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• Senate shoots down tougher gun legislation

  April 17, 2013 11:53 PM

  Supporters and opponents of tougher gun legislation have been keeping close tabs on Washington. Anticipating tougher gun laws were on the way, business has been booming at local gun shops across Colorado. Many gun stores sold out of assault weapons weeks ago with widespread panic that a ban was... more »

• School funding overhaul passes education committee

  April 16, 2013 4:48 AM

  An ambitious overhaul to how Colorado handles school funding has advanced another step in the state legislature. The House Education Committee voted seven to six late Monday for a sweeping overhaul. It addresses years of unequal pupil funding and a school-finance system that doesn't accommodate education reforms made in recent... more »

• President Obama heads to Connecticut today

  April 8, 2013 3:38 AM

  President Obama heads to Hartford, Connecticut today to push for new, stricter gun control legislation. He will visit the campus of the University of Hartford. The president is expected to call on the American people to join him in pressuring Congress to approve measures in reducing gun violence. The visit... more »

• Obama will make a stop in Denver today

  April 3, 2013 3:52 AM

  It's a trip to Colorado to continue his push for federal gun control legislation. President Obama will speak today at the Denver Police Academy. The academy is not far from the site of the mass shooting at an Aurora theater. The state has recently passed legislation aimed at curbing gun... more »

• Neb. lawmaker introduces firearm legislation

  January 14, 2013 12:10 PM

  LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska lawmakers will debate new gun restrictions for juveniles this year in the wake of a recent mass killing at a Connecticut elementary school and with memories still fresh of shootings at an Omaha department store and school. Omaha Sen. Brad Ashford introduced two bills this... more »

• Caylee's Law faces tough road to passage

  February 23, 2012 3:20 AM

  DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Lawmakers under pressure from constituents in the months after the Casey Anthony trial have found it's not easy to toughen penalties for parents who don't immediately report missing children. Seventeen states tried to pass "Caylee's Law" legislation - named after Anthony's 2-year-old daughter whose... more »

• Drilling advances prompt talk of new CO law

  January 21, 2012 11:11 AM

  DENVER (AP) - New technology is putting oil and gas drills closer to populated areas in Colorado. And it's raising tension in Colorado over who regulates where drilling can be done. Horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing and other advances are allowing energy companies to drill in more populated areas. As a... more »

• Romney urges Obama to stop looming military cuts

  November 20, 2011 5:08 PM

  NASHUA, N.H. (AP) - Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney is calling on President Obama to block looming military cuts. The former Massachusetts governor tells supporters in New Hampshire that the deficit-cutting supercommittee in Congress probably won't come up with a deal before its Wednesday deadline. That would trigger billions of... more »

• Hickenlooper to sign bills in Colorado Springs & Pueblo

  June 5, 2011 11:22 AM

  Governor John Hickenlooper will sign a handful of bills in Colorado Springs and Pueblo this week. The governor will be in Colorado Springs on Tuesday afternoon to sign four new laws. The signing ceremony for HB 1032, the "Restorative Justice" legislation sponsored by Rep. Pete Lee and Sen. Linda... more »

• Legislation reintroduced for possible federal wilderness area

  April 23, 2011 2:16 PM

  DENVER (AP) - Colorado congressman Jared Polis plans to reintroduce legislation designating land in Eagle and Summit counties as federal wilderness. The Democrat announced his plans yesterday - Earth Day - during a news conference at the state Capitol in Denver. He sponsored a similar bill last year that died... more »

• Colorado bill seeks to limit solitary confinement

  March 13, 2011 3:55 PM

  DENVER (AP) - Two Colorado Democratic lawmakers want to limit the number of mentally ill inmates who are placed in solitary confinement. State Sen. Morgan Carroll and Rep. Claire Levy say their bill is needed to lower the recidivism rate for inmates with mental health problems who are placed... more »

• Congress sends Obama sweeping Wall Street bill

  July 15, 2010 2:56 PM

  Congress is sending legislation to President Barack Obama imposing sweeping new regulations on Wall Street and creating new protections for millions of consumers. The Senate passed the massive overhaul Thursday, nearly two years after a financial crisis knocked the economy to its knees. more »

• President talks immigration reform

  July 1, 2010 1:14 PM

  WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says America's borders are "just too vast" for the immigration problem to be solved with fences and border patrols alone. He said that a comprehensive solution is needed, instead, urging one that holds everyone accountable, from illegal immigrants to the businesses that hire... more »

• Ritter signs 30 pieces of legislation

  May 27, 2010 5:25 PM

  DENVER (AP) - Gov. Bill Ritter has signed 30 pieces of legislation, including a bill that reduces the penalty for late registrations of trailers. House Bill 1211, sponsored by Rep. Max Tyler, reduces the late fee to a flat $10 for small non-motorized vehicles up to 2,000 pounds. ... more »

• Congress to vote on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

  May 27, 2010 8:21 AM

  Congress is headed toward landmark votes on whether to allow gays to serve openly in the military. The House is expected to vote as early as today on a proposal by a Pennsylvania Democrat and Iraq war veteran, Congressman Patrick Murphy, that would repeal the 1993 law known as... more »

