Tag: Jared Polis
State of Union strikes chord with Dems, others skeptical
President Barack Obama delivered a rousing State of the Union speech tonight in front of wolves laying down with lambs. Colorado Senator Mark Udall, who called for the bipartisan seating arrangement, sat with Senator Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina. Most of Colorado's delegation sat together, regardless of party, and the same was true throughout the chamber.
Balmer introduces ‘Secure Communities’ enforcement bill
Colorado State House Republicans targeting illegal immigration have another bill to rally around. Rep. David Balmer, R-Centennial, Tuesday introduced a bill (pdf) that would cut state funding from cities refusing to participate with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement program called "Secure Communities." Balmer's bill also targets individual Coloradans who harbor or transport illegal immigrants.
Reps Polis and Tipton disagree on repeal of health care reform
Today, Rep. Scott Tipton spoke in favor of repealing health care reform, and Rep. Jared Polis calls the repeal act the most expensive one-page bill ever.
State Sen. Rollie Heath calls for more investment in education and...
Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, at a public meeting Friday said that by restoring tax rates to minimally higher levels, the state’s higher education crisis could be somewhat alleviated. Pointing to the tragic events last week in Arizona, Heath also argued that we must invest more in Colorado’s beleaguered public mental health services to help prevent similar tragedies from occurring here.
DeGette, Polis ‘fracking’-disclosure camp up against big-money opponents in Congress
Colorado Democratic U.S. Reps Diana DeGette and Jared Polis are leading supporters of a move to force natural-gas drilling companies to disclose the chemicals they use to blast gas out of the ground in an increasingly controversial process called "fracking." The two lawmakers were joined Thursday by 46 members of Congress in sending a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar asking him to back a proposal in which the Interior Department would require disclosure of all materials used in fracking operations conducted on public lands. The DeGette and Polis bloc faces strong opposition in Congress and, turns out, their main opponents are pulling down large donations from oil and gas companies.
King to Polis: Healthcare law infringes on right to have babies...
Constitutional interpretation can lead the unpracticed down surprising and even dark rhetorical alleyways. It happens at dinner tables and in barrooms all the time. It happened to controversial Republican Iowa Rep. Steve King today on Capitol Hill at a Rules Committee hearing on the GOP plan to repeal the healthcare reform law. He ended up telling Colorado Rep. Jared Polis that the law is unconstitutional because, for instance, it forces uninsured women who deliver babies in garbage cans to buy health insurance. Polis, aghast, searched for words. No one would have faulted him for saying "Well, yes, exactly!"
Polis again named to House Rules Committee
Congressman Jared Polis announced today that he has been re-appointed to the House Rules Committee. With the House now under Republican leadership, Polis is one of four Democrats to remain on the committee, which governs rules for legislative debate in the House.
Colorado joins ICE’s Secure Communities program, prompting Polis to label it...
Gov. Bill Ritter Monday signed an executive order for Colorado to participate in the controversial federal Secure Communities program. The program, which operates through the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), is now in place in 35 states. Started by President George W. Bush in 2008, the program may be mandatory in all states by 2013. Governor-elect John Hickenlooper says he supports the measure.
Top campaign stories of 2010–You had to see it to believe...
This was a year of surprises in Colorado politics, from the announcement that Governor Ritter would not seek re-election to the paper-thin victory of...
Polis cheers ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ repeal, lauds leadership
Openly gay Colorado Congressman Jared Polis took to the floor of the House Wednesday to commend U.S. leaders for putting an end to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Clinton-era policy banning gay members of the military from serving openly. Gay citizens will "hold their heads a little higher as Americans," Polis said soon after President Obama signed the repeal. "We are closer to equal treatment under the law, which is all we have ever asked for. Our government will no longer be an instrument of discrimination against us."