With the fires burning in our state.

It has been an early, hazy week for Colorado, and it's also been kind of murky when it comes to our state's finances.

This week, we got some clarity from Governor Polis, who called for lawmakers to come back to the state Capitol August 21st for a special session to find ways to cut $1 billion from the state budget.

And he also announced a hiring freeze for Colorado starting the following week.

This week at the table, we have one of our top legislative reporters who was first to write about those developments.

So let's get started with this week's Colorado Inside Out.

Hi, everyone, I'm Kyle Dyer.

Let me get right to introducing you to this week's insider panel.

We have Patti Calhoun, founder and editor of Westword.

Marianne Goodwin, chief legislative reporter with Color politics in the Colorado Springs and Denver Gazette's Chris Work, consultant with Work Media, and Carlos Martinez, president and CEO of the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado.

Our state has been overwhelmed with the smoke this week from the fires in the Western Slope.

We have a red flag warning.

We've had it all week.

Disaster declarations were called for Delta and Rio Blanco counties amidst the extreme heat, which is really exacerbated.

The fire behavior.

Drought conditions are worsening.

The air quality is awful.

Patty.

There have been twice as many fires across the western U.S. compared to this time last year.

And they're not good ones.

I mean, these are big fires.

When we started taping this, I think Meeker was under a potential evacuation order.

It is another frightening summer here.

And adding to the frightening level is will we have fits?

Well, the federal cutbacks in the Forest Service in different agencies affect how we're able to fight these fires.

I have to say, I saw FEMA notice today and the spokesperson was Lynn Kimbro, remember, who was so great with D-a's office.

And I'm like, okay, somebody competent is in charge.

And so far I haven't heard of the big cutbacks affecting how the fires are being fought.

But it is worrisome not just for this year, but every year.

And with an EPA that is now looking to go against the endangerment act of climate change, we still need to understand what's going on in this state, in this region.

And when it's 100 degrees out at the end of at the beginning of August, we're worried about it.

Yeah.

Marianne.

Well, and clearly, the drought conditions on the Western Slope are contributing to, you know, dry soils.

I, I listen to a, a group of water experts, every month, and they talk about dry soil conditions and the fact that what, what the summer monsoons that we hoped we would get, we aren't getting, and that and that's a big part of it is that the, the rain that we usually get about this time of year, really, it really hasn't come through, very well.

And of course, this also raises some, some other questions on the federal side, which has to do with federal funding for issues like water.

And we had, earlier this week, we had our entire congressional delegation that teamed up to, to ask the administration to unfreeze, some money that is supposed to help with some of these that could conceivably help with some of these drought conditions, is supposed to sort of shore up, conservation efforts.

For one, The other the other issue, of course, is the long term health of the Colorado River.

And part of that is tied up with the, water rights that the Colorado River Conservation District is trying to buy from Excel.

And that's turning into a brouhaha.

They they were waiting on their last 40 million, which was approved by the Biden administration at the 11th hour, before, the turnover in government transition in government.

and that's now starting to kind of go sideways a little bit.

Okay.

Bad timing.

Yeah.

Those Shoshone, water rights are very critical for the Colorado River.

In fact, the Western Slope and the Colorado River basin has been in a drought since 2000.

That's 25 years.

We can argue all day long about the cause.

Is it climate change?

Is it climate cycling?

But the fact is, things are drier, there's a lack of moisture and they're higher temperatures.

And those have to be considered.

I, did a story in 2022 after, East Troublesome Fire and the other fires that did so much damage that year.

And, this researcher at Western Colorado University said, we will see more mega fires.

And and three years later, here we are.

So one of the things he said was as far as reversing this trend, very difficult to do, partly because we don't agree on how to attack it.

But one thing's for sure, communities need to be prepared.

Evacuation plans, they need defensible spaces around their homes.

These are things that all need to be done.

I don't know if it takes federal funds or community funds, however, but it needs to be done.

And then we need to reduce the fuel that's on the land.

Dry grasses, dry trees.

Deadwood, all of that.

