Colorado
Colorado Democrats spar over legislation as party seeks direction in Trump era
In late February, the second-ranking Democrat in the Colorado House sat before a group of her colleagues and prepared to do something she had rarely done: voluntarily kill one of her own bills.
House Bill 1020 would have put initial regulations on earned-wage services — companies that let employees access part of their paychecks early in exchange for a fee. Majority Leader Monica Duran and her co-sponsor, Denver Democratic Rep. Sean Camacho, had pitched the measure as a way to put guardrails on a financial product vital for lower-income people in a financial bind.
But Democratic critics alleged it was an attempt by financial companies, who were backing it, to draft their own regulations, and those legislators argued that the service was just a different kind of payday loan. After the bill passed its first committee, progressive Democratic lawmakers worked with a liberal think-tank, the Bell Policy Center, to draft amendments that would have imposed tighter regulations on the services.
Duran and Camacho — who denied the services were a loan — were open to the changes. But Duran said that as she reviewed the amendments, she felt the bill had slipped away from the one she’d introduced. The industry groups supporting the bill balked, and one formally filed to oppose it.
So when the bill came up for a vote, Duran and Camacho voluntarily — and acrimoniously — killed it.
House Bill 1020 was not the first business-friendly bill to be decried as anti-worker, and it hasn’t been the last to be scuttled by other Democratic lawmakers. Another — to help struggling restaurants by clipping tipped workers’ minimum wage — has been delayed until later this month because of that opposition. A third — a draft proposal to audit recent environmental, labor and health care regulations — is undergoing a full rewrite amid backlash from both Democratic lawmakers and the union and environmental groups allied with them. Its sponsors say the idea may be tabled altogether.
It’s not unusual for House Democrats — whose 43 members span the left-of-center spectrum — to disagree on policy, even to the point of semi-public conflict. Nor are the contested bills unique or particularly startling. Lawmakers of both parties often run legislation in coordination with businesses or trade groups, and this year’s bills, sponsors contend, set out to address real problems: a sagging restaurant industry, a popular but unregulated financial service, and debates over the state’s regulatory framework.
“Doing the right thing matters. How we show up to this building matters,” Duran told colleagues on the House’s Finance Committee before asking that they vote to table it. She defended the legislation as pro-worker: “This bill was for working people, to support working people, and as a fierce advocate for working families, I know firsthand how supportive this bill would have been. It is frustrating when misinformation is spread saying this bill is anti-worker.”
But the debate swirling around the direction of the Democratic Party and the chaotic uncertainty springing from the Trump administration have elevated opposition from more liberal members of the party. While some lawmakers have worked to legislate this year like any other, others have sought to close ranks and defend what they see as Democratic priorities in a tumultuous political environment, both for the party and the country.
That tone was set, in part, two weeks after the election, when Democratic lawmakers gathered in the Capitol to unveil pro-labor reforms. Near the end of their news conference, one of the bill’s sponsors called out, “Which side are you on, Democratic Party?”
“We are facing a reckoning of what type of party we want to be,” said Rep. Yara Zokaie, a Fort Collins freshman who opposed both the tipped-wage measure and Duran’s paycheck bill. “I also think that everybody wants to represent their own districts to the best of their ability. I ran on standing up for workers.”
Trying to help struggling restaurants
The debate around all three bills has been heated. During testimony Monday night, Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis said that it was “appalling” that Democrats were proposing to cut the tipped minimum wage while “the federal government is in chaos.”
Rep. Alex Valdez, a Denver Democrat backing the tipped wage bill, said the rhetoric surrounding it has been “vile,” referring to crude flyers depicting another lawmaker and negative reviews left for restaurants whose owners had testified in support of the bill.
The measure — which now faces a critical and potentially fatal vote in mid-March — is intended to help struggling restaurants reeling from high costs. As written now, it would lower the specific minimum wage paid to workers who also received tips in Denver and elsewhere that exceed the state minimum.
Another sign of the tricky political dynamics: It’s backed by Denver Mayor Mike Johnston but opposed by Lewis and other City Council members, as well as lawmakers from both parties who disparage it as a pay cut and a violation of cities’ ability to set their own wage laws.
Valdez said lawmakers’ desire to respond to actions and posturing from the Trump administration had further strained an already difficult debate, which he said fundamentally turned on helping restaurants stay afloat.
“I think that’s where we see an exacerbation by the Trump administration. It’s just, ‘What can I do?’ But that isn’t always the best way to do things,” he said. “I think at least with the tipped wage (bill) — this is the culmination of a five-year process. We didn’t catch this overnight. It’s five years of conversation, and we’re still having it.”
But for other lawmakers, debate in the legislature is a statement on the uncertainty from Washington, D.C., and internal arguments over how the Democratic Party reacts to its November losses.
