The House and Senate had previously adopted a series of amendments to the state spending plan that needed to be reconciled. The Joint Budget Committee decided which amendments would stick, and in which fashion, as it sought to meet the constitutional requirements to pass a balanced budget.

The JBC’s approved changes included higher caps for dental care for immigrants without legal status who benefit from a Medicaid-like program, money for veterans services, and more time to allow children with intellectual or developmental disabilities to transition automatically to adult comprehensive care.

The committee also added $10 million to address an ongoing consent decree, a 2019 federal order that requires the state to reduce wait times for court-ordered mental health evaluations and treatment. The state could face fines reaching multiple times that amount if it doesn’t make progress on cutting those wait times.

This budget, which sets the state’s spending plan for the fiscal year that runs from July 1 to June 30, 2027, was the latest to feature deep cuts as the state grapples with skyrocketing costs in must-spend areas.

One estimate had put the state’s general fund deficit this year at $1.5 billion. The overall general fund, which covers most day-to-day operations in the budget, is set at $17.4 billion for the upcoming fiscal year.

In their efforts to close the budget gap, lawmakers have cut into the rainy-day fund and reserves, halted across-the-board pay raises for state employees, and turned to legal and fiscal maneuvers such as trying to count the past overpayment of tax refunds against future refund obligations.

Medicaid, which provides healthcare for ��DZ��ǰ������’s poorest residents, has seen its costs increase at a much faster pace than what state revenues or the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights allow. That made it a target as lawmakers sought to reverse the “structural deficit” in which the state has spent more than it can afford.

Among the cuts were the elimination of automatic enrollment for children with severe intellectual or developmental disabilities to adult programs, a reduction in paid caregiver hours and more.

“This has clearly been a lengthy and painful set of discussions about how we address our Medicaid budget,” Rep. Emily Sirota, a Denver Democrat and chair of the Joint Budget Committee, said after the final vote Tuesday. She said long-term support and services paid for by Medicaid, in particular, have grown rapidly.

Sen. Lisa Frizell, a Castle Rock Republican, won an amendment that sought to prevent a cap on Medicaid-paid caregiver hours, while limiting a proposed expansion of the waitlist for people awaiting services for severe disabilities. That amendment was ultimately stripped off, though, and replaced with an extension for the automatic enrollment program. It was set to end July 1 but will now run through the end of the year to give those families less of a shock.

Frizell called the waitlist for developmental disability services — currently at seven years and likely to grow following the budget cuts — “unconscionable.” She said she sought to keep not just the status quo, but to wrench down the waitlist. 

“I’m talking about families where you have adults who are the caretaker for their 30- or 40-year-old child,” Frizell said, adding that she has friends and neighbors in that situation. “This has just been a real gut punch to these families to have to worry about what����ap going to happen (to their children).” 

But, Frizell added, she wasn’t sure how she would have juggled the decisions the budget committee had to weigh this year.

Victoria Moul, the founder of the advocacy group Impacted Caregivers of Colorado, said her members were terrified of losing their homes, their cars and their children with the upcoming budget cuts.

These families rely on Medicaid reimbursement for time they spend caring for their children, who often have such complex needs that the family members can’t hold down traditional jobs. Moul, who lives in Ault, had cancer when she was pregnant with triplets, who were then born very prematurely and developmentally disabled.

“You explain to me, how can a caregiver who can’t go out and get another job afford to care for a disabled person when they can’t afford the rent?” Moul said.

The budget committee lamented the cuts to Medicaid services but saw slashing as necessary to balance the budget now and in the future.

Sen. Jeff Bridges, a Greenwood Village Democrat on the budget committee, invoked his own family members with intellectual disabilities. He and others on the budget committee said extending the timeframe when children automatically transition to receiving adult services was a way to still help families while trying to bend down unsustainable long-term costs.

“One of the things we really struggled with in this budget is ensuring that the cuts we’ve made aren’t just one-time,” Bridges said. 

Sen. Judy Amabile, a Boulder Democrat on the budget committee, promised her colleagues that budget writers would continue to look at Medicaid spending and the ripple effects of cuts.

