Today is Feb. 23, 2024, and here’s what you need to know:

Debate over proposals tackling drug use, treatment illustrates ideological divide in Colorado

Colorado lawmakers on Tuesday tackled two proposals that offer convergent — and divergent — approaches to combatting drug abuse during a discussion that starkly illuminated on ideological disagreements at the state Capitol.

Both bills emerged out of ad hoc panel, which met over the summer as a response to soaring addiction rates nationwide and in Colorado. Colorado ranks in the Top 10 states in the nation for drug use, according to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Advocates and policymakers agree that addressing such a complex issue requires a multifaceted response, but they often clash in their preferred solutions. “Harm reduction” advocates argue that tougher penalties have not solved the country’s drug abuse crisis, while those who argue for a tougher approach say policies should not encourage drug use.

In 2022, for example, those on the “harm reduction” side argued against making possession of any amount of fentanyl a felony. The other side insisted the state should adopt a zero tolerance policy against fentanyl, arguing a small amount is enough to kill anyone.

The first bill, House Bill 1037, focuses on several measures, including the distribution of antagonists, such as Narcan, and exempts individuals who receive paraphernalia from a syringe exchange program from being charged with drug possession. The second bill, House Bill 1045, deals with substance treatment.

Colorado House bill to add school, special districts to ethics commission oversight raises concerns

A bill approved by the House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee Wednesday could mean hundreds of thousands of Coloradans who have been frustrated by their interactions with metropolitan districts could have a venue for redress.

But those who run the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission are hoping people will take some time to learn about the commission’s narrow scope of responsibility before filing what’s expected to be an onslaught of complaints, should the measure pass.

House Bill 1073 would add special districts and certain school district personnel to the jurisdiction of the state’s ethics board. That would include school board members and those who are direct hires, such as a superintendent. It would not apply to principals, teachers, or any other school personnel.

The measure won a party-line 8-3 vote from the committee and heads off to House Appropriations. Its fiscal note of $111,000 reflects the addition of another commission employee to handle the additional complaints.

Did wolves restore habitat? CSU study says maybe not

New research from Colorado State University is challenging the widely accepted narrative that the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park in the mid-1990s resulted in restoring the habitat that degraded after the apex predators were removed roughly a century ago.

That narrative is one of the main arguments put forth by supporters of the 2020 initiative that paved the way for wolf restoration in Colorado.

The CSU researchers, drawing from a 20-year study, concluded the changes that occurred in Yellowstone in the intervening decades — after the absence of wolves, cougars and grizzly bears ultimately led to overgrazing of willows by the elk population — produced a new, stable, elk–grassland ecosystem, but it was not because of the wolves.

“Our results led us to reject the hypothesis that the effects of restoration of apex predators to the food web were reciprocal to the effects of their removal on Yellowstone’s northern range,” the researchers said.

“We conclude that the restoration of apex predators to Yellowstone should no longer be held up as evidence of a trophic cascade in riparian plant communities of small streams on the northern range,” they added.

Colorado House committee debates a defendant’s right to post bail in first-degree murder cases

Colorado lawmakers are debating whether defendants charged with first-degree murder in Colorado should have the right to post bail in cases where “proof is evident and presumption is great.”

The House Judiciary Committee tackled the issue Wednesday, with some members hesitantly pushing the measure forward. 

HCR 1002 and HB 1225 were introduced in response to a 2023 Colorado Supreme Court Case, People vs Smith.

Before 2020, first-degree murder was considered a capital offense, automatically exempting defendants from the possibility of posting bail. However, because of the state’s 2020 repeal of the death penalty, the court ruled that, since first-degree murder is no longer a capital offense, a defendant cannot automatically be denied bail. 

Q&A with Heather Graham | Pueblo’s new mayor aims to set narrative for Colorado city