And and these are actions that need to be taken so that we can learn to live with, if not change, these mega fire conditions.

Okay, Carlos.

Well, no doubt it's getting hotter.

Just here in Colorado in the past 40 years, we've increased about 2.5 degrees in temperature.

So that contributes to that.

We also have more folks who are living, you know, in wildlife areas.

I think I saw that one out of four homes are in areas that are, you know, considered, wildfire areas as well.

So that's a big issue as well.

And also, the warmer air contributes to thunderstorms, and that's where a lot of lightning is coming from that's starting these fires as well.

So I think overall, you know, our climate is changing.

This is going to be the new reality, not a cyclical thing.

I think moving forward.

And I think like folks have said, what plans do we have in place to be able to go ahead and, and, and mitigate or to also address these issues as we move forward, because it's our summers are becoming much longer also.

So what used to be three months, there's now probably about 6 to 8 months of, of of having to go ahead and, you know, prepare ourselves for fires.

And I think we haven't had to do it before, but now we're really going to go ahead and pay attention.

I did want to mention one ray of sunshine, and this is at least some of the NOAA cuts.

The employees are coming back, at least for a while, and we need these prognosticators.

When you look at fire and when you look at floods, we saw that in Texas.

Firefighting takes a lot of money.

And money is a big concern in our state right now.

Marianne, you were the first to report this week that the governor is calling the legislature back August 21st for a special session.

And you also reported the same day that the following week, we're going to be under a hiring freeze in Colorado.

That's correct.

The governor announced on Wednesday that he is implementing a hiring freeze that starts on the 27th and continues through the end of the calendar year.

Now, there are some carve outs.

Firefighters, for example, are one.

Anyone involved in public safety 24 over seven operations, But the big issue here is that they and they've changed the numbers a little bit.

It's a $783 million hole that they have to fill.

This is a loss of revenue.

This is not this is not spending.

This is hard.

But this is a loss of revenue And the intention right now at least, is that the state's general fund reserve, which is our our rainy day fund, basically will cover about half of that.

They don't want to use more than that because they need to save that money in case there's a recession.

And the risk of recession is growing and has grown and doubled in the last year.

The only thing that the governor drew a line in the sand about was education.

He said we won't tap education to cover the shortfall.

Okay.

All right.

Chris.

Yeah, they're also looking at, a law that was passed that would go into effect in Feb The intent of the legislation was to prevent discrimination by AI, but it puts the burden on small businesses to, to comply with regulation.

I at first said we need to take all regulation off AI.

That's ridiculous.

We need to not stifle innovation.

But as I started thinking about it a little bit more and learning more about AI, there are, some issues with it.

I learned recently that AI, the more advanced forms can show self-protective behavior.

If you tell it that, you're going to shut it off.

There are actually reports on this.

It was a little unnerving for me to learn this.

It will sabotage shut down commands.

It will copy to external servers, things like that.

That's a little creepy.

I think that needs some regulation, but maybe from the, you know, innovator manufacturer standpoint.

I know that in job searches, I have friends that that have been going through job searches, I screens them out at times if they don't use the exact right terms So I think the law needs to be modified.

Taking regulation off, I completely.

I don't think that's a good idea either.

With respect to the I you know, I think that it's a it's complicated for because AI is coming to us in so many different directions I think.

And so, you know, what was put out was for consumer protection.

How do we, you know, protect consumers and so forth.

But I also think that probably instead it should have, put a bill together to create a committee or something to really look at how we address AI here in Colorado.

What I'm afraid of is we have this bill today, another one tomorrow, and we just then start addressing this AI situation through various different bills.

I rather see special committee put together to really look at AI and study AI and create a comprehensive plan for Colorado of how we approach AI here in the state and make it work for everyone.

Okay.

All right.

That's a smart way to go at this point.

We ran a story this week that was so creepy.

It's beyond belief about a guy who created an AI girlfriend who then started bossing him around.

So the first thing that should happen during this special session create an AI budget for love.

You know, love the guys who are working on it at the state House.

But create the budget here.

Who's bound to come up with a lot of great suggestions that'll take.