“I want to know, what is really the right way to go about this — and when we cut things, who does it impact? And how are those people impacted in other ways?” Amabile said. She added that her intent was “just to take a more holistic view of how these departments interact, with Medicaid being at the center of this conversation.” 

Frederick Alfred Jr., a 38-year-old man , was arrested on suspicion of felony child neglect at 245 Front St. in Key West, Florida, . That address is connected to the Sunset Key Cottages, a four-star hotel.

One witness told police that Alfred’s son had approached him for help getting his sister out of the pool because his parents weren’t present, according to Alfred’s arrest report. The 4-year-old girl was foaming at the mouth and unconscious when the man pulled her from the water, prompting him to call 911 and start CPR, the report stated.

The first 911 call came in at 7:34 p.m. Monday, according to the report. It����ap unknown how long Alfred had been gone before that call was made. When Alfred returned to the pool at 7:40 p.m., he was holding an alcoholic drink, police said.

Alfred told police that he had left his 4-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son alone in the hot tub while he went to get a drink, according to the report. He claimed he was only gone for five minutes.

In the time he was gone, his daughter nearly drowned and his son swallowed an unknown amount of pool water while trying to get her out of the water, paramedics told police in the arrest report. When the 6-year-old boy couldn’t rescue his sister, he went to a stranger for help.

Alfred initially blocked paramedics from taking his children to the hospital, even after they told him “there was a very significant risk” of issues arising later from the near-drowning, police said in the report. He eventually agreed to let his children be taken to the hospital.

Police “noticed the strong smell of an alcoholic beverage” emitting from Alfred while arresting the man, the report stated.

Alfred, who lives in Commerce City, has built his platform on being a “husband, father, and community leader,” . He did not respond Tuesday afternoon to requests for comment.

“As a father, I believe families should guide their children’s education, and I am dedicated to ensuring parental rights are respected,” the website stated, adding that Alfred aims to be a “strong voice for families.”

Alfred is the only GOP candidate slated to appear on the Senate District 21 ballot and is set to face either incumbent Adrienne Benavidez or newcomer Alex Ryckman, a teacher, after the Democratic primary in June. Benavidez stepped into the role after winning a vacancy election earlier this year when Democratic state Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet resigned.

Alfred nearly unseated Jenet — a then-incumbent candidate — in a 2024 race for the seat, but he lost by roughly 1,500 votes across Adams and Arapahoe counties, according to . Jenet won 51% of the vote to Alfred’s 49%.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

The Colorado Senate approved the budget bill 25-10 on Thursday morning. But the body, like the House of Representatives last week, added a number of amendments. Some of those changes might throw the balance of the budget off kilter, while others would redirect spending — and potentially affect jobs — to pay for specific priorities.

Now the Joint Budget Committee will evaluate the 20 amendments adopted by the House or the Senate to decide which, if any, will make it into the final document. That decision is expected early next week.

The two chambers will then conduct final formal votes to accept the document. Members of the bipartisan committee have emphasized throughout the legislative session how painful their decisions have been as they’ve sought to close a general fund deficit of more than $1 billion — requiring the third round of deep cuts in two years.

The Colorado Constitution requires the state to adopt a balanced budget, and it is one of two must-pass bills during each year’s session. The budget will take effect for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The overall general fund for the upcoming fiscal year will be $17.4 billion. That represents a $212 million year-over-year increase — less than inflation and less than the skyrocketing costs in some must-spend areas like Medicaid and the system that houses the prison population.

Many of the cuts this year have nonetheless landed on Medicaid patients and providers.

“This was an extraordinarily hard budget,” Sen. Jeff Bridges, a Greenwood Village Democrat and vice chair of the budget committee, said. “It kept me up at night (on) many, many days. It����ap taken a huge emotional toll.”

Bridges said the committee generally gives preference to amendments adopted by both chambers of the legislature, but “unique circumstances” in the House meant that “the process this year may look a little different.”

