Serving the community since 1903
WEEK OF NOVEMBER 21, 2024
VOLUME 121 | ISSUE 47
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FLOWERS FOR VETERANS
Adams County Veterans Memorial gets weekend-long decoration P6
Polis offers slimmer state budget for 2025-26 Governor’s proposed Colorado budget cuts personnel funding to prepare for tighter spending BY LINDSEY TOOMER COLORADO NEWSLINE
“It’s been the honor of a lifetime to serve the people of Colorado’s 8th district. I came to Congress to get things done and have spent the last two years working to find common ground and bipartisan solutions to the most pressing issues facing our community,” Caraveo said in a statement from her campaign.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has released his 2025-2026 state budget proposal, which prepares for tighter spending given decreasing inflation this year. Colorado’s budget growth is tied to inflation and population growth under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. While inflation peaked around 8% in 2022 and hit 5% last year, an inflation rate of 2.5% in 2024 means the state’s budget increase this year is smaller than in the last two years. “A lot of what we did this budget is we really tried to drive government efficiency everywhere and anywhere we could find it,” Polis said. “We challenged our agencies, we went out and we found things that we could cut to make government more efficient.” The budget proposal comes out to over $46 billion with about $17.8 billion for the general fund. General fund dollars are slightly lower than in last year’s proposal. The proposal maintains a 15% general fund reserve. Polis proposed a 1% cut for state personnel services across the board, though he would combine the two budget lines personnel funding comes from to give departments more flexibility on where they will make those cuts. The proposal would also adjust various task forces and commissions whose work can be delegated elsewhere. Pinnacol Assurance, the state’s workers compensation insurer of last resort, would be privatized under Polis’ proposal. For K-12 school funding, Polis proposed implementing 10% of the new school finance formula the Legislature adopted in the spring, extending the rollout of that program across seven years instead of six while still avoiding the budget stabilization factor — the amount of money the state owes schools based on a formula but chooses to spend on other priorities. The budget also calls for per-pupil funding as opposed to the current system, which bases funding on average enrollment over a few years. Polis called this “sensible, long overdue changes.”
SEE RACE, P2
SEE BUDGET, P24
Caraveo concedes 8th Congressional District race BY MONTE WHALEY MWHALEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Democratic incumbent Yadira Caraveo on Sunday conceded to Republican Gabe Evans in the hardfought race for Colorado’s 8th Congressional District. The two had ran nearly neck-and-neck since voting began Tuesday night with Caraveo holding a narrow
lead heading into the weekend. Evans pulled ahead after votes started trickling in from conservative Weld County, which is part of the far-flung 8th District. It was created in 2022 and Caraveo won the seat with just more than 1,632 votes over her Republican opponent that year. As of 3:20 p.m. Sunday, Evans leads Caraveo by 2,596
VOICES: 8 | CULTURE: 10 | BRIEFS: 12
votes. The Associated Press said that 92% of votes in the district, which includes parts of Weld, Larimer and Adams, counties have been counted. The race has not been officially called by the AP. But Caraveo conceded, saying she looks forward to returning to Washington D.C. to finish out her term, according to a statement posted by Channel9 News.
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