That'll take up three days.

You know, they will.

They'll be able to concentrate on what to cut instead, and then definitely postpone the implementation of the bill, because the fast work they've done is what's often left us in these problems.

You've got the laws of unintended consequences.

One of the reasons we're short of money is partly because we don't have businesses and people coming here, and one of the reasons some businesses are saying they don't want to relocate is because of this draconian AI bill.

So it's time to look it back over.

And if we need the help of AI budgetary to do it, let them do it.

Okay.

All right.

That was a creepy story.

Oh, I had to shower after all.

Right, well, the state is looking to cut a lot of money.

The city of Denver is looking to spend a lot of money, but it will be up to voters to decide if that happens.

The city council agreed this week to let voters decide the fate of the vibrant Denver bond package, the largest bond proposal in the city of Denver's history.

But voters won't say yes, the whole lot.

They're going to be five different areas that will be voting on here in Denver to decide what gets funded in terms of infrastructure projects.

Right, which I think is a smart approach.

You know, voters approved bond measures with a couple of factors.

First, they want to know how the money's going to be spent, and they want details on that, you know, and then it's good to sell the voter on what are the possible consequences that money is not spent that makes for a successful bond campaign.

The other thing is voters want to trust the people who are spending the money.

And so that's something to look at when it comes to transportation infrastructure.

My hunch is that will pass because I think universally it is agreed to that government should be maintaining and building infrastructure.

That is the role of government.

But then when it comes to some of the other issues, I'm not quite so sure.

Some of it's vague, some of it, I don't know, really will land with a lot of voters.

The other thing is, with the spending of money, it's looking like the city of Denver will top $2 million, $200 million by the end of 2025.

Homelessness initiatives, And yet, at least according to one report, homelessness in Denver has gone up.

So is that money well spent?

I don't know, I don't think so.

It doesn't look like it.

I think infrastructure passes, questioning the others.

Okay, so there's there's the transportation infrastructure, libraries, cultural centers, new parks and facilities, housing and shelter.

And then the fifth one would be Health and Human Services.

So those are the five different areas will be deciding this.

our folks here in Denver are not quite trustful right now about how the spending is coming along.

And I'll just give you a few examples there.

They're very simple.

They're not amount to nothing, but they're really about trust, I think.

So, you know, a couple of years ago, they put all these, you know, cones down, call up Colfax to go up and help with traffic and, and pedestrian.

What?

Not even a year later, everything went down because they're redoing Colfax.

People are like, how much money do we spend on putting those things up for a year?

And now we took them down.

Isn't this department talking to this department, or are we spending money then those, you know, those, roundabouts that you see in communities where the fire engines can't even get through them?

Sometimes it's like, why are we spending money on things that are not really bringing value to our communities?

And so I think right now I'm seeing folks and then, you know, we've been taxed on the garbage.

We've been taxed now on sidewalks.

It's like, what other things are you taking away from the mill levy that we pay on our property taxes to go ahead, maybe use money for something else?

And I think the way that they're saying is that there'll be no increase in taxes on this.

Okay.

So yeah, that's right.

There will be no increase with the, the mill levy.

But it doesn't mean that your property value won't go up.

And so while the mill levy won't go up, their values will also, that means they'll have to go an increase, have an increase in their taxes.

Yeah.

County and the city's debt will definitely go up.

Some of these bond packages before have been, I think, more artfully crafted.

We remember the last one.

The only vote that did go down was over putting a new arena amphitheater in the National Western, I think, to replace the old Coliseum.

That one went down.

But this round is vaguer than that one.

I think you're right that infrastructure will go through.

We all feel where the money will go every time we hit a pothole, you know, or go over a bridge that shakes.

We know that need is really there.

I think the problem with affordability in the housing part is they just moved 13 million Monday night at City Council into that area, which is still big.

And remember that affordability bill last year in November that vote went down.

So unless they can be very, very specific about where the money's going, Carlos is right.

People don't want to spend more money unless they know exactly where it's going.

Yeah I think there's another issue here and it's around optics.

The city is $250 million in the red.