Last week, Rep. Brandi Bradley, a Littleton Republican, asked to have the 661-page budget bill read at length, chewing up some 16 hours of floor time and leading the Democratic majority to limit debate on amendments to keep the budget process on schedule. Some 20 proposed amendments in the House were not debated as a result.

Still, both chambers approved amendments aimed at bolstering funding for courts that handle veterans with substance-use problems and behavioral health disorders; allowing the treasurer’s office to hire more people to help return money in the unclaimed property trust fund; moving money from the governor’s mansion maintenance fund to the veterans trust fund; and creating new line items to pay for a special-needs parole program and private nursing homes for prisoners, which are minimally funded at $1 apiece.

Another amendment, which would prevent a proposed cap on Medicaid-paid caregiver hours for people with severe disabilities and limit the increase in a waitlist for people awaiting services for severe disabilities, also cleared the Senate. Its sponsor, Sen. Lisa Frizell, a Castle Rock Republican, made clear that her support of the budget was contingent on that amendment remaining. She also acknowledged that her amendment, like others, was a “long shot” to stay in the final budget bill.

Frizell was the only Republican who’s not on the budget committee to support the budget package in Thursday’s Senate vote.

“These are parents who bear burdens and responsibilities that are beyond comprehension,” Frizell said of her support for families with severely disabled children. “They are people whose biggest fears are dying before their disabled child.”

Last week, with the year anniversary on Thursday of what Trump dubbed “Liberation Day,” events were held to discuss the tariffs’ impact on the Colorado economy.

Gov. Jared Polis held a roundtable with a handful of small-business owners, manufacturers and industry leaders, alongside the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

“It’s long been clear: Tariffs are a tax increase that raises costs, creates uncertainty, and makes it harder to grow and hire talent. While the courts have taken important steps to stop these unlawful policies, businesses are still dealing with the fallout,” Polis said.

Also, on a news call Wednesday, state fiscal officers, including Colorado State Treasurer Dave Young, called the tariffs’ impact on communities nationwide “devastating.”

“Trump’s tariffs are a self-inflicted crisis that represents economic devastation, not liberation for working families and businesses. Businesses need predictability to grow, but what they’re getting instead is tariff whiplash,” Young said.

“Policies are announced and they’re changed. They’re reversed, they’re escalated with little warning. That creates chaos for business owners trying to plan investments, hire staff or set prices,” Young said.

Not everyone, of course, is opposed to the tariffs.

The Steel Manufacturers Association, the largest steel association in America, for its recent decision to “strengthen tariffs” on imported steel, aluminum and copper.

“The Steel Manufacturers Association applauds the Trump Administration’s actions today to strengthen the Section 232 steel tariffs,” said SMA President and CEO Philip K. Bell on Thursday.

“By right-sizing the derivatives list and updating the valuation of steel-containing goods, these measures reinforce President Trump’s signature trade achievement, ensuring the tariffs remain precisely targeted to support the revitalization of the American steel industry without undermining broader economic goals.”

Peter Navarro, senior counselor for trade and manufacturing to Trump since January 2025, shared a White House post on X celebrating Trump’s Liberation Day, highlighting “real results, putting more money in the pockets of American workers.”

He also on the administration’s plans to impose a on patented pharmaceutical products and ingredients, saying the president is “bringing pharma jobs home, reducing reliance on foreign supply chains, strengthening national security and putting downward pressure on drug prices.”

However, for Chad Franke, president of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, tariffs have been all over the board.

“We don’t not support tariffs, but they need to be done in a thoughtful and methodical way,” he told The Post in October.

Trump invoked his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to impose the tariffs. Using IEEPA authority, Trump began by imposing a 10% tariff on all countries, followed by a year of frequently shifting tariff policies.

Young said tariffs in Colorado have risen sevenfold, increasing from about 3% to 21%, the highest level in more than a century. He said these high costs are rippling across industries from agriculture and construction to energy and aerospace, and even coffee roasters.

“A Denver retailer recently reported that tariffs cost his business $25,000 last fall alone and across the state, Colorado businesses paid $1.1 billion in tariffs in 2025,” Young said. “For a small business that is not a formula for a thriving future, it’s a recipe for ruin.”

