Purplish

In 2019, Colorado Democrats had control of both the House and the Senate. That gave them the momentum they needed to push forward an issue that had repeatedly failed in the statehouse under Republicans: a ban on conversion therapy for minors. The law prohibits licensed therapists from trying to change a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Even though some conservatives str...

Last year, Buc-ee’s opened its first Colorado location, an expansive 74,000 square-foot outpost in Weld County filled with beaver-branded merch, brisket sandwiches and sweets. Not too long after that, the company began plans for a second store, landing at a parcel of land about a two-hours drive away in northern El Paso County. But the prospect of a Buc-ee’s arriving on the edge of the small town...

The giant tax-cuts-and-spending package passed by Congressional Republicans will have major ramifications for every state in the country, but Colorado is one of the first place it's really being felt. Thanks to the state's unusual way of handling its finances, the federal tax cuts immediately threw Colorado's finances way out of whack. That was the main reason lawmakers recently came back to the C...

House Republicans sharing locker room jokes about a Democratic colleague's outfit in a group chat. A former Democratic senator charged with a felony for allegedly forging letters of defense in an ethics probe. A representative accused of bullying and harassing women before taking office. Workplace misconduct at the Colorado State Capitol isn’t new. But this year has contained more allegations and...

There’s a secure room in the State Capitol filled with the lost treasures of generations of Coloradans: baseball cards, war medals, even a large yellow diamond ring. Unclaimed property that has come into the custody of the state over the decades.  All told, Colorado holds around $2 billion in unclaimed assets, some physical, but even more in the form of abandoned accounts, uncashed checks and over...

After a lot of back and forth, Republicans in Congress have passed President Trump’s mega tax and spending package, aka the “One, Big Beautiful Bill.”  At almost a thousand pages, the law fulfills a range of Republican campaign promises, from protecting tax cuts to turbo charging immigration enforcement. But many Democrats have called its cuts to programs like Medicaid and food aid 'cruel.' And no...

Voters in Douglas County are deciding whether to become a home rule county. With ballots due June 24, the issue is stirring up a lot of strong feelings, amidst competing claims about what it would mean for this fast-growing part of Colorado.  County commissioners say home rule status would give Douglas County more legal standing to fight back against Democratic policies coming out of the State Cap...

2020 was an extraordinary year for the Colorado legislature. COVID-19 forced lawmakers to break halfway through session. They returned to work in May with a short list of priorities: balance the budget and respond to the pandemic. But almost immediately, the Capitol became the epicenter of protests over the killings of George Floyd and other Black people at the hands of police. The chants of “Blac...

State lawmakers have bid adieu to the Colorado State Capitol — for now. But lots of questions remain. For example, what’s next for Colorado’s controversial artificial intelligence law? What about federal spending cuts? Will state lawmakers have to return to Denver before next January to absorb changes from Washington? And the big question: where is Governor Jared Polis on all of this? After so muc...

State lawmakers took it right down to the wire on some of the biggest issues of the 2025 legislative session, including immigration, artificial intelligence, labor unions, rights for transgender Coloradans and rideshare safety. While some are poised to become law, others crashed and burned in the final stretch. And a few made it over the finish line, but are likely headed to a veto at the hand of...

Lawmakers got behind a bill this session that would have required social media companies like Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram to do more about illegal activity on their platforms.  It was a significant policy change, and it seemed poised for success, passing the legislature with broad bipartisan support in both chambers. But then the bill hit the governor’s desk, where Polis, concerned about its...

From tariffs to immigration, the Department of Government Efficiency, and an avalanche of executive actions and policies, President Donald Trump's first 100 days have been a whirlwind. In a special episode of Purplish, recorded before a live audience at the Buell Public Media Center in Denver, two lawmakers — from different parties, different chambers and different capitols — share their perspecti...

Colorado already has numerous laws in place to protect the rights of immigrants. But as President Donald Trump takes unprecedented steps to carry out his campaign promise of mass deportations, Democratic state lawmakers believe those protections might no longer be enough. They’ve introduced an immigration bill that expands and hones numerous policies in direct response to the White House’s crackdo...