They're about to announce layoffs.

And I think one of the questions that people have to ask is as they're watching these layoffs take place and the potential impact on city services, are voters going to want to be putting money into all of these different projects?

And I agree with everyone else.

I think transportation wins.

But the rest of them, the optics of saying, yes, we're going to spend a almost $1 billion on all these things while we're not getting the city services that we're paying for because of layoffs.

I'm not sure voters in this economic environment are going to be that willing to support $1 billion, bond package.

And Monday, August 18th is the day that city employees will open up their email to see if their job is safe that day.

That day to.

All right.

Colorado is always at the very top of the list when it comes to healthiest states in the nation.

But Governor Polis has pointed that the 24.9% obesity rate in Colorado, which is among the lowest in the US, is still too high.

And now he has received a nod from the federal government to try to limit the intake of sugary drinks.

The Department of Agriculture okayed the governor's request for, waiver to keep Coloradans with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program plans or the Snap funds, from being able to use that money to buy sugary sodas.

Now, Carlos, this is set to take effect, after the first of the year.

Right?

So I'm actually in favor of it.

Okay.

And I think I'm favor of it because, we consume a lot of sugar, society.

And I think that, putting some, restrictions are is.

But I think my thing also is we need to do it along with an educational campaign.

It just can't be just banning it for the sake of banning.

I'm in favor of of of the ban.

If it comes with an educational campaign that starts teaching us, the effects of sugar, what it does to our bodies and the implications that it has because just banning does not change behavior.

But if it's banning along with an educational campaign, then people understand why and they learn the reasons why, the sugar, the obesity, diabetes, etc.

but just to ban with itself without an educational campaign doesn't create behavioral change.

And what we're looking for here is behavioral change for a healthy Colorado.

Yeah, honey, I'm not a fan of this big brother action, especially when you think about our poor grocery clerks are so beleaguered already when they have to, like, pull aside what people can and can't get.

It seems a little excessive to me, especially when you also see all the things we would like to get an educational campaign in DC right now, you know, that aren't being banned or are being encouraged that are definitely not healthy.

I agree something shouldn't be allowed.

I once stood behind a guy in line who got ten containers of lube, which seemed a little unusual, on his back in the days of food stamps.

But I do think this is one step too far.

We don't need to do this.

Okay.

What do you think, Marianne?

Well, to to Carlo's point, the education campaign would be a wonderful idea.

And there used to be a program called snap Ed that was supposed to help people learn about making nutritious choices.

And guess what happened to snap Ed in the big beautiful Bill?

Gone.

It's gone.

So?

So I it would be wonderful if there was an educational campaign.

But but the federal government is not going to pay for that right now.

And the state doesn't have the money for it.

As to the issue itself, where do you stop?

Do you, you start off this week.

It's it's your, your sugary sodas next week, maybe it's you can't buy ice cream or you can't, but I mean, and obesity is such a complex problem that banning things isn't necessarily going to drive the kind of, of change that I think most people would like.

And trust me, I know this one really well.

I've been fighting this battle for most of my life.

So, you know, I think that there's there's going to be a question about where it stops.

And I think given the, that this is something coming out of Health and Human Services, this is something that Robert F Kennedy Jr is pushing.

I don't think that this is where it ends.

Okay, Chris.

Well, everybody took my notes.

So, I watched Bill Maher over the weekend, and he did this delightful rant about how the left and the right, get so outraged over issues that are just not important.

And I would almost qualify this as that.

I don't like the government trying to restrict diets because they think it's going to make people healthier, especially if they're if that item is readily available to the public.

People have the right to make their own choice.

However, the other side of that coin is that if you're going to be accepting, assistance from the government, you have to play by the rules.

I agree with you on the education piece.

I disagree with you about the ban.

So we're halfway there together.

But, definitely education, overregulation, regulation.

Do you feel about the physical fitness test that brings back love and oh your be fun?

Oh, I hated that, I always failed, I never got the patch.

We all failed.

We all failed.

Except for Christopher Brennan in first grade, who climbed all the way to the top of the gym on the road.

Oh we did.