The treasurers’ call coincided with the release of a new “Liberation Day Report” from nonprofit , which details the economic impact of tariffs in the past year. The report said American families have paid each in tariff costs and nearly 200,000 blue-collar jobs have been lost, including approximately 89,000 manufacturing jobs and nearly 124,000 transportation and warehousing jobs.

About 96% of the tariff burden was paid by U.S. consumers, foreign exporters absorbed 4%, the report says. The report also found that Trump’s tariffs hiked retail prices for domestic goods by nearly 5% on average, while economic growth  in the fourth quarter of 2025.

For Nathan Peterson, founder and CEO of Vederra Modular in Colorado, the strain has been building steadily.

“Over the past year, tariffs have pushed our material costs up around 6–7%, but the bigger issue has been supply chain instability and inconsistent delivery times. To manage that, we’re carrying more inventory, which, in addition to the price increases, is requiring more capital costs and ultimately driving up the cost of housing in Colorado,” Peterson said.

New data from , a grassroots coalition comprised of over 1,100 small businesses that advocates against tariffs, revealed American businesses have paid $265 billion in overall presidential tariffs. Business leaders emphasized that even after the recent Supreme Court decision major portions of the tariffs, the impacts remain.

The federal government is working to return through a refund process requiring detailed claims and data submissions. A process expected to take months or longer to fully complete.

U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, alongside 18 of his Senate Democratic colleagues, last month to Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney S. Scott, demanding the administration to use existing records to automatically refund small businesses instead of forcing small businesses to opt-in.

The letter states the Trump administration’s proposed refund process, known as the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries system, creates unnecessary burdens for small businesses who are already struggling under tariffs.

“Small businesses should not have to do additional work to receive refunds on what amounted to illegal tariff payments,” the senators wrote in a news release last week.

“Every cent of illegal IEEPA tariffs must be returned. The only question is whether CBP will make that process as simple and equitable as possible, or whether it will implement a complicated and unfair system through which large corporations and Wall Street will benefit financially,” the senators wrote.

Hickenlooper, a former small-business owner and an outspoken opponent of Trump’s tariffs, recently introduced the , which would fully refund businesses that paid the administration’s tariffs, and the to exempt small businesses from the administration’s sweeping tariffs.

In 2025, Polis and state agencies to analyze the effects of tariffs across key industries, finding widespread cost increases, planning challenges, and market .

According to the OSPB’s , actual U.S. tariff revenue in 2025 was $287.1 billion on $3.44 trillion in U.S. imports, resulting in a U.S. effective tariff rate of 8.3 percent, which is a 219% increase in the effective tariff rate from 2024.

For Colorado, OSPB expects an effective tariff rate of 8.8% in 2026 and 7.7% in 2027, which is slightly below expectations of 9.% and 8.1% for the U.S. as a whole in 2026 and 2027 respectively.

The report also noted that small businesses have taken on an outsized burden of the tariff increases and lack the legal resources necessary to pursue refunds.

In response, the state is offering new and expanded resources through OEDIT and World Trade Center Denver, including a that provides regular tariff updates, one-on-one advising and specialized consulting for businesses.

But over time, I’ve also learned that showing up isn’t just physical — it����ap mental.

As athletes get older, the environment around sports changes. The competition increases, expectations rise, and the pressure can feel constant. While the game itself stays the same, what it asks of you mentally often grows.

I notice it in small ways — when the rhythm on the field feels different, when my confidence wavers, or when one split-second decision changes how you’re perceived. These things are not always talked about, but athletes feel them every day.

My older sister, Alyssa, was a soccer player and a ski racer. She loved sports, and they were a big part of how we grew up. In our family, athletics were never only about winning. They were about discipline, commitment, and learning who you are when things feel challenging.

In 2019, we lost Alyssa after she struggled with her mental health following a series of concussions. We later learned that concussions can be linked to serious mental health challenges and an increase in suicide, especially in young people.

