Latino GOP group calls foul on Kopp opposition to immigrant in-state tuition bill

Senator Minority Leader Mike Kopp is leading opposition to the so-called Asset legislation that would grant in-state university tuition to students who have attended at least three years of high school in Colorado but who are neither U.S. citizens nor legal residents of the country. The Littleton Republican wrote an op-ed for the Pueblo Chieftan last week making a case that drew fire from conservative Latino group Somos Republicans. In a release Friday, the group said Kopp was demonizing Colorado youth with preposterous arguments based on shoddy research.

Study says Affordable Care Act will have huge positive impact on Colorado

Colorado House Republicans Tuesday introduced a bill to enable Colorado to opt out of participation in the Affordable Care Act. The bill would cause Colorado to join in an interstate compact with several other states that do not want to participate in the federal health care plan.

Senate Republicans knock Heath on tax increases

As State Senator Rollie Heath calls on Colorado voters to raise taxes in order to better fund education, his friends across the aisle today offered praise to Governor John Hickenlooper for agreeing that now is no time to raise taxes.

FASTER feuding still festers as lawmakers search for short-term solutions to gridlock

While the battle over controversial FASTER vehicle registration fees rages on in the state House, Rep. Millie Hamner, D-Dillon – whose legislative predecessors made a priority of transportation funding – is pushing hard to find solutions for the growing gridlock along the Interstate 70 corridor.

State budget number still up in the air as legislators refuse to compromise

The Senate pulled the plug on the struggling HJR 1007, leaving the General Assembly out of compliance with state law and the Joint Budget Committee with no consensus revenue projection by which to budget.

Giron, Johnston roll out ASSET bill to provide in-state tuition to undocumented students

State Sens. Michael Johnston, D-Denver, and Angela Giron, D-Pueblo, on Wednesday introduced a bill that would allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at Colorado colleges and universities. Dubbed ASSET (Advancing Students for a Stronger Economy Tomorrow), the legislation is similar to a failed 2009 bill. Eleven other states have similar laws on the books, including nearby and neighboring Utah, Nebraska and Texas.

Kopp lauds White selection, blasts Golumbek

Senate Minority Leader Mike Kopp Monday issued a statement of support for Jean White, the wife of state Sen. Al White, R-Hayden, after she was named to fill his seat by a Republican vacancy committee in Craig. Al White is stepping down to serve as head of the Colorado Tourism Office for the administration of governor-elect John Hickenlooper.

Sen. Kopp relishes FASTER’s slow start in funding crumbling bridge repair

In an e-Alert Thursday from coloradosenatenews.com — a blast from the Republican state Senate minority — Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, gushed about the lack of progress on fixing 125 bridges around the state deemed structurally deficient by the Colorado…

State Sen. Mike Kopp on payroll of climate-change-questioning IREA electric co-op

As lawmakers once again try to put the heat on the state’s largest rural electric co-op this legislative session, at least one state senator will be in the Intermountain Rural Electric Association’s corner, even though he may have to…

A gag-rule chronicle or notes from the Senate-floor filibuster

At roughly 10:30 p.m., in the waning minutes of the all-day Republican filibuster against Colorado budget reform bill SB 228, Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, threw an elbow.

The Democratic majority wouldn’t budge or break. After 10 hours, partisans on either side of the floor had clearly read into the record all the campaign trail fodder that could be transcribed. They were tired and getting sloppy.