“I do think we are trying to figure ourselves out in this moment. Are we a party for working people or not?” said Rep. Javier Mabrey, a Denver Democrat and among the more left-wing legislators.
Even though he and labor unions are pushing a contentious effort to reform the state’s labor law, Mabrey said he felt that “labor groups, progressive advocacy groups, consumer rights’ groups are playing defense this year in a way that they did not have to play defense in my first two years.”
“It is not a DOGE bill”
The audit proposal — to have the state auditor review 10 years’ worth of environmental, labor and health regulations — fits into that feeling of defensiveness because it’s backed by business groups, legislative leadership and Gov. Jared Polis. When details of the audit bill were revealed last month, several Democrats responded with a profane, three-word response.
That reaction — further fueled by fears of deregulation at a federal level — has helped put the brakes on the proposal. Speaker Julie McCluskie, a Dillon Democrat sponsoring it, said Wednesday that the idea was about promoting good governance. But it’s now being reworked fundamentally, and it may not come at all this year, she said.
Some Democratic lawmakers had taken to calling the proposal the “DOGE bill,” referring to billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency,” which has set about dismantling a succession of federal agencies in recent weeks.
“To be frank, we had not had enough of an initial conversation before we released the draft,” McCluskie said. “In large part because of what’s happening with the Trump administration … I think people are drawing a parallel there that is not the same. I would push back. We are trying to just, again, focus on good governance.”
“It is not a DOGE bill,” she added, emphatically.
McCluskie argued that the party can find a path forward that helps both workers and businesses. While Colorado Democrats largely held serve in November, the party’s national losses were “a moment for all of us to recognize that a lot of folks are unhappy,” the speaker said.
“I would lift up that we also have to think about the entire … ecosystem: businesses, workers, consumers, right?” she said. “You have to think about that globally, and I have always believed you can be pro-business and pro-worker at the same time.”
Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter, The Spot.
The Front Range Passenger Rail District is rallying support from the cities where the future rail line will operate. Denver City Council got on board with a proclamation made Monday at its regular meeting. Denver is the latest of nearly a dozen municipalities to publicly express its support for the railway.
Councilman Darrell Watson sponsored the proclamation that received unanimous support.
“Right now, we’re dealing with forest fires throughout the state,” Watson said. “That air that’s coming in, having a cleaner approach to transit is important, and the Front Range Rail provides that.”
The proclamation also supports the creation of two additional “special events” stops that are south of Union Station and therefore would need voter approval.
“One is on South Broadway and I-25 for the new Denver Summit stadium, as well as Burnham Yard for the new Denver Broncos stadium,” explained Sal Pace, the Front Range Passenger Rail District’s general manager.
For Pace, the support is another step in the right direction for future expansion.
“We’re asking the local municipalities to agree with the station locations and the placement of stations across the district,” Pace said. “That way if we refer a ballot question, that it’s done in alignment with the local municipalities, such as here in Denver.”
But city support also brings monetary gains.
“Because of its population, Denver will be receiving $225 million in local return Pace explained. “And for passing this proclamation, they’ve just qualified themselves for an additional $22.5 million in local return dollars,” he said. “That money will be coming from any future tax revenue that a district is collecting.”
“This is a unique opportunity, not just for Denver, but for anyone that loves rail and anyone that lives in the Front Range,” Watson added.
The first phase of the railway that the Colorado Connector (CoCo) will make trips on goes from Denver up to Boulder, on to Fort Collins. That phase is already funded and is expected to begin service in 2029. The Rail’s board will have a meeting in August on a possible ballot measure for this November. Voters from Fort Collins down to Trinidad would vote on the tax measure to support future expansion if placed on the ballot.
How ESPN projects the rebuilt Pac-12
ESPN names Boise State favorite in rebuilt Pac-12; San Diego State, Fresno State, WSU and Texas State close behind.
Happy college football prediction month!
July is when preseason projections hit for the upcoming season.
The Colorado State football team is approaching the first preseason camp under new coach Jim Mora, which brings hopes of a new beginning after the Rams went 2-10 in 2025.
Here’s a look at how some of the national outlets project the Rams to fare in 2026:
Athlon Sports
The national college football magazine projection for 2026 picks CSU to finish seventh in the eight-team league.
Tight end Juice Vereen is the only Ram Athlon projects to be first-team all-conference. The magazine also lists Vereen as its No. 10 in the top transfers section.
Oklahoma State transfer Hauss Hejny is the No. 3 player in Athlon’s top transfers, with the magazine saying, “Hejny is a former blue-chip recruit who showed promise for the Cowboys.”
The magazine projects Boise State to beat San Diego State in the Pac-12 title game. It does not project a bowl appearance for CSU.
Phil Steele
Steele has one of the most well-known college football preview magazines. He also projects CSU seventh ahead of only Oregon State in the Pac-12.
