability. Read More at The Sum & Substance.
Two bills are reviving the construction-defects fight at the Colorado Capitol
By Ed Sealover Colorado homebuilders and advocates for increased condominium construction are fighting a two-part battle at the Legislature over the resurrected issue of construction-defects reform — putting them both on the defensive on and the offensive on the long-debated subject. Read More at The Sum & Substance.
Major Colorado universities seek exemption from POWR Act
By Ed Sealover A coalition of most of Colorado’s public colleges and universities has asked sponsors of a bill to redefine harassment in state law either to exempt its members from the proposal or to make a bevy of changes to the bill that’s scheduled for its first committee hearing this week. Read More at […]
Colorado Senate limits use of unemployment-tax revenues
By Ed Sealover Not content just to say they don’t want enforcement of proposed new labor laws funded with unemployment taxes, opponents of the idea convinced the Colorado Senate Monday to strike such funding from a bill and ban similar uses of Employment Support Fund money in the future. Read More at The Sum & […]
Water-quality permitting fees could change more frequently
By Ed Sealover Businesses and governments required to pay water-quality permitting fees may see those fees rise more regularly and with fewer legislative requirements under a bill that is set to be introduced in the coming days in the Colorado Legislature. The proposal, backed by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, would remove […]
Cabinet member to legislators: Hands off unemployment-tax revenues
By Ed Sealover A key member of Gov. Jared Polis’ cabinet sent a letter to Colorado legislators Wednesday expressing his “extreme opposition” to their use of unemployment taxes to fund enforcement of proposed new labor laws, and he hinted that any bills trying to do so could face a veto. Read More at The Sum […]
Hospitals’ costs, spending under fire from Colorado Legislature
By Ed Sealover Colorado legislators are questioning how Colorado hospitals charge fees to patients and how they spend their money, putting health-care facilities in a defensive position this session as they look to justify their business models at a time when expenses are outpacing revenue growth. Read More at The Sum & Substance.
Polis issues new regulations on oil and gas companies
By Ed Sealover Colorado oil and gas producers along much of the Front Range must cut nitrogen oxides 30% by 2025 and 50% by 2030 under a new directive from Gov. Jared Polis — changes that industry leaders described Thursday as achievable but requiring new investment levels and technology. Read more at The Sum & […]