News

Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, welcomed the second session of the 67th General Assembly with cautious optimism that there could be bipartisan reforms achieved this year.

A Democrat "economic development" proposal that would mandate the expenditure of taxpayer dollars for “public art” as part of every capital construction projects has Republicans scratching their heads.

As the Colorado state employee union released a report attempting to cast government workers as “stressed to the limit,” several recent news pieces have painted a very different picture.

The Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling that it is illegal to use tax returns to identify and prosecute illegal immigrants, has some Republican Senators deeply concerned the decision actually provides protection for illegal immigrants committing identity theft. 

According to The Denver Post, a raid on Amalia’s Tax and Translation, a business that caters to Spanish-speaking clients, led to the seizure and review of 4,900 tax returns, of which 1,300 were suspects in identity-theft and criminal-impersonation cases.  More than 100 suspected illegal immigrants were arrested.

The November 2008 operation was a joint effort by the Weld District Attorney's Office and Weld County Sheriff's Office to catch identity theft suspects through their tax records.  Monday’s 4-3 decision ruled in favor of the defendant, Ramon Gutierrez, who was among more than 70 people charged with criminal impersonation, saying that as a taxpayer he “has a reasonable expectation of privacy in his or her tax returns and return information, even when that information is in the custody of a tax preparer.”