Twenty-one years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Colorado's Amendment 2, One Colorado Education Fund is honoring two attorneys who played key roles in the case — former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Jean Dubofsky and former state Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver — at the LGBT-rights organization's annual Ally Awards fundraising event.
Senate Bill 17-267 was recently approved by the Senate Finance Committee on a 4-1 vote. That’s potentially bad news for taxpayers, and sick people. The bill would make Colorado’s state budget less transparent, reduce legislative and taxpayer control over state spending, create two new slush funds outside of legislative control, increase state indebtedness, and use a financial trick to raise the amount of tax money the state can keep without voter approval.
Even if the Affordable Care Act is repealed or significantly changed by Congress and President Donald Trump, the more than 9,900 employees of the City and County of Denver enrolled in one of the three city-offered health insurance plans should not be greatly affected. Heather Britton, manager of benefits and wellness in the city's Office of Human Resources, said that's because the city contracts with the three insurance companies calls for the city to be fully insured instead of self-insured. "We pay each of the companies specific monthly premiums and they take the risk based on the number of claims and other factors," Britton told The Colorado Statesman.
Gov. John Hickenlooper on Friday announced he was making two appointments to his communications office. The governor’s new director of strategic communications will be Marie Logsden, and his new press secretary will be Jacque Montgomery, his office said. They start work on Monday, Feb. 22.
Members of the House vote 54 to 11 in favor of the Kaiser Foundation executive's nomination. Opponents of the nomination cited Lynne's views on religious freedom and tax policy.
Who is Donna Lynne? During a sparsely-attended snow-day press conference last week, Governor Hickenlooper nominated Donna Lynne to serve as Colorado's next Lieutenant Governor. In addition to the many commendations that Gov. Hickenlooper heaped upon his nominee, the warmth between the two could have melted the foot of snow that was amassing just outside the statehouse Wednesday. But the real snow job may be just how liberal Gov. Hickenlooper's candidate truly is.
With a vacancy looming for one of the state's top posts, Gov. John Hickenlooper has nominated healthcare executive Donna Lynne to be his lieutenant governor. The Colorado Statesman supports the nomination and urges a "yes" vote for her confirmation. An extensive review of her qualifications yields the portrait of a respected businesswoman and experienced civil servant who knows how to get things accomplished in government.
The Hot Sheet weekly cartoon for March 25, 2016 — Donna Lynne and her ascent to Colorado lieutenant governor.
By TCS Publisher and Editor in Chief Jared Wright _@JaredWright_ DENVER — Good morning, and a happy Holy Thursday. Back to work today on snow packed side streets, icy interstate highways, and what should be a gorgeous, mostly sunny, snow-covered day in the Denver metro area. Travel safe out there. "Ask any woman and she'll tell you: health care for women is more expensive than it is for men. In fact, during their reproductive years, women spend 68 percent more on health care than men do." — Rod Blagojevich Now, your substrata feed straight from the politics pipeline:
Gov. John Hickenlooper nominated Kaiser Foundation Health Plan executive Donna Lynne Wednesday to replace Joe Garcia as Colorado's lieutenant governor and to fill the newly created position of “chief operating officer” for the state. “Donna Lynne is uniquely qualified to take on this role,” said Hickenlooper. “Her background in successfully running large complex organizations — in both the private and public sector — and her wisdom and experience in operations, will enhance the lieutenant governor’s role to make even more of an impact on programs across the state.”
Ernest Luning
Linda Gorman
Mike McKibbin
Ramsey Scott
Jennifer Kerns
The Colorado Statesman Editorial Board
Jared Wright