• Child welfare legislation to become law

  May 14, 2010 9:56 AM

  Gov. Bill Ritter is signing a package of bills lawmakers say will strengthen child welfare services in Colorado. The bills being signed Friday include creating a the position of a child protection ombudsman to review complaints following a state investigation into the deaths of 13 children whose families had... more »

• Teacher tenure bill appears likely to pass

  May 12, 2010 8:22 AM

  A proposal to change the way teachers earn and keep tenure appears likely to pass before lawmakers adjourn for the year. The bill passed an initial vote in the House late Tuesday by a vote of 36-29. It came about 45 minutes before the midnight deadline to keep the... more »

• Horse slaughter legislation a hot topic

  May 6, 2010 7:51 PM

  Horse slaughter... Bring it up around horse people and an argument is sure to start, but the issue has long left arenas and stables and is now an issue in many state legislatures and even Congress. It usually boils down to a cruelty versus commerce stance. Many claim the... more »

• More bikes on the roads

  April 10, 2010 11:27 PM

  Recently a national cycling magazine named Colorado Springs the 18th most bike friendly city in the US. But it doesn't mean drivers are always so friendly on the roads. Many cyclists like John Crandall have to deal with angry drivers. "It's very easy with a 4 thousand pound vehicle to... more »

• Obama to sign student loan legislation

  March 30, 2010 10:11 AM

  President Barack Obama is preparing to sign the piece of his sweeping health care overhaul that makes the government the primary lender to students seeking loans and strips banks of that power. Obama plans on Tuesday to visit a northern Virginia community college, where he will sign the legislation. He... more »

• How will health care reform impact hospitals?

  March 26, 2010 11:52 AM

  Today I'm working on a story about how the new federal health care legislation will impact hospitals. In 2014, a mandate will kick in, requiring every American be insured. Right now, hospitals spend millions of dollars a year treating people who don't have insurance. For example, St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center... more »

• Colorado lawmakers to review campaign finance

  March 24, 2010 12:05 PM

  Colorado Secretary of State Bernie Buescher says state lawmakers will have to fix several state laws on campaign finance. He says the changes are required by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that businesses and unions should be allowed to directly spend unlimited amounts of money to produce and run... more »

• House takes up bill on infrastructure, tax cuts

  March 24, 2010 12:00 PM

  The House is expected to send another jobs bill to the Senate today, and it could mean billions of dollars in new construction projects for local governments. It's the latest in a series of election-year jobs bills Democrats are pushing in Congress as unemployment hovers near 10 percent. ... more »

• Colorado effort to block health care overhaul

  March 22, 2010 5:07 PM

  Opponents of federal health care legislation want Colorado voters to block it at the polls. A proposed ballot measure would bar the state from enforcing the legislation, including a provision that would require most people to buy insurance. Meanwhile, some Republican lawmakers want Attorney General John Suthers to join... more »

• Senate rejects summer jobs program

  March 9, 2010 1:06 PM

  As the Senate prepares to vote on extending unemployment insurance for the long-term jobless, it has rejected a summer jobs program for youth. Republicans were unanimously opposed to the $1.3 billion program and several Democrats joined them. Next on today's agenda: a procedural vote on the jobless bill.... more »

• Jobs legislation nears House passage

  March 4, 2010 8:30 AM

  The House is poised to pass a jobs bill - one that calls for a mix of highway funding and tax breaks for companies that hire unemployed workers. Some Democrats, especially those who represent minority districts, feel the Senate version of the jobs bill is too small. But... more »

• Senator Bunning relents on "pay as you go"

  March 2, 2010 7:19 PM

  A senator who had been single-handedly holding up stopgap legislation to extend help for the jobless and keep federal highway dollars flowing has finally relented. A spokesman for Sen. Jim Bunning says the Kentucky Republican will permit a vote Tuesday evening on the measure. That means hundreds of thousands... more »

• Senate backs change in foreclosure sale law

  March 1, 2010 5:57 PM

  The Colorado Senate is moving to stop what some lawmakers say is a manipulation of foreclosure sales that's depressing home values. Junior lien holders, such as homeowners associations, can try to collect money owed by foreclosed homeowners. They also have the right to buy a property after it is... more »

• Colorado brewers worried over house bills

  February 21, 2010 4:46 PM

  Beer brewers from all over Colorado converged on Colorado Springs Saturday of the annual Firkin Rendezvous at Bristol Brewery. In a growing industry they would usually be celebrating another year of prosperity. But this year they say state House Bills 1186 & 1279 threaten their very being. The bills would... more »

• Colorado Senator favors reconciliation on health care

  February 16, 2010 7:37 PM

  Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) has written a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, asking him to push forward with health care reform legislation using budget reconciliation rules. "Too many people in Washington believe that just saying you are for health care reform is a substitute for actually getting... more »

• Lawmakers consider rolling back late fees

  January 28, 2010 9:52 AM

  Colorado lawmakers are considering scaling back late vehicle registration fees passed last year. Three proposals have been introduced in the Senate so far. Two would get rid of the new $25 a month late fee and replace it with a $10 fee that could be waived by county... more »