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Tag: Bill Ritter

Former first lady Jeannie Ritter today endorsed Michael Hancock for Denver...

Former Colorado first lady Jeannie Ritter announced today that she has endorsed Michael Hancock for mayor of Denver.

Hickenlooper plan to slash school funding draws fast response from education...

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper rolled out a budget plan Tuesday in which he proposes trying to make up hundreds of millions of dollars in shortfalls by mostly slashing elementary school funding. His plan would cut the K-12 budget by $375 million. Wednesday morning advocacy group Great Education Colorado sent out a call for Coloradans to oppose the Hickenlooper plan. The group succinctly describes how the costs will translate around the state and at local schools.

Hickenlooper slashes K-12; Dems say it’s time to consider tax increases

Stating that Colorado needs to be more pro-business, Gov. John Hickenlooper cut deep into K-12, further sacrificed state employee earnings, and shut down some state parks and services in the budget proposal he delivered Tuesday.

Secure Communities bill passes House committee

A bill compelling local governments in Colorado to comply with the controversial federal Secure Communities program passed its first hurdle today on a 7-4 committee vote, with Rep. John Soper, D-Thornton, being the lone Democrat voting in favor of the bill.

Bill to end collective bargaining dies in senate committee

A bill to end collective bargaining by state employees was killed yesterday in committee, surprising no one. Bill sponsor, Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, said he would likely take up the issue again as Colorado “head[s] toward a fiscal apocalypse” and noted that House Republicans had similar legislation in the works.

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.

Colorado budget alert: Beware Texans talking fiscal responsibility and big gov’t...

Last year outspoken Republican Texas Governor Rick Perry boasted about his state's conservative approach to economics and its lean budget. He derided the budget messes faced by other states and blasted Democratic-controlled Washington, telling Tea Party crowds that lawmakers had abandoned the Founding Fathers' vision of limited government. He said President Obama's Washington was strangling Americans with taxing and spending. Tea Partiers waved signs criticizing Obama's $780 billion economic stimulus package. Perry later told reporters that Texans were getting so fed up that they might consider seceding from the Union. Then news came that, hidden under budgetary lipstick and rouge, Texas faced a major $18 billion budget shortfall-- as much as 20 percent of the state's next two-year budget. Today came news from the National Conference of State Legislatures that Perry's Texas took more federal stimulus money than any other state in the country. In fact, Texas plugged 97 percent of its budget shortfall last year with Obama stimulus cash.

John Hickenlooper sworn in as 42nd governor

John Hickenlooper was sworn in today as Colorado’s 42nd governor as flags flew at half mast to honor the dead and injured in Arizona. He told a small group of reporters gathered in his new office shortly after the ceremony that America depends on free speech for its democracy, but he said that history swings like a pendulum and that it is time for the country to come together.

Gov. Ritter to lead CSU new energy center

Outgoing Gov. Bill Ritter announced today he will become director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University. Effective Feb. 1, Ritter also will assume the title of senior scholar at CSU's School of Global Environmental Sustainability.

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.
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