Yeah.

Okay, now let's go down the line and talk about some of the highs and the lows of this week.

We'll start on the low point.

So we can end on a good note.

And we'll start with Patty.

It's been a very tough summer for restaurants and long time bars in Denver.

We had capacity which closed.

We had just this week we're going to see the end of pub out in Pepperell.

Also, the end of the Hornet is closing tomorrow, so get there soon.

But a good move by visit Denver and the city, which they have hired two restaurant consultants to really get some solid numbers.

Maryann saw all the fights in the legislature over the minimum wage bill, but the numbers were never accurate in there.

So local restaurateurs need help the city and visit Denver going to help now.

Those are two good places in Denver.

Marianne, this has been a tough couple of weeks for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

They are on the hunt for two wolves that have been killing sheep and cow in, Pitkin and Rio Blanco County.

And of course the problem, Rio Blanco County is that they can't find the wolf because there's a big fire going on right there.

So so this is this has made their jobs a little more difficult.

And it's also not been good for the ranchers either, who are also trying to make sure that their livestock stay alive in the midst of all of this.

That's a really great point.

There was also a female collared wolf that was found in Wyoming dead in there.

The state of Wyoming is looking into what caused that death.

So a lot of wolves are dying.

Yeah.

That is not my low, though.

My, my low is rattlesnakes.

Actually.

Apparently there's a lot of rattlesnake activity, especially south of Denver where I live.

There have been even warnings put out by police departments.

So if you're out hiking, make sure you're looking at the ground.

If you're at an elevation where rattlesnakes live.

And be careful with your dogs to be careful with your dogs.

Yes, yes, yes.

Okay.

Carlos, I think for me, hello is, you know, several months into this administration seeing the impact of funding both from government, from some states and, and corporations with respect to contributions to non-profits and really seeing that, down, I'm starting to see now some non-profits closing their doors.

And that's kind of like my life right now about, you know, they provide safety nets for communities.

And to see them starting to go ahead and close the door is going to create an impact in our communities.

Yes it will.

Okay, Patty, something good.

It's a great weekend for bluegrass.

And congratulations to Hot Rize, which is going in the National Hall of Fame and the first Colorado bluegrass band to make it right.

That's great.

I want to give a shout out to Bente Birkeland at Colorado Public Radio.

She had an absolutely astounding story this week on some shenanigans that went on during the legislative session back in April, where you had a bunch of Republicans who were making extremely offensive remarks about a Democratic colleague.

Shame on those Republicans safety regulations for bent for getting to the bottom of it.

Okay.

I moved into a neighborhood and immediately started pulling out weeds, which have been horrendous this year.

Everybody says so.

Apparently my neighbor across the street is Jenny from Jenny and friends on cozy 101.1, which is a Denver radio station, noticed, and she said I was putting peer pressure on her adult peer pressure on her to keep up with her weeds.

Well, now she has leaped ahead in the competition and I am behind.

So I will be out there this weekend pulling weeds in the heat.

Okay.

All right.

So tomorrow kicks off cinema Q Film Festival at the Film Center so people can get out there and support, the cinema Q Festival.

That would be great.

They always have a great lineup of films to go and watch.

Okay.

And my high is, again, the loyalty and support from so many of you who watch Colorado Inside Out, listen to our podcast and follow our other shows.

And my thanks, comes from the entire team here at PBS 12, but I just feel I have to give a special shout out of gratitude to miss Patty Calhoun here, who has been here for more than three decades.

You are our center square.

You're always here, and you know the heart of the show.

Well, this week, Patty's newspaper, Westword, which is free for all of us, has had a drive to encourage financial support through memberships.

On Thursday this week, Patty pledged that half of the money that came in from the membership dollars would be gifted to PBS 12, encouraging her readers that the more media outlets we have, the better.

In terms of keeping us aware, educated, informed and connected.

So you're amazing.

Thank you very, very much.

Thank you insiders.

You're fabulous and I love how you all come so prepared every week.

Thank you for watching as well.

I am Kyle Dyer.

I will see you next week here on PBS 12.

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