Since then, my family has been working to raise awareness about the connection between concussions and mental health, including advocating for a new bill at the state Capitol — “Alyssa’s Act.” The bill would require youth sports coaches to receive basic mental health training and ensure parents are informed about potential mental health impacts after a concussion.

Like many athletes, I’ve experienced injuries, including concussions. At the time, my focus was always on recovery and getting back to the game. Looking back now, I see how important it is to recognize that recovery is not always just physical, and that the mental side of returning to play matters too.

Athletes are often told to be mentally tough. To push through and move on. Resilience matters, but I have learned that real mental strength also comes from having support and knowing how to manage pressure in healthy ways.

That����ap where coaches come in.

Coaches play an important role in shaping the environment around sports. The tone they set influences how athletes support one another and how safe it feels to take risks, learn, and grow. When effort and development are valued, athletes are more likely to stay engaged and confident.

My coaches have taught me that even when the pressure builds, we still have to show up for ourselves and for our team. I believe coaches should have the tools to recognize when an athlete may be struggling and help connect them to support.

Alyssa’s Act would make sure coaches across Colorado receive basic mental health education — including how to recognize signs of anxiety, depression, and the potential mental health effects of concussions.

Coaches’ education matters because early awareness can make all the difference.

Listening to athletes and recognizing the mental side of competition does not weaken sports. It strengthens them. When athletes feel supported, they become better teammates, stronger competitors, and more resilient people.

Sports are not just about results. They are about learning how to handle pressure with perspective, respect, and consistency. Those lessons matter whether you are the top player on the field or someone who keeps showing up because the process itself is worth it.

That is why I keep coming back to the field. Not because it is easy, but because it continues to teach me how to grow. And it����ap why I hope we make sure every athlete has the support they need to keep showing up, too.

Emily Peterson is a student-athlete and youth advocate from Arvada, Colorado, helping advance Alyssa’s Act (Senate Bill 60), which has passed the Senate and is now moving through the Colorado House.

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The debate over accountability for public officials has sharpened nationally as Gov. Jared Polis has questioned whether justice was evenly applied when comparing the length of the sentence imposed on former Republican Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters with the sentence imposed on former Democratic Colorado State Senator Sonya Jacquez Lewis last week.

In a social media post, Polis noted that Jaquez Lewis was convicted of the same exact felony as Peters, but received a much more lenient sentence. The facts differ, as do some of the legal theories, but Polis notes that the scale of Peters’ punishment has placed her sentence outside the typical range involving elected officials, raising legitimate questions about proportionality.

The legitimacy of our justice system depends on the public’s belief that the rules apply evenly, regardless of party, ideology or notoriety. From my vantage point as a former Democratic lawmaker, and a former Denver city attorney and assistant attorney general who worked on criminal enforcement matters, the Peters case is striking not because accountability was inappropriate, but because the sentence appears inconsistent with other cases and may have been influenced by her polarizing political speech.

Polis’s office has made it clear that he is not considering a pardon for Tina Peters, and neither would I. Instead, he is reviewing her application like anyone else for clemency and likely considering a modification to her sentence.

In my time as chief of staff to former Gov. John Hickenlooper, we carefully vetted many clemency cases, and the public is able to weigh in during this process. It is imperative that Peters takes accountability for her actions and is remorseful.

None of this is to excuse Tina Peters’ conduct. Peters was found guilty on seven charges, including four felonies, for her role in orchestrating a municipal election security data breach of the county’s election equipment in 2021, well after the 2020 election results were affirmed by the county and certified by the state. Peters faced 20 years in prison and was sentenced to 9 years.

Make no mistake: courts are right to treat threats to election integrity with gravity, and deterrence is a legitimate sentencing goal. However, legitimate questions were raised on appeal as to whether her political speech, not popular in Colorado, erroneously informed the trial judge’s sentencing of her.

Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Craig Welling, who served as chief legal counsel for Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter before joining the court, grilled the state’s attorney over the trial judge reciting Peters’ false statements about elections in handing down her sentence and said, “the court cannot punish her for her First Amendment rights.”