Steele on the QB room, led by Hejny and UConn transfer K’saan Farrar: “Despite the inexperience, this unit should top last year’s stats.”
Mora will “have to work his magic” in the offensive line room, Steele says, due to just eight career starts within the group. On the defensive line, Steele says that unit is the strength of the team “with great depth.”
Steele says Mora will “craft a run-oriented offense as (tight end) is the strength” and that the offense should “top last year’s numbers by over a TD per game.”
Overall, Steele says CSU is “stronger on both sides of the ball” and that the Rams are improved and “will win more games but it looks like a rebuilding year. Can Mora work another miracle?”
Betting odds
Some early win total betting lines for CSU include BetMGM with an over/under line of 3.5 wins for the Rams and FanDuel listing CSU with a line of 4.5 wins.
ESPN
ESPN’s FPI computer model has the Rams last in the Pac-12 with a win-loss projection of 3.6 wins and 7.5 losses. Basically, that means ESPN’s model projects between three and four regular season wins for CSU.
How do these rankings compare to a year ago?
Offseason projections get trickier every year in this era of college football with immense roster changes each season. That’s especially true in the case of CSU ahead of the 2026 season, where a new head coach means about a 75% roster turnover.
So, projections are to be taken with caution. A look at the picks from a year ago show why.
- Athlon: Projected CSU fifth in the Mountain West, to play for a bowl and that QB Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi “should compete for All-Mountain West honors.”
- Steele: Projected CSU fifth in the MW as well.
- Betting odds: Projected CSU to win six or seven regular season games.
- ESPN: Projected CSU to win six or seven games.
- Reality: In the end, CSU went 2-10, finished last in the MW, Fowler-Nicolosi was benched and eventually left the team, and coach Jay Norvell was fired.
Sports reporter Kevin Lytle can be found on social media on X, Instagram and Threads @Kevin_Lytle and on Bluesky.
Colorado’s housing market wrapped up the spring season with more inventory than in previous years, setting up an active summer for buyers — even as economic and political uncertainty continues to drive up prices.
Colorado continued its momentum toward a “balanced and sustainable environment” in May, according to a Colorado Association of Realtors’ market trends report released in June.
Demand remained steady statewide, but buyers gained more choices thanks to higher overall inventory. New listings dropped nearly 14% in May compared to the same month last year, but pending sales increased 7%. This indicates spring buyers were more active than they were in 2025 despite affordability challenges.
“Summer visitors are beginning to arrive, and buyers and sellers are testing the waters for what many expect to be a busy season,” said Dana Cottrell, president of the Altitude Realtors Association, in the report.
Median and average sales prices rose across the state, up 2.7% and 3.3%, respectively, for the month. The median sales price for single-family homes sat at $565,000 — up $15,000 year over year — and $400,000 for condos and townhomes, which saw a modest 1.7% drop. Sellers are, for the most part, receiving close to 99% of a home’s list price, down a feeble -0.1% year over year.
Accompanying May’s higher prices was an increase in the average time a home spent on the market, jumping to 56 days from 53 in 2025.
Although sales were down slightly across the state, inventory remains significantly healthier than the historically low levels of recent years, with 4.3 months of supply statewide.
A balanced real estate market is traditionally indicated by four to six months of supply, measuring the time it would take to sell the current inventory of homes at the existing pace of sales. Anything less than four months would be a seller’s market (demand outpaces supply), while anything more than six would benefit buyers (supply outpaces demand).
While a useful indicator, it can often be unreliable on its own for determining market health in rural Colorado counties due to low sales volume and fragmented property types. Months supply is often over the six-month threshold in ski towns because homes take longer to sell, and don’t automatically point to a buyer’s market.
Rural counties on the Western Slope recorded a larger supply of homes in May for the most part — ranging from 5.5 months supply in Summit County for single-family homes to 10.5 and 8.4 months supply in Pitkin and Grand counties, respectively, according to May 2026 data from the Colorado Association of Realtors.
“Sellers are facing more competition and must price strategically, while buyers see benefit from selection and negotiating power,” the report states. “Overall, the market reflects normalization, with stable pricing, improving affordability and steady buyer activity providing a more sustainable housing environment across the state.”
On the Western Slope, higher inventory brings more negotiation power for buyers, who are becoming more active compared to this time last year. Many buyers are still moving forward despite the combination of rising prices, rising mortgage rates and economic uncertainty.
Western Slope counties see rise in buyer activity
Similar to statewide trends, some mountain towns in Colorado’s western rural counties are seeing higher inventory compared to past years, offering more options for potential buyers.
Grand County, for example, saw sidelined buyers begin re-entering the market after a year of waiting for opportunities to improve, according to Monica Graves, a realtor in the area. These buyers returned to the market with more negotiating power than they’ve had during the last few years.