At a time when the federal government is rolling back rights and recognition for transgender Americans, Colorado is moving to expand its protections in a number of areas, including medical care, harassment, death certificates and more.  Democratic state lawmakers and proponents say they want to ensure certain rights for the state’s transgender community get the protection of law. But opponents, in...

American politics are in a moment of major upheaval: a Republican president and GOP-controlled Congress are reshaping the federal government and expanding the limits of executive power. At the same time, federal Democrats are struggling with how to win back voters who feel their party has failed to deliver.  And even as Republicans have this moment on the national stage, Colorado’s GOP party is tr...

A variety of factors have strained the state’s finances as of late, and that meant state lawmakers had to find more than a billion dollars in savings in order to balance the state budget this session. Many legislators described the process as painful, with big-ticket items up for cuts, including Medicaid and K-12 education. And the hand wringing over the toughest decisions, in the end, led to dela...

Cities of a certain size in Colorado have to allow more density, because of a suite of new state development mandates. But several cities, like Westminster, Colorado Springs and Arvada, are pushing back. In some cases, they have said, flat out, that they do not intend to comply with some of the laws. Historically, local governments in Colorado and across the nation have had domain over the rules t...

Colorado lawmakers are just past the halfway point of this year’s legislative session. That means it’s crunch time, with plenty of big, controversial bills still in play on guns, labor, housing and other topics. And on top of all that — the biggest task before lawmakers is finding more than $1 billion in budget savings in order to keep state spending in balance. It’s been a busy few months at the...

As of late February, 1,407 people in Colorado are waiting for DNA results from their sexual assault cases -- some of them for more than a year. Without those results, criminal investigations can stall out and victims are left in a difficult state of limbo. Colorado lawmakers have taken up the issue this legislative session — and one of their own is a part of this backlog. CPR’s Bente Birkeland and...

A lot of Colorado lawmakers got their foot in the door at the statehouse not through the ballot box, but through a side door, a vacancy committee. State lawmakers leave office early for all sorts of reasons — some get new jobs or retire, occasionally people resign amidst scandal. This session, roughly 25% landed their House and Senate jobs that way. But in recent years, there’s been grumbling abou...

Nearly a third of Colorado's 65 House members are new to the statehouse this year. They come from all walks of life and bring a variety of experiences to their new jobs, which, in the end, will likely shape the policy proposals they bring to the chamber floor. It’s a demanding job, with a steep learning curve. On this episode, CPR’s Bente Birkeland and KUNC’s Lucas Brady Woods introduce us to two...

Here's a mystery: Colorado's economy is healthy. It's unemployment rate is low and its tax collections are healthy. So why are lawmakers looking at a recession-sized budget gap? And just as importantly: where are they going to find the savings to close it? CPR's Bente Birkeland and The Colorado Sun's Brian Eason explore the colliding circumstances that got Colorado into this situation, and talk ab...

Democratic lawmakers say they're getting serious about enforcing Colorado's ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines. But their solution would take a wide range of firearms off the shelves of gun stores statewide, including some of the most popular varieties of semi-automatics. Past efforts to ban so-called assault rifles have failed, but this year's bill debuted with an unprecedented level of su...

Colorado was once the scene of guerilla warfare over labor organizing. This year's fight at the State Capitol isn't as bloody, but it could have far-reaching consequences for Colorado workers. At issue is an 1943 law that makes it harder for workplaces to fully unionize. The last attempt to repeal it died in a surprise veto from a Democratic governor. Is this year's effort headed for the same fate...

Before they can get to the fun stuff -- passing laws and debating policy -- Colorado's legislators spend the start of each session sitting through hours (and hours, and hours) of presentations from all the departments and agencies they oversee, going into exhaustive detail on the work they do.  A lot of times, these hearings are long on slide decks and short on answers. but lawmakers say, when don...