Could water funding sweeten a compromise on the hospital provider fee?
Gov. John Hickenlooper has added water to the list of needs that could be funded if the General Assembly reclassifies the state’s hospital provider fee. Hospitals in Colorado pay a fee to the state,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hospital provider fee dead, or at least on life support, for 2017
An intense two-year battle between Colorado’s outgoing Senate president and the outgoing speaker of the House appears to be ending right along with the terms of both lawmakers. The issue is whether to...
View ArticleNo talking about roads without talking about schools, Colorado Speaker says
The tightrope state legislators have been trying to walk in the attempt to find the billions needed to pay for the state’s transportation needs and the millions needed to beef up public education just...
View ArticleStatehouse designates “Protecting Rural Hospitals Day” as small towns brace...
Colorado lawmakers and hospital executives on Wednesday made it clear that small town healthcare faces the fight of its life in the coming year. A resolution to declare March 8 “Protecting Rural...
View ArticleWhat ending Medicaid expansion would mean for Coloradans
Rachel Graves has had a headache for going on seven years. The migraines began in 2010, just as she was about to start law school. No medication could stave them off, but the symptoms were treatable:...
View ArticleRepublican Senate leader to back hospital provider fee change
Updated to add comment from Michael Fields of Americans for Prosperity. While conservative lawmakers are squabbling about how to finance an immediate need for $3.5 billion for transportation projects,...
View ArticleQ&A: Republican Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg on his decision to sponsor a hospital...
Republican state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg of Sterling set off shock waves at the state Capitol this week when he decided to sponsor a bill, along with Democratic Senate Minority Leader Lucia Guzman of...
View ArticleMAP: How much money could your hospital lose next year?
Hospitals across the state are rejoicing today over legislation Colorado Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg introduced Monday night to reclassify the Hospital Provider Fee. The bill would eliminate the need for a...
View ArticleSenate passes 2017-18 state budget, but not without fights
*Update: the Senate voted 30-5 Thursday morning to approve the 2017-18 state budget. Four Democrats and one Republican, Sen. Owen Hill of Colorado Springs, voted no. A fight over restricting the...
View ArticleState lawmakers add and subtract on the state’s premier budget document
Update: as of 8:02 p.m., Republican Rep. Dave Williams of Colorado Springs asked that the budget bill (more than 600 pages) be read at length. It’s a parliamentary move that can only be withdrawn by...
View ArticleThe biggest bill of the legislative session pops this week. Here’s what you...
The name of the game: getting a bill that could make or break some rural hospitals and could free up millions for education and transportation out of the Senate and into the House. It’s the play Senate...
View ArticleRural funding bill survives first crucial test
A Senate committee today put a bipartisan stamp of approval on its most significant legislation of the session, a measure that its sponsors hope will rescue rural hospitals, schools and roads. The...
View ArticleRepublicans walk a tightrope over rural hospital fix
As lawmakers continue to negotiate over the session’s biggest bill – to free up millions of dollars for rural hospitals, instead of cutting funds to the brink of closure – Republican lawmakers are...
View ArticleLegislative session erupts into shouts and accusations over negotiations on...
Updated to add response from Speaker of the House Crisanta Duran and House Majority Leader KC Becker. The state Capitol erupted Tuesday morning into a loud and sometimes profane blame game over the...
View ArticlePolitical strong-arming, or just a simple mistake? You decide
Updated at 3:40 p.m. to add statement from Rep. Daneya Esgar of Pueblo on her vote. For the past 15 days, House Democrats have held up finishing the 2017-18 state budget, waiting to see if a bill that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lawmakers pull provider fee bill back from the brink, negotiations continue
The state Capitol erupted this morning in dueling press conferences as lawmakers worked to salvage a deal that would convert the state’s hospital provider fee program into a government-owned business,...
View ArticleLawmakers reach high-stakes deal to save rural hospitals
Two House lawmakers and two Senate leaders have reached bipartisan agreement on a high-stakes and hard-fought state finance deal that fell apart as many times as it came together. The bill, which...
View ArticleDeal to save rural hospitals clears first hurdles
The measure to save rural hospitals cleared two major steps in the state Senate today, first winning over the Senate Appropriations Committee Friday morning and then garnering a voice vote of approval...
View ArticleThe Indy’s Marianne Goodland on this week’s Politics Unplugged
This week on KMGH-7’s Politics Unplugged: the hospital provider fee, what’s next for transportation and how did the 2017 General Assembly fare?
View ArticleWhat’s on tap for the last week of the 2017 legislative session
It’s called sine die, pronounced see-NAY dee-AY. It translates loosely to “on this day and no more.” On Wednesday, the General Assembly is expected to finish up its 120-day 2017 session and lawmakers...
View Article