During oral argument, all three Court of Appeals judges expressed concern about the fairness of her sentence and highlighted how the district court judge’s political statements made about Peters may have unfairly and unconstitutionally influenced her sentencing. The court has not ruled yet in this case and could easily make the conversation about clemency moot.

Proportionality is not a soft concept; it is a cornerstone of justice. A review of similarly situated cases, demonstrates that Peters’ sentence is an outlier.

Lewis, a Democrat, faced serious allegations tied to her official conduct, drawing headlines and political fallout. Lewis was convicted of four felony charges (one count of attempting to influence a public servant and three counts of forgery). In January 2025, during an investigation by the Colorado Senate Committee on Ethics, Lewis forged several letters reportedly written by former aides to refute allegations that Lewis was mistreating staff. She faced up to 15 years in prison, but received two years of supervised probation and 150 hours of community service. I have yet to hear a single person opposed to leniency for Peters argue that Lewis’ sentence was too lenient or inappropriate.

In 2023, former state Rep. Tracey Bennett, a Democrat from Boulder, faced felony charges related to residency fraud and pleaded guilty to attempting to influence a public servant and perjury about lying about her place of residence to run for reelection in a more favorable political district. She faced up to 8 years but received a deferred sentence, including two years of probation. Again, no outcry about whether her sentence was too lenient. Indeed, most public official-related cases don’t end in jail time, but rather probation, deferred sentencing, community hours and fines.

Context matters, and in ��DZ��ǰ������’s political climate, Peters is undeniably red meat for many Coloradoans who, like me, are rightfully concerned about election integrity. Peters became a figure whose actions were not just unlawful but emblematic of broader threats to democratic norms. That political reality does not invalidate the legal process, but it does make the need for visible consistency even more important. Justice must be not only fair, but perceived as fair.

Before critiquing Gov. Polis ask yourself this: would the result have been different if the Peters was the Boulder County Clerk who committed the same crime with the same result? Certainly, the political outcry to Polis’ post about a Democratic elected Boulder County Clerk’s disproportionate sentence would have been more muted.

When similarly situated officials receive vastly different outcomes, it risks creating the impression– whether accurate or not — that punishment can be shaped by the political temperature surrounding a case. And, without question, it is clear that the court itself is openly questioning the severity of her sentence.

In an era when trust in institutions is already strained, that perception carries real consequences.

Doug Friednash is a partner with the law firm Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schreck.

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Benavidez, of Commerce City, will replace former Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet after winning the Thursday night vacancy election. Michaelson Jenet resigned earlier this month to take a job as the director of the David Merage Foundation for Confronting Antisemitism.

Benavidez will represent Senate District 21, which stretches from north metro Denver to parts of Adams and Arapahoe counties.

“I’m humbled by the support and confidence placed in me by the Vacancy Committee,” Benavidez said in a statement. “The hardworking people of Senate District 21 deserve representation that will advocate for their needs and concerns. I hope to make them proud!”

Benavidez served in the state House of Representatives between 2017 and 2023. She resigned that seat in January 2023 after she lost a bid for speaker.

Nearly a quarter of the 100-member General Assembly has been appointed to their seats through vacancy committees, according to legislative staff, though some have since won elections to the positions.

Four Democratic lawmakers introduced , which would decriminalize commercial sexual activity in Colorado, last week. The bill wouldn’t legalize the practice or set up an oversight structure regulating it, as the state did with marijuana and Nevada has done with prostitution in several counties. Acting as a pimp or engaging in certain forms of solicitation would remain criminal offenses.

But criminal penalties would otherwise be dropped across the state for anyone selling or paying for sexual activity between adults.

“Whatever your morals are, I don’t believe the government should be involved in the bedroom of consenting adults,” said Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, a Pueblo Democrat and one of the bill’s sponsors. “But beyond that, what you learn is when you (criminalize prostitution), the repercussions are harmful.”

Hinrichsen acknowledged the bill faced steep odds, even in a legislature controlled by his party, and he said his toughest challenge would be getting his colleagues to move past “the moral judgment that the behavior is wrong” to consider what he says is the data supporting the bill.