Sellers in Grand County, on the other hand, are facing increasing competition. As more housing projects pop up around mountain towns, buyers have more inventory to choose from compared to recent spring and summer seasons. The result is steadying demand and a return to a balanced mountain real estate market, according to the Colorado Association of Realtors report.
“May 2026 felt like the market finally woke up from winter,” Graves said in the report. “Resort buyers are still attracted to the area’s year-round recreation and proximity to Denver, but they are taking longer to make decisions.”
Steamboat Springs saw a similar trend in May, with higher year-over-year inventory despite entering 2026 with fewer new listings across all property types. Single-family inventory was down 4.5% and multi-family inventory was down 21.9% compared to last year, the report states.
Sales for single-family homes were stronger to end the spring season, but homes took longer to sell, averaging 90 days on the market year-to-date.
Summit County’s spring inventory also remained above the “extremely limited levels” seen during the pandemic years, according to Cottrell, giving buyers more options and negotiating power. Single-family home sales were up 27% with a 20% bump in listings in May 2026 compared to 2025, while multi-family homes saw a 32% drop in sales and a 15% decline in new listings.
Listings were mostly down for counties across other parts of the north-central mountains, with Eagle, Garfield and Pitkin counties seeing fewer new listings for single-family homes. All except Pitkin County saw a rise in inventory compared to last May, accompanied by a lengthening of days on market to over 100 days. Pitkin County properties spent the longest on the market before selling, rising 10% to 228 days, according to data from the Colorado Association of Realtors.
Interest is high, but what about pricing?
Whether Western Slope counties saw housing prices rise or drop varied significantly from town to town. However, more expensive price tags don’t seem to be slowing buyers down heading into the summer selling season — for now.
The median price for single-family homes dropped to $965,000 in Grand County from $990,000, while the median list price in Winter Park hit $1.2 million.
“Well-priced properties moved, while homes that missed the mark on pricing tended to sit longer,” Graves said. Homes in Winter Park averaged around 51 days on market in May — lower than the statewide average — while those in Granby averaged 78 days despite significantly lower pricing. Graves added that, in places like Granby, homes offering updated finishes, views or short-term rental potential generated the strongest interest.
Prices across Summit County went up compared to last spring. The average price for single-family homes rose 6% to $2.68 million in May 2026, while multi-family home prices saw a larger 19% jump, hitting $1.07 million.
The most expensive home sold in the county was a $13 million home in Breckenridge. This continued strength in pricing demonstrates that demand for mountain living remains firmly intact, with many buyers still moving forward despite economic uncertainty, Cottrell said.
In Steamboat Springs, multi-family homes — which matched last year’s May closings at 26 — saw median and average sales prices increase to $1.96 million and $2.24 million, respectively. Across Routt County, median sales prices jumped 62% for single-family homes and 156% for townhomes and condos, more than doubling from their May 2025 median price of $640,000 to hit $1.64 million.
Across Eagle, Garfield and Pitkin counties, changes in pricing differed by property type. All three counties recorded a drop in the median sales price for single-family homes, with the greatest drop coming from Pitkin County: 58.5% for a median price of $5.5 million in May 2026. The average sales price also dropped from $12.9 to $12.6 million, while townhomes and condos saw a 50% increase in average sales price, bumping up the cost from $2.99 million to $4.5 million.
Could rising mortgage rates scare away potential buyers?
A major market element that could influence buyer activity heading deeper into the summer season is rising mortgage rates.
In February, Western Slope housing markets were reporting an uptick in buyer inquiries due to sinking mortgage rates. Rates had trended downward throughout the first few months of 2026, after home loan rates hit their lowest point in three years in early January.
As of July 2, 30-year mortgage rates have climbed to 6.51%, reversing what had once improved the sentiments of buyers who had been sidelined by affordability concerns.
Rates began increasing following the start of the war in Iran and the closing of the Strait of Hormuz. Rising inflation has only further elevated mortgage rates, though they’ve managed to remain below the 7% reached in early 2025, according to reporting by the Wall Street Journal.
With recent rate fluctuations, it remains to be seen whether rates will dampen buyer enthusiasm during Colorado’s peak season for buyers.
-
Lifestyle5 minutes agoWhy your favorite international artist might be reconsidering their next U.S. tour
-
Technology17 minutes agoNintendo’s Switch 2 bundle that includes a game is $50 off
-
World23 minutes agoInside Israel’s mission to train civilians to stop the next Oct 7-like terror attack
-
Politics29 minutes agoTrump reveals who he’s eyeing to replace Lindsey Graham
-
Health35 minutes agoNotable figures who died from the same heart condition linked to Lindsey Graham’s death
-
Sports41 minutes agoFolarin Balogun admits that red-card reversal affected USA World Cup teammates: ‘A lot of outside noise’
-
Technology47 minutes agoHumanoid robots perform live surgery in world first
-
Business53 minutes agoA ‘next generation studio’ for YouTube creators