As some conservatives castigated the measure on social media last week, Hinrichsen replied to one X post with a link to . That study linked criminalized prostitution with adverse health outcomes, like increased infection rates and violence against sex workers.

Progressive lawmakers had discussed bringing a similar proposal last year but held off. The bill’s supporters this year will likely include progressives, but the sponsors — Hinrichsen, Sen. Lisa Cutter and Reps. Lorena Garcia and Rebekah Stewart — come from different corners of the Democratic Party’s tent.

Gov. Jared Polis has also signaled some initial support for the proposal.

“Governor Polis will review this bill as it moves through the process but supports an adult’s right to make their own decisions about their bodies,” Polis spokeswoman Shelby Wieman said Monday. “He also wants to better understand how any changes to this area of law can also better protect against crimes such as human trafficking.”

The bill’s introduction was hailed by current and former sex workers in Colorado, who have long advocated for decriminalization and reforms to the state’s laws. Supporters argue that criminalization drives sex work underground and leaves workers vulnerable to abuse, violence and trafficking — particularly those who work on the street.

In 2022, those concerns nudged lawmakers to give immunity from prostitution charges to sex workers who report serious crimes to law enforcement.

“I’m honestly shocked,” said Ella West, who lives in Denver and works as an escort. “Just the fact there’s even four legislators that are willing to bring this is huge. I didn’t realize we were doing that well in terms of the perception of sex work. I will say the bill itself looks pretty damn good in its current form.”

If enacted, the bill would make Colorado the only state in America to completely decriminalize the world’s oldest profession.

But it’s not the first state to undertake decriminalization or to reform the criminal provisions related to sex work. Nevada has legalized prostitution in certain counties — though not in the counties that include Las Vegas and Reno — and Maine has removed penalties for sex workers, though not for the clients they serve. That approach, known as the “Nordic model,” has been adopted by several countries, including Canada. Rhode Island decriminalized indoor sex work for nearly 30 years, , before penalties were reinstituted in 2009.

Hinrichsen, West and other advocates said they supported decriminalization over full legalization. Hinrichsen said he was wary of the state establishing an intensive “regulatory regime,” and advocates said a model like Nevada’s still left workers dependent on brothel owners and state oversight of a stigmatized profession.

Decriminalization makes workers safer, West said.

“With legalization, it still gives an avenue to create a really uneven landscape for sex workers, where certain regulatory bodies could come in and implement things that might be rather invasive, or not accounting for the really vulnerable people who may not want to be as outward as others,” said Devynn Dewey, the founding director of Don’t Strip Our Rights, a sex worker advocacy group supporting the bill.

Still, West said she wasn’t optimistic the measure would pass.

The bill will first need to clear the Senate Judiciary Committee, with a hearing likely in the next several weeks. Lawmakers on the committee were still processing the bill late last week, but the committee has generally been less willing to embrace progressive criminal justice measures than its counterpart in the state House.

“It’s certainly one of the toughest bills I’ve ever run, and the odds are steep,” Hinrichsen said.

He said he was talking with his colleagues, some of whom had not yet taken a firm position on the proposal. On Tuesday, the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council formally registered in opposition to the bill, and spokesman Patrick Mueller said in an email that was district attorneys were “unanimously opposed” to the proposal.

The bill quickly drew criticism from conservatives and some Republican lawmakers late last week on social media. Michael Allen, the El Paso County district attorney and a Republican candidate for attorney general in this year’s election, released a statement Friday opposing the bill.

“Coloradans are leaving this state in record numbers because crime is rising and the cost of living is out of control — yet radical Democrats in the legislature are focused on legalizing prostitution,” Allen wrote. “It����ap disgraceful.”

Despite the long odds, West and other supporters said they were pleased that the issue was being discussed at all. They said sex worker reforms were likely to be a long-term project.

“We’re just not used to people giving a (expletive) about our rights, I think that’s the bottom line there. At best, they leave us alone,” West said. “This bill — it posits sex work as a viable way to earn a living, and that����ap just not the attitude I’m used to.”

Feb. 18 update: This story was updated to note that the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council now formally opposes the bill.

would allow pharmacists to prescribe vaccines independently. It would also authorize the state and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to use immunization guidance from medical professional organizations other than a federal advisory committee that been the focus of controversy.

The measure builds on recent changes to state law that incorporate the American Academy of Pediatrics vaccine schedule into state immunization requirements. A law passed last year also requires state-regulated insurance plans to continue covering recommended vaccines, regardless of federal changes that followed its passage.

The bill that cleared the Senate on Thursday does not create new vaccine requirements or change rules around exemptions.

Sen. Kyle Mullica, a Thornton Democrat and emergency room nurse leading the bill, said the measure was explicitly in response to shifting federal policy on vaccines. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long to the broad medical consensus that vaccines are safe and effective.

Shortly after becoming health secretary in President Donald Trump’s administration, Kennedy the 17-member independent vaccine advisory committee. He has since with members who’ve doubted the safety of vaccines. 

Last month, federal health officials under Kennedy also the number of vaccines recommended for children.

“Science matters,” Mullica said. “Polio didn’t just disappear. Smallpox did not just disappear. But right now, in Washington, D.C., we have an HHS secretary who does not believe in that science … This bill is about insulating our state from that dysfunction.”

He highlighted the outbreak that’s centered in South Carolina as one cost of conflicting federal messaging about vaccine safety. In Colorado, there were of measles last year. In most years, the state records two or fewer cases

Mullica sought to cast the measure as apolitical and science-based, even as he assailed Kennedy. In addition to the federal , the bill would allow state agencies to rely on recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American College of Physicians.

Senate Republicans voted unanimously against the bill, which passed 20-12.

In speaking against the bill, several members emphasized that they didn’t doubt the effectiveness of vaccines. But they said they wanted the option for people harmed by vaccines to sue vaccine manufacturers or administrators. The bill expands those protections.

“These conversations about public trust are incredibly important, and conversations that we need to be having in this chamber,” said Sen. Lisa Frizell, a Castle Rock Republican.

The bill now goes to the House for consideration.

would build off Colorado’s 2019 extreme risk protection orders law, which allows family members, law enforcement, health care professionals and educators to petition the courts to require people to surrender their firearms temporarily. A judge must find the person to be a risk to themselves or others.

This bill would expand the list of qualified petitioners to include behavioral health professionals who are co-responders with police or other authorities in emergencies, as well as health care and educational institutions.

The Senate approved the measure on a near-party-line vote, 20-13. Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, of Pueblo, was the only Democrat to vote against the measure. Democrats have nearly a 2-to-1 majority in both chambers of the legislature.

“Extreme risk protection orders save lives. Red flag laws prevent harm,” Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat who supported the bill, said. “These policies, and this bill that we are debating here today, address the public health crisis that is gun violence.”

Republicans warned that the bill would erode Second Amendment rights and due process protections because people could face a red flag petition without having any criminal convictions. Sen. Lynda Zamora Wilson, an Air Force veteran, worried the bill would dissuade gun owners from seeking mental health help because the institution providing it could request that they lose access to their firearms.

If the bill becomes law, it “will inflict unnecessary harm on innocent citizens, waste taxpayer dollars and strain trust in our institutions,” Zamora Wilson, an El Paso County Republican, said.

Sen. Tom Sullivan, a Centennial Democrat and sponsor of the bill, accused opponents of playing “Chicken Little” by constantly warning the sky would fall on gun rights. The original red flag law went into effect six years ago. In that time, officials have gathered ample evidence to show the law hasn’t resulted in widespread confiscation, he said.

In those six years, almost 700 extreme risk protection orders have been requested across the state, according to data collected by the state. Of those, 478 petitions were granted on either a temporary or a long-term basis.

“You don’t have to imagine (what the policy will do). This legislation has been in effect for six years,” Sullivan said. Meanwhile, “people in this state, in my community, are asking us to do more” to prevent gun violence, he added.